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Published: August 7th 2007
Dye Vats
The yellow leather is highly prizedMy heart sank as I saw the bus that was to take us from Ouarzazate to Feś. We had bought our tickets the day before at the station and been assured that we would be travelling in a "large, air-conditioned coach"! Our bus had certainly seen better days and it was with a sense of trepidation that we set off at 2.30 in the afternoon for a 14 hour journey to Feś. The journey was made much longer as we stopped along the way to pick up as many passengers as possible. As the windows didn't open the only air conditioning was when the door of the bus flew open as we travelled along and we watched in amazement as the drivers wrestled with it and got it shut for a time! We welcomed the gusts of cooler air which gave us some respite from the heat. However, as the sun set we had to rug up to keep warm! My down jacket from Austria came in handy and I had a few appreciative glances as I wrapped my head in a blue Touareg scarf I had bought! We had no idea when the bus would make
stops along the way and if it did we had no idea how long it would be stopped. We decided to drink very little and at one stage I stayed on the bus while Michael dashed to the toilet and when he came back I went. We thought that was the best solution to not being left behind! We were the only westerners on the bus. We stopped for petrol a few times and watched one man filling the tank and smoking a cigarette at the same time! We listened to LOUD Moroccan music the whole night. I think it was a way to keep the drivers awake. We had some earplugs but they didn't work very well! My heart was in my mouth on more than one occasion as we wound our way through heavy fog in the mountains between 2-3am. We could hardly see the road and the driver kept changing from high beam to low beam. I prayed a lot and tried NOT to look! We arrived safely in Feś at 4.30 in the morning and decided to wait at the bus station until first light. Again we were the only westerners there and must have made
quite a sight as we wrote postcards, drank coffee and read for two and a half hours! Michael had picked up quite a few books during our time in Prague and actually read Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' while in Morocco! He made sure to keep the cover out of sight!
Feś Feś is the oldest of the imperial cities and is the symbolic heart of Morocco. It was founded when the Arabs swept across North Africa and Spain, and it quickly became the country's religious and cultural centre. Berbers settled there but the city retains its distinctive Arab flavour. The old Medina (Feś el-Bali) is one of the largest living medieval cities in the world. It is the most amazing place to explore and try not to get lost in! A million people live here and in order to preserve it UNESCO has designated it as a World Heritage Site and the World Bank has put money into its restoration. Michael and I spent two days wandering around the labyrinth of alleys and covered bazaars which sell pretty much anything you could think of. One of the local butcher shops had camel heads on display. We were taken
Medersa Bou Inania
Built between 1350 and 1357 this is said to be the finest of Fes' theological colleges built by the Merenids. to see some of the dye pits and tanneries with their very distinctive odours. It truly was like stepping back into medieval times.
The new part of town, Ville Nouvelle, by contrast is laid out in typical French colonial style with wide tree-lined boulevards, squares and parks. We spent a lot of time in the Rabat Post Office sending off some university applications for Michael. On the first evening that we arrived we set off to explore the area between the new town and the old part of town. I felt rather uneasy as we walked through a fairly deserted area and more so when we heard footsteps approaching from behind. A man stopped and greeted us and told us to beware of robbers so we decided to head back. It was the only time that I felt a bit unsafe.
