We had a very enjoyable trip from Chefchaouen to Fez driving a less busy and more scenic road which followed the ridge of the Rif Mountains. As it was a smaller road it allowed us to be able to stop many times to take in the beautiful views. The Rif Mountains have for centuries been known as a centre of cannabis farming and, since 2021 (like so many places in the world) it has become legal there to grow it for medicinal purposes. We thought that as we drove we might see some growing in the fields, but we didn’t. We were pretty sure, however, that the many men who were enticing us to stop were likely selling it though we were not sure about this.
The lovely scenery of the Rif Mountains.
More scenery of our trip through the Rif Mountains.
Chris checking out the rocks!
Dana was pretty nervous about driving into the city of Fez given the challenge of navigating Chefchaouen, but in actuality, it was really quite manageable. The highway seemed to lead us very close to the outer walls of the Medina. As we were turning a bend, a young man on a motorbike asked where we were going, and, after telling him a very mispronounced version of the name of our Riad (guesthouse), he led us through the streets to an underground parking lot. You just have to trust these things here! It almost begins to feel a bit magical that the help we need to find our way to where we are staying appears. Once parked in the very full parking lot, again with the guidance of the parking attendant, another man with a cart showed up offering to take our luggage to the Guesthouse. We knew that this was a good idea as he would find the way through the winding streets of the Medina that would be very hard for us to navigate. Google maps is not so accurate in Medinas as we found out! It was quite a long way before he stopped at a very unremarkable doorway and sure enough there was a little sign for the Riad Ouedghiri. After paying him for his services we made our way to our room. The entrance itself was a very small room, but as we climbed the three floors of large tiled steps, we discovered this amazing building with its incredible frieze work. It was hard work climbing those steps! We are discovering muscles we never knew we had! Most of the floors had rooms around an open space in the middle that went pretty much to the top of the building. Our floor covered the entire space and had chairs and tables set out in the Morocco style.
The third floor of the Riad Ouedghiri.
Our room was on two levels, which made it very interesting. We saw only one other French family when we were staying there, but there were likely other people whom we never met. Sultan, the manager of the Riad, kindly took us along one of the main Medina alleyways to near the “Blue Gate” where he showed us a restaurant where we could eat. We realized after the fact, that likely the restaurant he took us to was owned by a friend of his as the food was not great and was definitely a once-only place. It also had a lot of steps up to where diners were served! When we had entered the main street of the Medina, Dana had very luckily taken a photo of a sign that would remind us where we needed to turn to find our Riad ….. by the time we wended our way back, the alley looked so different as many of the sellers had packed up their stalls for the night and we might well have lost our way.
The view at sunrise from the top of our Riad.
The next morning, the night manager, Suleiman, brought up our breakfast which we ate in the sitting area outside our room. We loved Suleiman as he had a very gentle and warm energy, and we would often ask him questions about Fez. Breakfasts usually included a variety of breads – some plain, and others that are fried – and (sometimes) little pancakes. Often there was also a piece of cake. In addition, there was jam (often apricot, which is yummy), honey and sometimes local cheese and olives. There was always green or mint tea and coffee with hot milk. It was a very good thing that we had a good exercise plan (walking a lot and climbing endless stairs!) given the amount of bread we consumed each day!
Breakfast at the Riad Ouedghiri.
We were not sure whether or not we should arrange a guide to take us into the heart of the Medina as we had read and heard from others who have been in the large cities in Morocco that having a guide could be really helpful. We had been told that there are often a lot of touts wanting to guide visitors, or sell things to them, and that this could be very challenging to deal with! Also, it is easy to get lost in the maze of Medina alleys. Fortunately, we did not encounter this hassle during our time in Morocco and we really loved just finding our own way and taking our time. So we decided from the start in Fez to try finding our way around on our own. The first morning we to get to the Bab Boujloud (the Blue Gate), which seems to be the main gate to the Medina and is very grand. Interestingly, from inside the Medina, the gate looks green whereas from the outside it is a deep blue colour.
Bab Boujloud from inside the Medina.
Before starting to follow one of the two main streets in the Medina, we had a coffee in a little outdoor café (just to the right side of the Bab Boujloud pictured above) and took in the whole scene. What an amazing place! As we were sitting there, a man entered the gate with three or four mules loaded up with large gas cannisters; we watched him go into the main alley and start to wend his way down to the middle of the Medina. It is a whole other world!
At this time of year there are very few tourists. We could not imagine what it would be like in high tourist season! We were so happy that we were able to experience it without crowds of visitors.
