Blogs from Fès-Boulemane, Morocco, Africa - page 10

Finally here in just about 1 piece...Train to Brussels, bus to Charleroi, Ryanair to Fes..pouring rain..... and cold not at all what was expected of Africa...I know, I know, I know...it is not monolithic...First contact with overland truck is not encouraging, they are in the medina and we cannot find them or so they say......we must find a place for the night. I feel like Joseph in Bethlehem, dragging my donkey with pregnant Mary past closed doors in the dark, through the winding alleys of Fes. Finally a Riad! Of course the usual let's take advantage of the foreigners ensues..overcharging is rife in Morocco, my recommendation always book accomodation online...We end up dragging our bags back down the stairs as the room we are given for 70 euros has 1 bed and a crib....they are insistent ... read more

After taxi, train, bus and plane we are at last in beautiful rich Morocco. Rich in tradition, history, culture and the radiant warmth of the people; beautiful in geography, art and the care and value put toward so many things....... read more

Nachdem ich morgens/nachts um etwa 04:00 oder 05:00 Uhr vom lautem Gebetsaufruf einer nahegelegenen Moschee geweckt wurde (meine Empfehlung: Ohrenstöpsel), hat mich an diesem Tag das strahlende Wetter und der Ausblick auf das Meer und die Stadt während dem Frühstück für das leicht Chaos am Vorabend entschädigt. Tanger hat definitiv seine schönen Seiten. Ich bin dann auch bald zum modernen Bahnhof gefahren und habe mich auf den Weg nach Fes, der ältesten der 4 Königsstädt gemacht. Dort war der Transport zum traditionellen marokkanischen Hotel in der Medina zu einem vernünftigen Preis durch meine Voranmeldung per Email perfekt organisiert. Solche Hotels würde ich jedem Marokko-Urlauber empfehlen und den Grund dafür sieht man auf den nächsten Bildern. Wenn auch eine westliche Führung dieser Gasthäuser erheblich zum Komfort beiträgt. Sie sind auf jeden Fall besser als ein westliches Business ... read more

Sensibly we chose to leave Chefchaouen for Fez at midday, so we would be en route in the hottest part of the day. Sure enough the temp gauge quickly rose to 30C and in full motorbike kit anything black attracted the full ferocity of the North African sun. It was hot and tiring work. The road out of the Rif yielded visual treats aplenty and the road snaked enough to be interesting, without being that technical. But you had to concentrate like f*ck and you certainly would have been foolhardy to corner at anything like close to the limit. You never knew what was round the corner – a suicidal truck driver trying blind overtakes with near head-on misses ahead, or homicidal maniacs cutting the corner forcing you off line. Both were commonplace. The road surface ... read more

The smell of a place, the first time you take it in, tells you a lot about what you will find there, even if you think you aren’t looking for anything. After managing to slip through the seams of a Spanish national general worker’s strike the day of our flight to Morocco, I stepped off the plane with the scent of warm wind, palm trees, of earth and of well, life coming to me from across the runway in Casablanca. After spending an hour and a half in the tiny, smoke-filled airport with a friendly cat, we found ourselves tumbling out of a van in the middle of Marrakech, a 45-minute flight away from Casablanca. After getting our bags out of the back, dodging a donkey cart full of dirty onions, 15 taxis and a handful ... read more