Buying Carpets in the Medina I had been eyeing the Turkish and Moroccan carpets during our trip, wishing I could take something home but not knowing where to start and whom to trust. On our first day in the Medina as Michael and I were wandering along I saw a carpet that took my fancy and of
course as soon as we stopped to look at it, we were invited inside to view all the other 'beautiful' carpets. We decided to go in and were impressed by the carpets as well as by Mohammed and his young nephew who gave us a lesson on the different types of carpets and where they all came from. We drank mint tea and after a considerable period of time narrowed our choice down to not just one carpet but three!!! (One for me and two for Michael.) We agreed on a price and arranged payment. Mohammed appeared to be a decent guy so we left the carpets with him and wandered further into the Medina in search of a leather journal cover for Michael. We were 'befriended' by a number of young guides along the way who took us off the beaten track to see the dye vats and the tanneries. At one particular tannery there was a very heated discussion going on amongst the workers and when we asked our young guide what it was about he said that someone had come into the tannery from the alley and stolen a number of skins. Despite this calamity we were
still made to feel welcome as we walked carefully through the sloshy area around the pits. At one stage a young man took us to see the very old Muslim University in the Medina. He took us through myriads of turns and up narrow steps to a rooftop vantage point. It was as close as we could get to see the university. We thanked our guide and set off by ourselves to head back and were very pleased to see that we emerged back in the medina not far from where our guide had started! We also saw Berber blankets being woven and Michael bought one of those too! We couldn't believe we had bought so much in one day after not buying much at all during the rest of the trip. It took quite a struggle the next morning getting all four items into our packs!
In Search of a Leather Journal Cover The next day we set off again in search of a leather journal cover. There were plenty around but none the size that Michael wanted. We had just about given up when we bumped into our friend Mohammed, who took us to one of his
friends who owned a leather-working business. We explained that we were leaving Feś at 5pm that day for Rabat and didn't have a lot of time. They assured us that they could make a cover in two hours so Michael selected the leather and a design and after CAREFULLY explaining the measurements we set off to have some lunch and explore some more. On our return we were dismayed to find that they had made the cover exactly HALF the size of what Michael had ordered. They told us they could make one the correct size in half an hour. I wasn't convinced but Michael wanted to give it a go so I was persuaded to stay and give them a chance! Mint tea was brought for the agitated mother and when I realised that 20 minutes later they were still trying to get the measurements right for cutting out the leather, I became even more agitated. Slowly the cover took form but still too slowly for me! It was now after 4pm and we still had to get a taxi back to our hotel to collect our packs. Then we were supposed to get to the bus station 15-20
minutes before the bus left.
Finally the cover was ready at 4.30pm but I was now in tears and the owner of the leather shop was trying to placate me with offers of more mint tea and comforting words like, 'Please my mother don't cry." (I'm not sure why I was upset as it wouldn't have been the end of the world if we had missed our bus!) One bonus of the whole episode was that the smaller journal cover was thrown in as well so I now have a mini version of Michael's lovely journal cover! The owner told his young son to take us to the closest area for taxis so we set off in hot pursuit through the narrow alleyways in the medina. On emerging outside we couldn't find a free taxi and in desperation we asked a random man to take us back to town. He listened politely to our story (in broken French), seemed to agree to give us a ride and then - as we were about to get into his car - he drove off!! It was now 4.45 and I thought there was no way we would make it to the
Bab Bou Jeloud
Built in 1913 this entrance gate to Fes El-Bali (Old Fes) is a recent edition. bus station in time. Just then we saw another man get into his car and thought we would try one last time. Imagine our surprise when it turned out to be Mohammed, the carpet salesman! I think he took pity on me as I looked 'trés desolé' by now and we were soon heading back to town with him. He had to stop at the Post Office and pick up his wife and a friend and then we headed for the hotel. I explained that there was no way he could get us there on time and he assured us that he would! He said that if we missed the bus he would drive us to Rabat himself! His wife was thrilled as her parents come from there and she hadn't seen her parents for some time! Mohammed parked at the hotel and told me to stay in the car while he jumped out with Michael and ran to collect our packs. It was now peak hour and Mohammed wove in and out of the traffic taking as many back roads as he could. We got to the station at 5pm on the dot and the bus was ready to
go. Mohammed jumped over the barrier (I think he thought he might actually have to drive us to Rabat at this point!) and explained the situation to the officials. They agreed to take us and soon we were on board and heading to our next stop. We were amazed and humbled at how much Mohammed had gone out of his way for us!
Next up: Rabat, Casablanca & Tangier!... as well as some reflections on Morocco!
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Nick de Garis
non-member comment
congratulations
Congratulations Barbara, you have nearly finished your trip diaries... don't know how you ever find the time. I enjoyed this one. Nick