Fes

This past weekend I ventured out of the European Contienent and spent a weekend in Africa, to be more specific Fes in Morocco. I had been in contact with our hotel who had offered a taxi bus to take us from the airport to the hotel, but they had failed to return my email confirming it. I was somewhat concerned.

Upon my arrival in Fes I was shocked to see how green the landscape was. To be honest I hadn't done much research and assumed we were going to be in the desert. The airport was very new and I was impressed, though it seemed that just Ryanair flew into it anyway.

After a long wait in the passport check, I was the first to enter the terminal. I quickly saw a Moroccan man with my name on a sheet of lament paper and I felt like someone important. Upon confirming my presence he gestured over a woman who I asked if she spoke english. She mumbled something and I assumed this meant no. She then proceeded to answer a group of Spaniards questions in Spanish and I realized that I did have a means of communicating with her. Her Spanish was much better than mine but we had very few problems, especially because she did end up speaking some english, as did the taxi driver.

Soon the 8 of us in our group packed into the van and we were on our way. The woman soon began pitching various daytrips to us, as to be expected, but we didn't have time for most of them. Though we did to decide to take the tour of the Medina with her. The Medina is the old part of the city dating back to the 9th century that is car free, partially walled in and literally a labyrinth.

Our hotel ended up being pretty nice with a large open courtyard in the center of it. Though the only thing I cared about was that it was 2 minute walk to the main gate of the Medina. That night we had dinner for close to nothing. I had a kebab and large portions of other peoples dishes. It was so nice to finally have some food with some spice, and by some, I mean a lot. Most of these dishes were cooked in a special pot, called a tagine. It consists of a two parts both made of clay, the bottom is just a plate while the top is a cone shape with a whole in the top. Everything was delicious.

After dinner we walked around the Medina, which made me a bit anxious. There weren't that many people out and the people that were out were mostly male teenagers. With a group of 8 Americans, five of them girls with one of them blond, we definitely received a lot of unwanted attention. And by we, I mean the girls. Plus there were many offers to buy hash. A lot of them had pretty creative lines, such as "Want to get high before you die?".

The next morning we meet the tour guide in the lobby and we ended up having a group of Spanish women join us. Also the tour guide informed that the tour will mostly be in Spanish and that I should translate for everybody.

The first spot we visited was the blue gate. It is one of the main entrance to the Medina, it has one side in blue, the color of Fes and the other side in green, the color of Islam. One of the first things that struck me was the donkeys carrying various goods throughout the Medina; gas tanks, boxes, and other loads. I had forgotten that it was car free and that was probably the best way to get goods around.

Also there was a multitude of fruit carts. Often times you would have to press your back to a stall or wall to allow a donkey to pass in the crowded, narrow streets. At one point we were in alley so narrow we had to wait for a line of three donkeys to pass. After they passed, I heard a commotion behind me and saw a boy who didn't want to wait for them to pass walking/jumping on their backs from donkey to donkey to get to the other side of them.

As we treaded farther into the Medina, it felt as if we were going back in time. The market stalls were filled of freshly butchered meat, live chickens, eggs, fruit, stacks of dried dates pilled high & other commodities. It was also interested to see various parts of animals that are usually not for sale in your local supermarket; pigs feet, brains, livers, hearts & other parts. To be honest it all made me a little queasy.

After taking a few more turns and losing my sense of direction completely, we arrived at site where metal working was on display. An old man was making intricate designs with just as small hammer and even smaller chisel in a bronze plate while another informed us of his work in English and Spanish. Then he proceeded to show us how to detect "false & deceiving" plates that were not made of bronze. The demonstration ended with him informing us that everything in the store was "30% off, for today only".

It had been awhile since I had been to a country were bartering was the norm and I was excited to be back in such a place. Ofcourse I knew I would never get them down to a price with which I wasn't getting ripped off, and by ripped off I mean a couple of euros, but I was greatly amused by the process. Not to mention their enthusiasm of announcing special offers for "their friends".

Another thing I loved was how if you show any remote interest in an object they will ask you how much you want to pay for it and how many you want. As we were leaving the salesmen quickly announced an additional 10% off.

The tour made its next stop at an old mosque that was also a dorm for the best students in Fes. I managed to take some good shots and we got a group picture with the Spaniards.

