Blogs from Fes, Fès-Boulemane, Morocco, Africa - page 3

Since I was staying in a guest house in the medina, I spent most of my time in Fes inside the medina walls, usually lost, but I did venture outside a couple of times. For me, the easiest way to get out of - and back into – the medina was through the Bab Boujloud, sometimes referred to as the Blue Gate for its tilework. “Bab” means gate, and there are a number of them in the walls of the medina. My shortcut for remembering the name of this one was to remember it as Bab “Boogaloo,” which isn’t anywhere close to correct, but helped me remember the distinction between it and Bab Jdid. Musée du Batha Just a short distance outside the gate is Dar Batha, a museum housed in a nineteenth century palace. Of ... read more

Let me start by saying I am extremely fortunate to be able to travel the way I do. I have a great respect for all faiths, and of the people who practice their faith. I am well aware of the privilege I have of living in a place with clean water that comes out of the tap, and of not living in an active war zone. I know that my complaints fall under the heading of inconveniences, not problems, but still, some days… There are a few things I know I’m good at: I am a good researcher, I’m good at organizing and planning, and I can whip up a pretty good green curry chicken. But I failed to plan as I should have, and I also thought I knew enough to not have to research ... read more

Der Tag begann schon schlecht. Nieselregen. 8 °. Zuerst Bergstrecke, so dass man nicht vorwärts kam. Dann wurde es besser. Viele Dörfer. Überall lauerten Horden von Polizisten mit Radargeräten. In zwei Orten war eine Taxlerdemo. Ich war dann hinter John und Richard. John zog heraus, um zu überholen, hinter ihm kam einer daher, der ebenfalls überholen wollte. Auto rammt Motorrad. MR im Graben. Auto überschlägt sich zweimal. Erstaunlich: niemand ist wirklich verletzt. Aber dann beginnt der Zirkus. Polizei. Keiner will die Aussagen der Zeugen. Schließlich fahre ich weiter. Die Unfallbeteiligten wurden dann ins Kkh gebracht und untersucht, obwohl klar war, dass sie ok waren. Und dann wurden beide Parteien in ein Zimmer gesetzt um sich zu einigen. Das Auto war ein Mietauto, unversichert. John fühlte sich im Recht (?), der junge Autofahrer hat schlichtweg nicht so ... read more

Toda we head from Fez to Casablanca. Our taxi arrives on time and our driver speaks English so all is looking good. We first head to Volubius which is a Roman city outside of Mekness. Becs wants to get a guide but Constance is convinced we can self guide using Lonely Planet. Inevitably this leads to an argument, to settle the peace Gus runs off to find a guide. I would probably say that even though he was difficult to understand sometimes the guide was worth the DHM150 (the Chief Negotiator wanted to have a crack at him but we convinced here that Gus had already negotiated very hard). Although Constance did follow us around with the Lonely Planet trying to prove that it could have been done just as easily. After Volubius we head for ... read more

The breakfast at the dar is buffet style with our new Senegalese pal Momadu (as in “Daddy don’t but Momadu”) at the spatula. We haven’t got a damn thing planned for today, but we do know that we are in Morocco’s oldest medina/souk combo and that any kind of decent travelers would do something about that. So, we check in with Said and ask if we can hire a guide. He directs his only word, “Yes,” toward the problem and we’ll have one at the door in an hour. Lhasen shows up with a broad smile and a professorial air. He’s late 50-60s, but like normal 50-60s, not Said the hash dude’s 50-60s… which means be must be 43. We’ve got him for three hours, but the tour starts off pretty slow. He stops in front ... read more