One of the first things we encountered on entering the market was this butcher cleaning the counter of his shop and all these cats waiting to be fed. We were always touched by the way that Moroccans care for stray cats.
Our plan to not get lost was to follow the main street and not make any turns! This turned out to be a good way of not losing our way. It was quite an experience, just being immersed in endless stalls selling food and all manner of goods, and the many tourist shops. The streets always had people passing this way and that, and sometimes there were donkeys or mules carrying huge loads through the narrow streets. There were also men with carts taking goods in and out of the market. We had to be constantly aware of staying out of the way of the action. We marvelled at the skill of the cart drivers. We saw one driver with a cartload of eggs in open trays navigating his way down the hill into the heart of the market. I had thoughts or runaway carts and wondering just how we would handle that. Luckily it never happened!
Gas canisters being transported to the centre of the Medina.
Mule being unloaded.
Photo of the main road we walked along in the Medina.
One of the numerous men who transported goods by cart. There is a very ornate mosque-tower in the background.
As we walked down the street, Chris spotted a shop that sold a wide variety of items amongst which he saw was some old coins. He asked the shopkeeper if he maybe had any coins dating back to the earliest Arab rulers of Morocco. The shopkeeper said that a friend of his had some and showed Chris a couple of photographs of them on his cell phone. After seeing the pictures, Chris made an arrangement to come back the following day at 4 pm to look at them. At a few minutes before the appointed time, we both arrived at the shop — no coins, but an assurance the friend was on his way, so please sit down and have some tea. After a few phone calls, some coins were dropped off and were indeed what Chris had asked about though they were in rather poor condition so his offer to buy a few of them was so far under what the shopkeeper proposed on behalf of his friend that there was no attempt to reach a mutually agreeable price. We departed on good terms, though, which was really nice ..... "It's just business," the shopkeeper said as we continued on our way.
Chris speaking with the shop keeper about coins.
As we got into the heart of the Medina, we discovered some of the the Medrassas and Mosques that we had read about as “musts to see.” [Fez has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa". It is also considered the spiritual and cultural capital of Morocco (Wikipedia)]. Here is the description of Fez from the Lonely Planet: “In its heyday, Fez attracted scholars and philosophers, mathematicians and lawyers, astronomers and theologians. Craftsmen built them houses and palaces, kings endowed mosques and medersas (religious schools), and merchants offered exotic wares from the silk roads and sub-Saharan trade routes. Although Fez lost its influence at the beginning of the 19th century, it remains a supremely self-confident city whose cultural and spiritual lineage beguiles visitors. Something of the medieval remains in the world’s largest car-free urban area: donkeys cart goods down the warren of alleyways, and while there are still ruinous pockets, government efforts to restore the city are showing results”.
We visited the Al-Attarine Medrassa.
The Main Street was busy the whole time we were on it from morning through to the afternoon. We were so impressed that we had not gotten lost and in fact no one had even approached us to buy anything or to guide us anywhere!! The Bou Inania Madrassa (centre of learning) that we visited was simply beautiful. Here is a description of it: “The most architecturally refined of Fez’s theological colleges was built by the Merinid sultan Bou Inan between 1351 and 1357. Beyond the massive brass entrance doors, its interior courtyard is a masterpiece of elaborate zelligetilework, carved plaster and beautiful cedar lattice screens. Smaller courts off either side functioned as classrooms, and students lived upstairs. The detail of the work on the walls and doorways of the building were totally amazing. There were several floors of rooms that had been used by students in the past.
The centre court of the Bou Inania Madrassa.
More details of the centre court.
The centre strip of this photo is Arabic script detailing teachings from the Koran.
Just around the corner we found a coffee shop on the alley, which had a few plastic stools — during our stay in Fez we would often stop there for a coffee and sometimes a pastry to rest a bit before continuing to explore the Medina.
Fringing the Medina streets, there were so many small shops that housed tailors, weavers, sellers of food, sweets, olives, breads and so on. Each one was a little world of its own. Fez is definitely a feast for the senses! When in the streets, you know that you are walking in a place where people have been walking for hundreds of years.
A tailor in the market.
A weaver of silk scarves made from the Agave plant.
A sweet maker and seller.
This woman was making the most amazing form of bread which she started by spreading it out very thinly on the counter in front of her and then when it was the right size she would toss it over this oval heated bulb. Then she would start fold it into a smaller square pastry. What a skill!
As we were walking through the streets, in a particular area, we started to notice that there were men who were hurriedly carrying hides from the tannery and delivering them to various places.
Man carrying newly tanned leather skins through the market.
