Chefchaouen to Fes.
Chefchaouen, Blue Pearl of Morocco. It is another of those what an incredible places. It is fabulous. I walked for several hours this morning, covering several miles in and around the Medina, going up and down countless hills and steps along countless narrow streets and twice headed way up into hills about 200 to 300 feet above the city. I visited and re-visited many places as I walked around and around and up and down the old city, including places and sections I briefly visited last night. The medina looked lovely at night, but even lovelier and more spectacular in the daylight.
The medina is a warren of narrow and picturesque streets and alleys, with steps up and down, and sometimes moderately steep hills, that are a pleasure to walk and explore. Despite the many, many shops and vendors lining almost every street and in the marketplaces at the center of the medina, I was never once hassled, although I was approached quite a few times by young and old guys alike in the central squares, wanting me to follow them for a tour, or wondering if I liked to smoke (hash or grass). But even then, they weren’t overly insistent or persistent and more-or-less took a friendly no for an answer.
Twice I walked up into the hills over the city, with wonderful panoramic view of the blue and white Medina and city below, built into the cliffs and hills of the Rif Mountains and sitting at around 2,000 feet. I first visited the ruins of the old fortification walls outside and about two or three hundred feet above the kasbah, dating back to 1471 when the kasbah was itself built, and that was bit of a hike, and pretty steep going at times.
Just before heading back to my hotel for my noon checkout, I took another stiff uphill walk, also to about 200 feet above the city, to visit the Spanish Mosque. Unlike the medieval ruins of the fortification walls, the mosque was built in the 1920s, when this part of northern Morocco was under the Spanish Protectorate, which like the French Protectorate elsewhere in Morocco lasted from 1912 to 1956. I didn’t actually get all the way, as it was about time to head back down to the medina so I could make my check out time. plus my bus was at 1 pm, and I had to get back into the bus station into town, so I missed hiking the final 300 yards or so. Still, maybe not quite as panoramic as the very top, the views of the city were nevertheless amazing.
Talking of the surrounding mountains, the city derives it’s name from the two mountain peaks that overlook it Drawn from the Berber word for horns, Ashawen, Chefchaouen means between the horns.
I also visited the Chefchaouen kasbah, built in 1471 when the city was founded by Moulay Ali ibn Rashid as a fortified settlement. What’s left of the original kasbah is small and is located by Place Outa el Hammam, the central square in the medina, but offers tranquility and nice gardens within its well preserved walls.
There’s a substantial waterfall about 8 miles outside of town, but I had neither the means or time to visit, although would love to have. But I did visit the small cascading waters of the mountain stream Ras El Ma, which means head of the water, and sits at the northeastern edge of the medina, lined by riverbank eateries and street vendors, and a pretty popular and lively scene for both locals and visitors. It’s just another great spot in the medina, and itself quite just lovely.
It was pretty hot out, starting out much cooler and fresher when I started walking in the early morning, but pretty warm by noon. I worked up quite a sweat, and especially on those stiff hill climbs. Good exercise. Too bad I only get it when I’m on these trips.
I checked out and decided to walk back to the bus station, a little over a mile in the downtown area, rather than take a taxi. Backpack laden, it was a good walk, flat and downhill all the way. I also got to see a little of the city outside of the medina, which seems like a small but nice enough city, at least along the route I walked.
I caught the bus without event, and headed for Fes, about 125 miles southeast, and taking about 4½ hours, although that was with a 30 minute break for passengers.
After leaving the dramatic landscape of the mountains, heading down to lower elevations the landscapes were sort of the reverse of yesterday. The scenery gave way to rolling tree and grove dotted hills to flatter fields, still green but dry and arid looking, with mountains low in the far distance. But despite brown and drier looking fields, we didn’t pass any that looked as distressed as those nearer to Rabat, and although buildings along the way as we neared Fez looked functional and not always well maintained, we didn’t see the sort of decaying and run down buildings and villages that marked the first hour and more of of my journey from Rabat yesterday.
We arrived in Fes a little after 5:30, the second or third largest city, after Casablanca (and maybe Tangier – it all depends which internet source you use), with about 1.2 million people. It’s an old city, founded around 789 ACE, and the medina here, Fes el-Bali, dates back to the early 9th century, when the city was greatly expanded. Over the centuries, it became capital of several Moroccan dynasties, becoming and remaining a center of religion, scholarship, commerce, and traditional crafts. Here’s where the next part of my adventure began.
