Thursday, March 21, 2002 21:17
Weather: Hot and sunny again!
Location: Grand Hotel Fès, Fès, Morocco

I stayed up last night and finished One Hit Wonder, which was a mistake: now I'm out of reading material, and Morocco has far fewer foreign language outlets than, say, Spain. (Not counting French. There are French newspapers everywhere... I guess I could use the practice...)

This morning I got up and packed everything. I went back into the medina for another lovely omelette breakfast with mit tea, then strolled down to the post office to drop off yesterday's post cards. When I told the lady behind the counter I was off to Fès, she suggested I take a grands taxi from there to see Moul ay Yaacoub, about 20 km away. I wasn't completely clear on what was there, but gather that it's ruins of some kind.

That duty done, I went back into the medina to visit the Kasbah's gardens and museum. Dr. 10 got me in the door. Behind the fortress walls, the garden was a little haven from the bustle of the square outside, whose noise was completely muffled. However, the garden itself was under maintenance, with a half-dozen men digging up some of the pathways and carting around various plants. I took refuge in the castle's main building, which housed the museum. This comprised of one room for local clothing (photos of young brides and grooms suggested that traditional marriages are between teenagers), one room for weapons (mainly turn-of-the-century long bore flintlock rifles with carved stocks) and various smaller examples of pottery and woodwork.

It didn't take long to finish in the museum, so I still had some time before my 1pm bus. I went back to the Internet café for another round of emails and Blogging, and then finally traipsed up to my hotel to pick up my bags and my passport, and to pay for my stay.

Last stop was lunch: I'd promised the young proprietor of the Al Kasbah restaurant that I would return for lunch today. He spoke excellent English and had been a great host yesterday for lunch, so I went back and enjoyed a lamb couscous before getting on the road. As I left, he gave me several of his business cards to pass on to any friends who might be coming to Chefchaouen!

With my heavy pack, I walked out of the medina and flagged a petit taxi to the bus station. I got there in plenty of time and sat in the shade until the bus arrived. I'd been worried that it might prove crowded--according to the Lonely Planet it can be difficult getting a spot on the Chefchaouen-Fès route--but there was actually plenty of room and I was able to spread out.

I dozed initially, but woke as we started coming to the middle of the Rif mountain range. The Rif mountains seemed to be mostly green, with small forests and farm plots everywhere. Given the heat of the sun, I can only guess that it must have rained very recently, as the vegetation was still thriving.

We made a couple of short stops on the way, but were in Fès by 5pm. As we left the Rif mountains and passed into the Middle Atlas area, the land got flatter and drier. Many of the farms had aqueducts set up to irrigate their fields, though none were in active use and some were in obvious disrepair.

Fès itself seemed to take up an awful amount of horizon, spread out across a wide, fairly flat valley. The bus pulled through the outskirts of town and turned in to stop at the CTM depot in the Nouvelle Ville. As I picked up my luggage, I was in turn picked up by a local tour guide, who walked me to the hotel and arranged to meet me tomorrow for a tour of the city. His price matched the one listed as standard in the Lonely Planet, so I'm guessing he's legit, though I'll ask to see his identification in the morning.

The Grand Hotel Fès was recommended to me by Molly. It's a large colonial-style 3-star hotel, with high ceilings, large western-style bathrooms, and old but solid furniture. It seemed very expensive after Chefchaouen, but Dr. 350 per night is still only C$50, so I suppose it's not too bad. It was verynice to have the space to do my laundry, which I did before dinner.

Dinner was an Andalucian pizza (topped with tuna, olives, hardboiled egg and green peppers) at a place around the corner. Very tasty.

Now for an early night. Lots of walking tomorrow!
posted by Tom at 9:44 PM | link |