0704 & 0804 Chefchaouen to Tangier to Marrakech

This was a huge day starting with a ride in the local bus that our guide called the chicken bus. As it turned out, apart from the extra narrow aisle between the seats, it was quite comfortable, the bus was quiet and the driving was safe. The road took us down through the Rif mountains with spectacular scenery in all directions.
Once in Tangiers we were given a dodgy map with instructions of places of interest and set loose. We walked to the Atlantic Ocean and onto the beach which was full of boys playing football and had lunch in one of the beachside cafes. After that the group split up and Steve and I went in search of the Kasbah which we approached via the Souks in the Medina. We got sucked in by a slippery guide who looked like Sammy Davis Jnr but we were well into his "help" before we woke up that we would be paying him money. Best thing to do then is to chill out and enjoy. He showed us the five elements of a Medina: the free public water fountain, the public bakery where the residents take their bread dough and meats, etc to be cooked, the Hammam or steam bath for men and women, the mosque and the Koranic school.
By other standards, the Kasbah here is not in such good repair. We walked back to the square where the German Consulate used to be and where there is a German cemetery and sat and watched the world go by for quite some time. The plan was for the group to meet at the Cafe Hafa which we were told is worth the experience, at 6 pm. Steve and I started off to walk to the Cafe, using the dodgy map which had no street names on it, no scale and no direction indicator. We knew we were headed in the right direction, but ended up at a dead end in the kasbah so climbed down the side of the cliff to the main road and continued on, thinking we'd get a taxi. No taxis in sight - Murphy's Law. Finally I asked a man in my "best French" where the Cafe Hafa is and he pointed up the cliff again. Grrr!!!! Anyway, we asked some small boys who agreed to take us there for 10 durhams ($1.25) and uuuuuuupppp we went. Tres difficile mes amis. It took about 20 minutes straight up. The Cafe itself is built down the side of the cliff and, of course, our group had gone down about four levels - more steps !!! Back to the bus station in taxis and then to the train station to catch the overnight sleeper train to Marrakech. There are four bunks in each cabin on the train and the staff give out a pillow, one sheet and a blanket. Steve had 2 Sudafed for his sinus headache and conked out immediately so missed the noisy fight that erupted about 1 am. I had a reasonable if interrupted sleep. The train took 11 hours.
0804
We were brought to our hotel Le Caspien in the Gueliz new district of Marrakech, and had a highly anticipated warm shower, then were shown a map again and set loose once more. Our Tour Leader Mourad took Steve and I to a clinic and then to a specialist to have my knee, eye and left hand examined in case there were any broken bones. The doctor x-rayed my left hand but found nothing broken, thank goodness. Strained ligaments all round so I have Voltaren anti-inflammatories to take.
We then headed for La Koutoubia and the Place Djemaa el-Fna. I was curious to see the changes that have happened over the last 40 years since I was here last. I thought Fez hadn't changed too much so I thought the same might apply to Marrakech. I was wrong. Everything has become "touristified". I could expect that the red desert sand in the square would have been paved but it's more than that: the small eating places now have Coca Cola signs, etc. Yesterday was the holy day, Friday, so only the Jewish souks were open. Hopefully when we return at the end of the tour the souks will all be operational and all the entertainers will be in the Place Djemaa el-Fna. We go down to the square tonight to have a meal with the new people joining our tour so I will get to see it by night which is something to look forward to.
The colours here are pink and red. Couldn't help but notice the smell of orange blossom all the way down Rue Mohammed V, and when we stopped to eat some lunch, we got the muezzin from La Koutoubia at full volume. The temperature is so much hotter than in the north. Some in our group saw the temperature sign at 40 deg C.
We are heading for the High Atlas mountains tomorrow. Don't know when I'll be online again. A bientot.

0504/0604 Chefchaouen

The town wall above Chefchaouen


Chefchaouen street


In square in Chefchaouen


From Chefchauoen looking out to the lower hills

We travelled from Fez to Chefchaouen in a small bus. The journey took 6 hours through farmland but we climbed progressively higher. There were lots of shepherds with flocks of sheep and goats, plenty of donkeys waiting obediently for their loads and some ploughing with horses although there are some huge tractors around. This town was a gorgeous surprise. It is painted in blues and whites and again is built on the side of a mountain. Our hotel was half way down a steep mountain side directly beneath a huge peak with piles of scree visible. I had a small thought of earthquakes but then put it out of my mind. These are the Rif Mountains which are on a tectonic fault line.
The clothing for women in this area has changed. Instead of the djellabah some women are wearing an Andalusian influenced outfit. A straw hat with colourful pompoms, a striped cloth tied around the waist over trousers, and a white shawl/blanket tied over one shoulder.
Again there were stairs galore as the town is on the side of a mountain. My sore knee is uncomfortable when going downstairs but I didn't want to miss any of the town so mooched along. There is a very happy and relaxed atmosphere in Chefchaouen and there is a large public square in front of the mosque with cafes which were well used by the locals. The town water poured out of the side of the mountain. We were told it was from the snow melting but I don't know how it got to the point where it flowed from the mountain. The villages had directed the stream to flow on aquaducts through wash sheds where they all went to do their laundry.
In the afternoon the six women in the group went for a Hammam which is a Turkish bath. We sat in a steamy room together in our birthday suits while a woman threw hot water over us periodically and when it was our turn, we were scrubbed down with a sandpaper like mit with olive oil soap. Layers of gunk came off our skins. The final step was to lie down on the floor on a mat, and here we had a massage with some interesting twists like bending our legs up backwards ??? ouch!! remember grossly swollen sore knee.
In the evening we walked down to the square and had a meal together about three floors up, overlooking the square with the local people out from their houses and socialising. It was very pleasant and the atmosphere was enhanced by the call to prayer of the muezzin from the minaret about 50 metres away.

There are cork trees on the sides of the mountains and the cork had recently been harvested so they looked like they had a skirt on.

0404 In Fez

The mob


The carpet seller in the cooperative


The tannery in Fez


Water seller in the souk in Fez


Patterns for mosaic table tops. The colours are underneath and the pattern is in the memory of the artisan.


Tagine pots the one on the left is fired

Dragon breath morning with a touch of cloud. Hakima met us at the hotel and we went on a tour to the Medina and many other places starting with the Imperial Palace where the current king lives. It turned out that Hakima is quite a card and she kept us entertained all day from 9 am until we got back to the hotel at 8 pm.
I have noticed orange trees on railway stations and in parks and have seen people harvesting the orange blossoms from these trees as well as the fruit. It turns out they are ornamental oranges and the fruit is too bitter to eat. It is used however to clean metal work like that on the gates to the Imperial Palace. The doors here are made from cedar and bronze. The palace itself is an enclosed city even with its own golf course. The doors have marble pillars which comes from Carara in Italy. Apparently when the palace was built,they traded 1 kg of sugar for 1 kg of marble. The stucco is made from marble powder, water and egg white.
From the palace we drove through the Mellah which is the Jewish area (Mellah means salt and the Jewish area in all cities is called Mellah because the original Jewish citizens were salt traders). Also we saw the Andalucia area which has the Moorish influence in home architecture with balconies and shutters.
We drove to the Medina to see one of the 14 Koranic schools. This one was built in the 14th century and is being restored by UNESCO. Built in the traditional Moroccan way with a courtyard opened to the sky and windows on the inside of the courtyard, not the outside wall. Houses are built in the same style and people use the bottom of the house in summer and the top of the house in winter.
Next we were driven to a lookout where we could see the size of the Medina. Medina means city and each Medina is fully self contained. During the day in the Medina we saw pre-schools, Koranic schools, mosques, shops of all kinds, cheap hotels. You name it, it is there. The Medina is 250 ha in size and has a 14 km wall surrounding it.
The Fez Medina dates back to the 14th century and houses the oldest university in the world. It was built by Fatima ?? even though she knew only men would attend the uni (as in our culture until about the 1920s).
The first artisan cooperative we visited was a ceramics business which has been moved outside the city walls due to the pollution caused by the firing. Even though dyes are all natural and for the firing olive seeds are used for heating the furnaces. We saw the complete process from clay to painting to firing and also the making of ceramic tiles and mosaic table tops, etc.
From here we were taken to see the local food market, fish market and blacksmiths. Further on we went to see the people who make huge pots for hiring to cook for huge parties. These pots are made of bronze and lined with titanium so we saw a man and his apprentice soldering the lining into the pots. We also went to the Najirin where huge sedan chairs(amaria) are made for the bride to be carried on her wedding day. These were incredibly elaborate, in silver and gold with embroidery everywhere. When walking through the Medina visitors have to be constantly on guard for the sound "balak balak" which means, look out I'm coming through - it just buzzes with energy.
Then there was the souk where yarns are dyed, again using natural dyes eg poppy flower for red. At the next drop in spot, we were given a fist full of mint to carry and we soon found out why. It was for holding under the nose to disguise the smell of the tannery. The tannery was another world. Skins are washed in the river and then soaked in pots with chalk and salt in order to help the fleece lift from the skins. The next step is soaking in pigeon poo which softens the skins and then the final stage is to soak in dye pots. The day we were there, the colour was yellow. Of course, we then had a look at the mountains of shoes, bags, belts and the most beautiful soft leather jackets made of goat leather.
Lunch was camel burger in a small food souk owned by a "mad" man of 68 who kept kissing the women and doing hand stands. What a lad!!!
There were Senegal doors to a mosque with culturally relevant carving. We saw lots of gorgeous wood inlay and carving. Then to a caravanserai where there is a weavers' cooperative based. Here we experienced the hard sell but I must say they made the experience well worth our whiles whether we bought anything or not.
Another interesting part of the tour was a visit to a herbal pharmacy where the man learnt his knowledge passed down for 5 generations. Steve bought some nigella seeds as they are supposed to stop snoring. We'll see!!!!
I'm sure there's lots in the backwoods of my brain to pop out when least expected. It was a very full day

0304 Moulay Idriss, Volubilis, Meknes to Fez

Via Apia at Volubilis


Moulay Idriss from Volubilis


The garbage donkeys in Moulay Idriss

In the morning we got up for the sunrise on to of the mountain but it was cloudy. It was still good to see the houses as the dawn rose.

Then the same taxis to Volubilis which is ruins of a Roman city which operated from 1000 BC to 400 AD. It was raining gently when we arrived and it was quite cold. It was a city of 20 000 people and there is lots of evidence of bakeries and butchers, shops and also a Christian Basilica as well as a Roman Temple side-by-side. It was here I met my come-uppance. I was having a bit of trouble walking slowly which some of you will know is an affliction I suffer from. Long story short, I took a hesitant step and went down like a ton of bricks. Consequently I have a black eye and one very sore knee. As we left the area, some agave plant was cut and the juice wiped on my bruises but there was not as much juice in the plant as there is in aloe vera.

The brothel was marked in an obvious way and the bath and toilet area was clearly visible. Our guide was a professor of archaeology who has done most of his study on Volubilis so he was a mine of information and made the tour very interesting.

From here we went to Meknes for lunch after having a look at the Granaries (for the stable horses), the Palace and the Souk. Back on a train, with seats this time to travel to Fez.

0204 Casablanca to Moulay Idriss

One tower of the Rabat Kasbah


Inside the Rabat Kasbah


Couscous and Tagine at or home stay


The floor in the Hassan II mosque


Hassan II mosque mosaic

Before we left we caught a Petit Taxi out to the Hassan II mosque. This is bigger than expected. It is built to house 25,000 worshippers and took 6 years to build from 1987 to 1993. Most of the materials apart from the Murano glass in the chandeliers comes from Morocco: cedar wood, marble from Agadir and ceramics that are locally made. It's grandeur is easily appreciated as there is a huge public square in front of the mosque which allows visitors to see the building from a distance and be amazed the closer they get. The roof is made of concrete and cedar wood and weighs 1100 tonnes. This roof amazingly opens to allow air to change in the mosque. It takes 3 mins to open and 2 mins to close.
We caught a train to Rabat which is the capital city of Morocco. This train turned out to have no seats so we stood for most of 2.5 hours. There were some interesting interactions with local people as you might imagine. The journey took us through rich farm land: olives, broad beans, malt, citrus, grapes, etc. The cars are obviously less dented than those in Casablanca and are expensive models. We walked to the Kasbah which is a mix of 12th century and 17th century buildings. It is a labyrinth inhabited by 3000 residents from various levels of society. There are artists, Government officials, and some Europeans as well as local people. The bottom of the walls are painted blue apparently because they believe indigo keeps away mosquitoes.
We caught taxis heading for Moulay Idriss. The taxi Steve and I were in had no window winders so one was passed around for us all to use. Once in Moulay Idriss we caught taxis to the hotel, La Colombe Hotel where we were served an incredible meal of Harira soup, Harissa and bread as well as Couscous and Kofte Tagine.
Here we had a cake for Linley's birthday which was the next day.