Afterwards we arrived in a old courtyard full of looms and scarfs pilled high. Again there was a somewhat interesting demonstration of what materials are used, how they are spun into thread and then loomed into scarfs, blankets and sheets. Prices were advertised and a special deal was announced at the end. Though there was a very fun fashion show were the salespeople wrapped head scarfs on us in the various styles of the people of Morocco. A few of us looked like we should be in National Geographic, while us guys looked like, well...

We passed one of the main mosques in Fes but we were just allowed to peek inside through the open doors. There are seperate sections for men and women with a courtyard in the center. Much like other places of worship, the mosque was a place to gather during non-prayer times.

One of the things Fes is famous for is its leather tanning and a tannry was the next stop of our tour. As entered the store, with all of its ridicusly colored leather goods, and made our way up the stairs, a man handed us freshly cut mint. I wondered if it was a gesture of welcoming but soon realized as we reached the terrace that overlooks the outdoor tannery it was for the smell. Big suprise, leather tanning is a messy and smell business.

After our photoshot on the tereace we made our way back down thru the store. Soon I was being advised to buy various leather goods, bright yellow jackets, wallets, bags, all of which I turned down.


After a long stop for lunch we found ourselves in a very large rug store. On the top floor in a somewhat dimmly light corner, three women were handweaving a giant rug. It was amazing to watch how quickly their fingers could work. The owner told us they worked 8 hours a day doing this and that today all workers must be above 18. I found his claims dubious at best. It was pretty depressed the more you thought about them, their labors and their wages. More so when we found out the prices. The cheapest one was 200 euros with some going up to 2,000.

With a glass of delcious mint tea in hand we watched their elborate display of salesmanship. It was very amusing listening them pitch us these carpets when we were all just students and lived in rentals. "Which one do you like?" they would ask. I couldn't help but think of all the beer we have spilled on our carpets back at school and then having 500 euro rug. Not to mention that I doubted any of these rugs could even fit in my apartment. Of course stating the fact we were all students and were broke didn't stop them from unrolling about 20 carpets on top of each other.

Soon they began to shift their sales tactics and asked one of us "You want to make some money? This is how!" telling us that we could make a fortune reselling these rugs in the US. I informed one of them that none of these rugs could fit on a plane and he responded with the fact that they ship with DHL. As we left they all informed us to tell our parents about the place for when they visit Morocco to buy rugs, claiming that many people make the trip just for that.

It ended up raining at the end of the tour while we were on the other side of the Medina and we ended up taking 'taxis' back. And by taxis, I mean a guy with a very large van and another guy with a pickup truck. The van was fulled to brim with all the Spanish and American girls, while the guys rode in style in the truck listening to Moroccan/French Rap.

The next day the girls went to the spa while the guys hit the Medina to do some bartering. We got ourselves lost and stumbled onto an antique store. Originally one of us was going to buy just a small silver pendient for a necklace and the next thing we know we are buy two of them and three reproductions of Astrolabes, used to find north and the stars. We ended up being a little short and tryed to bargain some more. We told him we needed the extra money to eat, which was true since we hadn't had lunch yet, and he responded with you can eat lunch with me. At first we thought he was joking but instead he told us to come back at two to eat with him.

During that two hours we wandered some more and ended up in a small courtyard full of stalls. One of the venders struck up a conversation with my friend and soon enough he invited us to the top of a building that was adjacent to the courtyard.

It ended up having a great view and he told us all about the various sights. Soon the topic changed to the prices locals pay for goods compared to tourist. An example of this was the hash he pulled out of his pocket. He proceeded to tell us how much he paid for it and how much cheaper it was for the locals. They he said if we were interested in buying any, to which we politely responded with the fact we had flight to catch that afternoon, even though we weren't even remotely interested. He then said we could smoke and have tea with him, which we also turned down. On our way out one of the other vendors gave us as a gift some pumice stone and saided that he hoped we had enjoyed Morocco. Friendly people.


Returning to the antique store, the owner was nowhere in sight and though his assistent informed us that he would be back soon, we thought that he was really just pulling our leg. Sure enough five minutes later he appeared and asked if we were ready for lunch. We ended up having more mint tea and pita bread filled with grilled and seasoned beef, while he informed us of the history of Morocco. It was amazing. Afterwards we said our farewells and he said he hoped to see us again. Somehow we made our way through the labyrinth that is the Medina and caught the cab to the airport to head home.

It was a place that commercial tourism had yet to touch and a little shady; which are exactly the things I loved about Fes.