I just completed a long day walking the medina and the souks with an interesting couple from isreal and our wonderful guide Isrid.
But let's get back to Chefchaeoun first. I woke up Thursday morning with a new outlook. I was well rested, had a hot shower and the sun was shining. After a very nice breakfast I had a quick chat with Ana and Carlos and set out on my short day. My firstl stop was to try to reserve a bus ticket to Fes. I didn't think it a problem but Carlos wasn't sure. I never actually found the right store but never mind I wasn't worried. Then a stop at the kasbah which was in the main square. It was essentially a defensive position inside the medina walls. There was a tower and a prison and modest museum of traditional clothing. The best part were the views from the tower.
I had a little time to kill and decided to enjoy the square with a coffee. The sun was really nice and there seemed to be loads to locals and tourists about. Sitting next to me I instantly noticed American English and I said hello. A young couple Britney and Wylie. She is studying in London and is from the DC area. I never found out about Wylie. We had some small talk and they said they were headed to Fes also but on a later bus. By this time I needed to get moving and I did something I didn't think I would ever do but hired a guy to bring my bag down the hill from the hotel to the petit taxi to the bus station. Ana gave me a big hug and r thanked me. Carlos was out running errands.
When I arrived at the bus station I noticed another guy from the square I said hello and when about buying my ticket and had some time to kill. I walked outside and sat near this guy and his girlfriend and we struck up a conversation. They are from Germany and were headed to Fes as well.
The bus was clean and modern enough and just before we departed Britney and Wylie arrived - deciding to get an earlier start.
It's a four hour bus ride to Fes and I was continually amazed by how green and how much farmland there was. Grains, onions, olives and what I later found out was Fava beans. Along with donkeys, sheep and cattle. About three hours in we stopped at a roadside restaurant and the bus shut off and everyone poured out. The German guy said it was a 30 minute break for lunch. (Unfortunately I don't recall their names) eventually we all regrouped near a butcher stand and a adjacent grill station. The idea - we finally surmised - was to buy your meat and then take it to be cooked. I decided on the ground lamb which had been appropriated seasoned. After the grilling I got a round of hot bread and made a sandwich. It was delicious! And all for about 5DH or 1USD.
Our arrival in Fes was a bit of a shock. A big busy city with loads of traffic and people. And let's be honest bus stations are never the best face of a city. Once again our ragtag group gathered luggage in hand and all looked a bit forelone. The Germans thought they would dropped at another station and the Americans were couchsurfing (a real company) but since they were early had no way to reach their hosts. I on the other hand had a driver from the dar. So we said goodbye but me, being the organizer I am, quickly suggested that we meet tonight/Friday and a larger hotel with a terrace overlooking the medina for a drink. So we will see.
Mohammed popped me into a brand new SUV and we were off. I knew the hotel (a dar is a hotel without an interior garden and a riad has a garden. They almost all have interior courtyards)
Thankfully the Fes medina is pretty flat and the walk from the car was painless. The dar however was more than I could have imagined - it is like living in the Alhambra. The owner and his wife an Iraqi architect and a Norwegian designer - as I found out during the tour later - painstakingly restored this old home into a seven room hotel. After my welcome tea - which quite like. Zoohair - a guy in his early 20s and speaking perfect English - welcomed me home. After a short chat we headed to my room which just across the courtyard from our seats. We stepped into the alcove and I noticed a large bed behind a partial wooden screen, a large sitting area and a small bath. Then Zoohair proceeded to close the two 20 foot doors that now separated me from the courtyard. To say the entire experience was amazing would be a huge understatement.
After a quick change of clothes, the owners tour - gin and tonics in hand - we retired to the rooftop for a communal dinner of almost all the guests. Wine flowed and a first course of soup followed by plates of orange salad, steamedvegetables and chicken and cous cous followed. We all chatted about our travels and our end of the table was Jeanine and Ronnie from Israel and a nice couple from Long Island. The rest of the table were all Brits.
It was a very nice way to end the day and except for the early morning call to prayer a pretty good rest.
This morning we had a nice group breakfast of mostly breads and fruits with some hard boiled eggs and good coffee. I had decided that perhaps a guided tour of the enourous medina was a good way to find my bearings so I was joining Jeanine and Ronnie and their guide, Isrid.
Fes is well know for their handcrafts and once outside the hotel we soon were in a small square where men were working with copper and stores abounded with metalwares. Our day meandered up and down and through the twisted maze of streets looking into the stalls but also getting a history lesson about Fes and occasionally getting into some interesting political conversations - especially between Ronnie and Isrid. Jeanine admittedly has ADD and was more interested in snapping pics and checking out the shops as well as trying not to lose us!
They have a two room "inn" in Israel and are planning to expand so they were looking for some items for the new rooms. I was under the impression were not going to the carpet shops but suddenly we were there. They are beautiful but I have not room nor really a desire for a new rug in my house. But when Jeanine bought two the salesman make me a very good offer. So I wound up with a small Berber design that I think I will use as a wall hanging. (Yes Tracy you were right - I was weak!)
The only other really interesting spots were the food markets and the tannery where the hides are cleaned and dyed in open air ancient vats.
During our lunch break of a very devious Fava bean soup and fresh bread, I mentioned that I was interested in a tea set as well. Isrid took us to a very nice shop and I also bought a small pot. I will look for the right glasses along the rest of the journey.
Not exactly my plan but I keep hearing that Marrakech is not nice or of good quality and my next two days are booked with a cooking class and a day trip to the roman ruins. So I am happy with my purchases and you will all be obliged to have mint tea for at least the first few weeks I am back.
Perhaps a little condensed but that catches me up and puts me back on the rooftop. I am going to freshen up and hit a few street vendors for some dinner before heading up to the hotel to meet my mates from Chefcheouan.
Tomorrow we head back to the market to buy food for our cooking class. And not surprising - I'm excited!
[not the most exciting evening of my life. Only Britney and Wylie showed. (Sabrina and Patrick did not)]
They had a horrible couch surfing experience and were now in a hotel so I was glad that we got together someplace nice - actually very nice - and we had some good chats mostly about travel. Brittney is an Iranian studies major and has some interesting views of the world turns out Wylie is an attendant at a retirement home and is training as a firefighter.
Of course the cab driver didn't understand where I wanted to go to go home again do that was part of the never ending saga of cabs.
A good sleep and breakfast by myself today. I think there are a lot of folks leaving.
Cooking is switched to tomorrow so I am off to the roman ruins in Volubis and a stop in the town of Meknes]
Did I mention the donkeys in the medina - they are only firm of transport besides foot and cart.
No comments:
Post a Comment