Aug 17 - Meknes

After another breakfast of bread, jam and mint tea, our first stop was the bus station where they had a left-baggage service. We were only in Meknes for the one day, so we were planning to take a bus to Fes in the afternoon. From the station, we walked 2km to the medina seeing some of the newer parts of town along the way. Wide streets, wide sidewalks, lined with hair salons, gas stations, tea salons, banks etc. At one point the road ran parallel to a small valley planted with crops – here, the sidewalk disappears into rubble and there are lime trees planted along the rubble.

Once inside the medina, we get rather lost searching for the major tourist attractions – it may be that the numbering of the sites in the guidebook was inaccurate. In any case, we were finally able to locate the mattress-stuffers’ stalls which was supposed to be near our first stop. People would bring their mattresses here to be stuffed with the dead wool (wool shorn from dead sheep – lower in quality) which was piled high inside the shops.

Next to the stalls was an artisanal cooperatif, into which we were invited when the owner saw us looking at his carpets outside. In cooperatifs, there are many different tourist-targeted items gathered under one roof and sold for a marked price (which means no bargaining). These are a good place to survey the items available in the region as well as getting a gauge of good workmanship and price before trying to bargain yourself in the medina. He gave us a demonstration on how the iron plates inlaid with silver wire are made and offers to show us carpets and the wonderful view from the rooftop. We decline the offer but tell him we may come back after visiting the mausoleum.

Finally finding the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, we were properly impressed by our first glimpse into the richly decorated interiors of Moroccan buildings. The interior courtyards of this building are often seen in tourist literature, postcards and so forth due to their rich yellow walls, the contrasting tile and plasterwork and the door-within-door effect.

Removing our shoes, we enter the antechamber of the mausoleum – this is as far as we may go as non-Muslims. The next pictures show the interior of the antechamber and serve as an example of the décor typically found in grander buildings.

Next - Aside on building interiors - Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail