Aug 20 – Azrou back to Fez

Our first order of business once we’d returned to town was to retrieve our luggage and pay to take a shower apiece back at the hotel. Then, we had some time to kill before dinner and taking the bus back to Fez, so I sat and wrote a couple postcards with all our luggage at the hotel’s tea salon, while A and K went to do some last bits of shopping. It started to rain outside – the first and only rain I’d seen in this country. We had wanted to do dinner at our hotel’s restaurant since LP advertised their rabbit stew and fresh lake trout, but they didn’t open until pretty late, so we made do with the restaurant next door.

Our next adventure was trying to find a taxi to take us back to the bus station. We finally had to split up so we could cover more street corners. I managed to snag one at the square and brought it over to where A and K had the luggage. One block later, we were at the station. WTH? We’d been in this town for two days and had not realized that our hotel was practically down the road from the station. The first taxi we’d taken had obviously taken us for a spin before pulling up to the hotel, and we’d just never happened to walk in that direction afterward. In the pic, you can see the patisserie where we ate all our French pastries, and the corner I finally found the taxi on.

We sat at the station for several hours, jumping up every time a bus pulled up to see whether it was going to Fes. We listened intently for the station attendant to yell "Fes! Fes! Fes!", but each time it was another destination. Finally, we ask him. It turns out that on some days, the buses do not follow the posted schedules and there would be no more buses to Fes that day. #(^%#&$???

We run out of the station and down to the taxi station where, luckily, we find a grand taxi with one other passenger wanting to go to Fes. Thus begins the waiting game. If you remember from earlier posts, grand taxis take 6 passengers or you can pay for extra seats. Here we were with 4 passengers. After the first 10 minutes, we tell the driver that we’re willing to pay for one extra seat, so we can have the back seat all to ourselves. He tries to convince the other lady to pay for the remaining seat, so we can all leave. She doesn’t give in for about another 10 minutes, but finally we are off.

We arrive in Fez with plenty of time to spare since our train leaves at 2am. We purchase our tickets and sat in the station, tried to sleep and swatted flies for a bit. The same song plays over and over in the station café. Finally, we get tired of sitting in those seats and get onto the train, find an empty compartment and try to sleep. Unfortunately, the compartment is not empty for very long, and all the seats fill up. The picture is of a train station, but obviously not the one in Fez, since we never saw it in daylight.

Next - Aug 20-21 – Train from Fez to Marrakesh