We stopped for lunch at a very small stall on the side of the alley. It had omelettes and chips and turned out to be a great choice. It was a very modest place, but the food was really tasty.
There were many different parts of the market called “souks” that we visited. Each had its own specialty: metalware, henna, food, leather etc. In any areas where meat was being sold, I had to watch where I looked as there were sights I did not want to see!
Spices!
Herbs and spices.
In the evening we headed towards the Blue Gate again and sat down at one of the many open-air restaurants that were in the area and had yet another Vegetable Tagine!
After a good sleep and our breakfast, we made our way to the Chouara Tannery which is very well known internationally as it has been photographed many times. “The largest of the medina's several tanneries, Chouara is one of the city’s most iconic sights (and smells). Operating since at least the 16th century, the area was heavily renovated in 2016, but the scene, viewed from the surrounding balconies, remains remarkably medieval. It's striking to see the hard physical labour that goes into the butter-soft, elegant leather goods sold in the surrounding workshops.”: Lonely Planet
Dana has been wanting to photograph this place ever since she saw it years ago. Yet, it is for sure a challenging place to go in terms of the smells and also the fact that these are all the skins of cows, goats, sheep and camels. The animals are mostly slaughtered for food, and then their skins are made into leather.
In order to have a view from above, we needed to find a good vantage point from one of a number of different shops that surrounded the tannery and that had a suitable balcony. We had checked it out in the Lonely Planet and Shop # 10 was recommended as having the best view. It was a bit confusing to find the place — one man wanted to guide us, but we preferred to go on our own. To our relief, he eventually gave up. We ended up choosing one of a few doors that had “# 10” on them and walked up through several floors leather goods to the balcony area. It was truly an amazing sight and we were grateful that the wind was such that the smells were not too bad. I had prepared by taking a Vicks inhaler should the tannery’s smell get too much …….. I used it a few times, but was happy that the smell was bearable!
Here is a description of the leather-tanning process used at the tannery: “Hides of cows, sheep, goats, and camels are processed by first soaking it in the white liquids. This liquid is made from a mixture of substances, including – wait for it – cow urine and pigeon poo. This explains why the tannery smells so bad! But these pongy ingredients play a vital role in softening the leather.
This process takes two to three days and prepares the hides to readily absorb the dyes. They are then soaked in the dyeing solutions, which use natural colorants such as poppy for red, indigo for blue, and henna for orange.
The men stand thigh-high in the dye and agitate the hides like human washing machines. Some of the tanners wore shorts, others wore waterproof overalls similar to those that fishermen wear.
When the desired colours have been achieved, the skins are pulled out of the pits, trimmed and laid out to dry on surrounding rooftops before being moved inside to be cut and sewn into the leather goods that you see throughout Morocco”.
As I was photographing, I had the sense of the tannery being a very sacred place because of the sheer amount of animal skins that were being tanned which is why I found it so disturbing to watch what was happening below us. There were a couple of tourists who were dressed in very fancy clothing ….. one was standing on the wall rimming the vats whilst the other photographed her. This went on for a long time and I felt it was really inappropriate as the men working there were undoubtedly Muslim. Later, these same women were on a balcony that was one level above the vats — they were again photographing each other dangling their legs, which were bare up to the thigh, over the balcony wall. Somehow it was not in keeping with where we were.
We spent quite a long time watching the workers in the tannery. Leaving, we had to walk back though the shop to get down to the street. Though the leather goods there were beautiful, I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy any of them. Now, as I write this weeks later, I’m still feeling deeply impacted by my tannery experience.
After, the tannery, we passed through the area where there were metal works and encountered this man working on this huge metal pot.
We had lunch and then visited a local park — a perfect way to counteract the impact of the tannery. It was a beautiful park and I felt very peaceful there. On our way back into the Medina, we passed through a fruit and vegetable market.
We wended our way back our Riad and then had our supper at a well-known restaurant called “The Ruined Garden”. It had a magical atmosphere and the food was fantastic. It was the perfect place to be on our last evening in Fez.
We had planned to stay one more day in Fez, but decided to leave early to give ourselves a little extra time. in the mountains on our way to the desert.
After breakfast, Suleiman arranged for a luggage cart to come to our Riad and — we hoped — take us back to our car in the underground parking lot. We really had no idea where the lot was, but luckily the cart driver knew! Before we left our Riad we took a photo of Suleiman, Chris and his mother. We so enjoyed our contact with him while staying there.
Luckily for us, the car was easier to get out of the carpark as the car next to us was not as close as it had been when we had parked. We each breathed a lungful of fresh air once we safely exited the garage!