I caught a petite taxi from the bus station, as it was too far to walk to the medina, plus I wanted to get to my riad, the Saphir Blue Fes Hotel and get settled. I’ll be here two nights, and leaving for Menkes by train sometime Tuesday morning. I also caught a very friendly cab driver, and we conversed in scattered and broken French and English. Nice guy. He dropped me off at Place R’Cif at the edge of the old medina, as, like like all these medinas, it cannot be entered by car as there’s simply no room (although motor bikes and small utility vehicles, as always, abound). It was very different than than the other medinas I’ve visited, and much older, and not especially picturesque or charming at all, with very narrow and crowded streets that were far more like dense alleys than streets, with functional and less than charming shops throughout, selling much more functional goods. Not charming; a kind of unsavory place, at least on first glance
I followed Google Maps to the hotel, which took me through countless small and crowded lanes and alleys, until finally depositing down an even more rundown side alley, and in the middle of nowhere. I switched to Apple Maps, which had me walk an additional ten minutes, now taking me out of the alleys and into the wide but really run down and disheveled streets with no charm at all, with many vendors everywhere, their goods laid out on blankets on the road, selling almost anything it seemed, mostly used, and locals roamed looking for I don’t know what. There was absolutely no order to it, and I weaved my way through seemingly random islands of used goods being sold from piles laid out on the road. It was the polar opposite of charming, although an interesting reflection of this medina’s marketplaces. I’ll revisit tomorrow, with fresher eyes, as for now I was still looking for the mysterious Saphir Blue Fes.
Again, this time walking though open streets filled with these flea markets before returning to the alleys and lanes of the medina, Apple Maps again took me nowhere, announcing I’d arrived. I switched tactics, and stopped using the street address of the riad as my guide, and instead referred to the directions given in the Expedia app for the hotel, where I’d booked it. This time, both Google and Apple Maps agreed on the location, with still more walking with my backpack in hot and sweaty weather, but again no dice, depositing me at at a riad, but not the Saphir Blue Fes. By now, I’d probably been walking for 30 minutes or more, and my back was very sweaty under than backpack. A local guy asked where I was going, and I told him and he said he knew the place, and would take me. Uh oh, but I agreed, and off we went for another five or six minute walk, away from where the maps said the riad was, while he was taking me along some more narrow lanes, talking in broken English and trying to convince me what a good guide he was, and perhaps I’d hire him for tomorrow.
He took me to a completely unmarked door along a lane, which he assured me was the Saphir Blue, even though a ways from where the Maps had directed me, and after ringing the bell and knocking for perhaps six minutes, during which I was increasingly suspecting this was the wrong place, the door was opened by a young woman, clearly not expecting anyone, let alone a guest for the hotel. It was, in fact, the Riad Saphir Blue, and after she made a call or two to her boss, I was invited in and Hadid and I parted (no tip given or seemingly expected), with him giving me his number, hoping I’d call him tomorrow. Fat chance!
The friendly young lady didn’t speak English, and although I thought she spoke French, it dawned on me after a while that she didn’t speak French either. Not that I can, other than a few words and sentences here and there, but I was using trusty Google translate from English to French, which is the second language here, only to later realize that she didn’t understand a word, and I should have instead been translating into Arabic. I spoke several times to the guy on the phone, who did speak English. By now, I was in my room, and not at all happy with this place. I was already thinking I’d be booking elsewhere if I can, and even starting looking while she was on the phone for one of her many calls to her boss. Finally, it dawned on the boss that although I was at the Saphir Bleu, this was a different Saphir Bleu, which is why they weren’t expecting me and seemed so disorganized. He actually was good enough to call my Saphir Bleu, and about ten minutes later a young guy came to collect me. Phew. It’s not that the Saphir Bleu I was at was a dump, as it wasn’t, but it was an unattractive place to stay, with no amenities at all it seemed.
I wound up at the Riad Mouna instead, also just a door along a wall in the medina, but this time clearly marked, and I was thinking what th’ hell, as this was not the Saphir Bleu, but I was welcomed there by the owner and assured I was in the right place.
They had been waiting for me at the correct Saphir Bleu, which I apparently was actually very close to before losing my way with Hadid, also owned by the same young guy, and he had planned to have me stay here instead, as they were doing some work at the Saphir Bleu. We sat in the sumptuous and comfortable central courtyard of the Riad Mouna while they prepared my room, and talked, He was very friendly and helpful while I drank the customary tea I was offered (I had to use three lumps of sugar, though), and told me this was actually an upgrade as a result of the change, and this place offered amenities such as prepared meals, massage, and tours.
All finally went well, and I got into my room around 7:30, and decided to eat here, and Katia, who I think is the manager (and masseuse), showed me the menu and asked at what time I would like to eat, and said my meal would be ready downstairs. I wanted to keep traditional, having tried tajine, and ordered cheken pastilla, a spiced, sweet and savory chicken pie wrapped in layers of thin puff pastry, with clarified butter and an egg-onion sauce and toasted almonds, and a crunchy texture. It was delicious, but after a while a little too rich for me, although I enjoyed it very much
I finished up adding photos to my blog from yesterday until 8:30, when I ate, and never went out again. Just too tired after a long day and a lot of walking, quite a bit with my now full and moderately heavy backpack (it’s those multiple pairs of sandals I bought).
It’s very nice here, quite lovely, and very quiet as I realize a riad is intended to be. But it’s sort of like living in a monastery, secluded from the outside world , with no outside windows, just windows to the indoor courtyard, in the design of a traditional riad. This was also the case for my riad in Rabat, where I couldn’t even figure how to get out to the street, except that one was much brighter inside, and significantly smaller than the Riad Mounana where I’ll be tonight and tomorrow.
Finally, late now, to bed.