Aug 18 – Tour of Fes

We meet up with our guide in front of our hotel and begin our whirlwind tour of Fes. Of all the cities we visited, Fes was the one that most certainly required a guide to navigate the streets. The word ‘maze’ hardly begins to describe the narrow, winding streets with hairpin turns and random underpasses all absolutely packed with people.

One of our first stops was the Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts – also a restored funduq or merchant's inn where caravans-people would stop with their livestock and goods while in the city. The building was rather different from the palaces we had seen in its use of wood, but it was very striking with the gleaming wood against plaster.

Next, we saw various medersas and mausoleums. Ancient wooden doors, the elaborate carvings nearly worn away, have signs taped up saying “Interdit aux non-Musulmans. Merci pour votre comprehension”. We do manage to catch glimpses at the doorway but no clear photos. Instead I take pictures of the people in the streets on their way to pay homage to those interred at the mausoleum. It is easy to tell when one approaches one of these. Instead of tourist wares, the vendors near these sites sell tapers for burning and there are a large number of tour groups – camera-toting Europeans walking single file through the narrow streets.

The medersas are gorgeous – the complexity of the carvings still astound me. None of them are in use anymore – I believe after Morocco became a colony of France, children began attending Western-style schools.

Our second-last destination is the famed tanneries of Fes. We had read and heard terrible things about their stench and up till the last minute, were unsure of whether we actually wanted to visit them or not. Perhaps it was the surprise of our tourguide in hearing of our uncertainty that decided it. I’m glad we did – I’d seen this picture in tourist literature and postcards many times over, but seeing it in person is still pretty amazing. Those people working down there in those giant clay pots, this is their living. This is where all the leather we see in the tourist shops is processed. Not factories. The smell was strong but hardly as bad as we’d feared. Perhaps the wind was in our favour, but it was amusing to watch some guides instruct their tourgroups to hold mint leaves up to their noses to block the smell. I can’t see that it really helps; I think it is more for the amusement of the locals.

Our final destination was a pottery factory outside of the medina. For all we were ripped off by the cab-ride there, I found it pretty cool. We got to see the process of how they made pottery and mosaics from soup to nuts. There were the people spinning the clay at wheels, people assembling the coloured shapes for mosaics on the ground, people hand-drawing the geometric designs onto unfired plates. I bought my first three plates here. The picture you see is of us in another shop later that night where I bought my final fourth plate.

Next - Aug 19 – Last Morning in Fes

Aug 18 – In Fes

The nightlife in Fes under our window was as happening as that in Chaouen, and resulted in poor rest. I guess afternoon siestas translate to less sleep overall at night, so the noise in the streets ends very late and starts unbelievably early. There was no air conditioning though, so closing the windows was not really an option.

Because we stayed at budget hotels and hostels the whole way, there was never air con. We were ecstatic if the place had clean, draining showers (hot water wasn’t actually an issue for me, since I preferred cool showers after being so hot all day) and clean ‘Western-style’ toilets (TP and handsoap were also welcome, but we learned not to expect either). More bonus points if we did not have to share these toilets and showers with the rest of the establishment. If we were lucky, the rooms came with electrical plugs where cameras and batteries could be recharged. Electricity is expensive – rooms are poorly lit with bare bulbs, and they are anal about turning lights off when you leave a hallway, bathroom, bedroom etc. Stores remain unlit until customers enter. My camera ran out once after we stayed in the same hotel sans electricity in Marrakesh for four nights. There was only TV once, at the most expensive hotel we stayed in the final night (but still no AC).

The view from our hotel in Fes was quite nice though. We were across the street from a beautiful old madrissah, and through the grating on our window we could see a series of old-style stained glass windows. I showed a closeup of the carvings above the door of the madrissah earlier.

This was our first hotel with no included breakfast, so we wandered into the streets uncertain of what to expect. We do not have to spend long looking, as the hawkers are working the streets even in the morning. “Breakfast? We have crepes with honey!” Sounded good to us! These weren’t classic French crepes, but a local yellow, greasy, somewhat chewy flat pancake, close in texture and thickness to the Chinese green-onion pancakes. Smothered in a thin honey and washed down with mint tea, they made an excellent breakfast.

The plan for the day was to hire a guide for a half-day to show us the major sites, then grab some lunch and go shopping on our own.

Next - Aug 18 – Guided Tour of Fes