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Published: November 19th 2010
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our room at Dar Melody We are now in Morocco and WOW... what a change! We landed in Fes early afternoon and within 20 minutes we were right in the middle of absolute mayhem. Most old arab cities, we have learned have two parts: the medina (old town) and nouvelle ville (new town). Fes' medina is the largest of any city in Morocco and is the largest pedestrian only section of any city in the world. Parts of it are over 1000 years old and none is newer than ~500. Traditionally everyone lived in the medina but as people's wealth has increased, many have moved out to the nouvelle ville where houses have modern comforts such as plumbing and heating/cooling. So the medina is now populated by lower middle class Moroccans and guest houses hosting tourists. The population of the medina is 400,000 and there are 80 guest houses thus there are far more Moroccans than tourists about which is great!
The alleyways are narrow and the medina is made up of riads. Each riad is is 3 storeys high and has a court yard that is open. We were told that upwards of 20-25 people live in each riad (they are quite large) representing 4-6
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the view from the riad rooftop families. One must negotiate with each of these families in order to purchase the entire riad.
Anyhow, Bernard (guesthouse owner) parked the car at the base of the riad and it was 'game on.' We were dodging donkeys, carts, and children amongst throngs of people and merchants selling everything from freshly cut camel heads (no joke) to bars of soap. We arrived at Dar Melody, our guesthouse, which was lovely; our room was massive and incredibly well decorated (see photo).
After dropping off our bags and freshening up briefly, Laurence (Bernard's wife) offered to take us to the top of the medina (which is on a hillside). As she led us to her car (there are no cars within the medina, so inhabitants park in lots surrounding the area and walk in) we noticed how friendly everyone was. Laurence called 'hello' to her neighbours through each open doorway we passed, and shook hands or exchanged kisses on the cheek with those we met in the street. In turn, we were greeted just as warmly.
At the top of the medina, she gave us some pointers on finding our way home, and introduced us to a restaurant owner friend of hers
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the holes prevent cracks in the walls due to the temperature fluctuation whom we could rely on to help us find a taxi to take us home when we were ready. This is noteworthy because the souq (market) is a complete maze with stall upon stall of vendors selling a beautiful array leather goods, clothing, metal works, and spices. Getting lost is expected. With all of the pretty things on display, the smells of spices, perfumes and food, the sounds of people saying hello or prayers called out over speakers throughout the city - it's a circus for your senses, and just as much fun. With the Eid (a major Muslim holiday – we'll write more about it in our next post) coming up in a few days, the medina was also filled with heaps of sheep being brought home for the special day.
We worked up an appetite and found Chez Said's restaurant again (phew!) and sat down to a typical meal of Moroccan mint tea salad, tagine and couscous. Everything was absolutely phenomenal and fairly priced.
On our second day in Fez, we acquired a guide which we would recommend for anyone visiting for a limited amount of time. With our guide's knowledge of the medina, he led us to
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the blue gate - entrance to the medina the points of interest and also helped us negotiate better prices and quality of some items we wanted to buy. One stop along our tour was to the tanneries, a cooperative of somewhere around 50 families, where you can see how leather is prepared, dyed and dried before it becomes beautiful items like poufs and shoes.
Our time in Fez was a fantastic introduction to Morocco, and we were so excited to pick up our rental car and find out what else the rest of our time here would offer. Our next stop: Chefchouen & Moulay-Idriss.
A few other notes to share from the first few days in Morocco:
1)There are very few women visible in public places. They are in the background at home doing the real work. It's a bit strange and Sabrina certainly feels a bit odd with it all. As there are few women around, there are obviously few instances where women & men are seen holding hands or kissing. The men are however very friendly towards one another and will often be seen walking arm in arm or hugging. On the Eid, men were seen everywhere doing a 4 cheek greeting (I'm sure
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souq butcher...look closely we've all seen the French do 2 cheeks or the Dutch 3... well, imgaine 4 especially when one walks up to a table at a cafe with multiple friends... quite the ordeal!
2)Most of the women do wear some form of head scarf. Only one's husband is to see their wife's bear head. There are however women about who don't wear head scarves and in fact some even wear western clothes. Generally it's the younger generation pushing this envelope.
3)Driving in Morocco is not too bad as long as one keeps in mind the following:
a. Sideview mirrors are used for doing one's makeup or hair. NEVER assume that the car in front knows you're behind and/or passing.
b. Passing can be done whenever and wherever. A small 'toot' on the way by lets them passed car know.
c. The road is shared with donkeys, mopeds, pedestrians, bicycles etc...
d. Driving through a souq (market) is insane... there are literally people on top of your car... strategy: drive slowly but at a constant speed and somehow people move.
4)The climate has been rather cool and in some parts downright cold. The highest temperature we've come across was
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a typical souq 'street' ~18C in Fes and we woke up one morning to 3C in Chefchouan. On our trip to the Sahara (next blog) we encountered snow capped peaks and a region that looked very familiar to the Alps. The Atlas mountains are found through the middle of the country and boast peaks as high as 14,000 feet. We traveled over two passes in our car at 7,000 feet.
5)Everything must be negotiated. Our hosts in Fez told us right off the bat that basically we should be paying 30-50% of the original asking price. I (Jason) have an aversion to this whole culture of 'no price' after having hacked my way through it in SE Asia. I just don't see the point of haggling over EVERYTHING. Tell me the price and let me decide if I want to buy or not. At any rate, if someone said 150, I would determine the price (say 50) and rather than insulting them with offering 20, I would just say '50' and stick to that price. Naturally the trick to negotiating is always being willing to walk away. The 'nice' part of negotiating with Moroccans versus the Thais or Vietnamese is that they smile
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lunch! amazing! and generally don't get too angry if things aren't going their way. It's annoying but I'm a seasoned pro at it now. One must always remember, that a good price for the us (the buyer) is one that we are happy paying.
Incidentally, with the maps we are including (below) you can simply click on it and use it just like any other Google Map... so you can zoom in to see more detail.
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Randy
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Re negotiating
Two words: Soviet style