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Fantastic Fes

Fes is known to be a city full of artisans and we had been promised a tour of some of the best during our visit.  But first, it was time to feast. As soon as we had arrived, we were taken into the Medina to Restaurant Dar Hatim, a small family run restaurant to try a local specialty – pastilla.  Our guide explained this as chicken pie with sugar and cinnamon which didn’t sound that appealing!  But once we got there, we were served the most amazingly tasty feast.  Salads, breads, lentils, vegetables, and the most delicious chicken pies -thankfully not sweet at all.

feast

It was made all the more incredible when you consider it was Ramadan and the chefs making our meals had not eaten or drunk anything since 2.30 AM – they couldn’t even taste the food to ensure the flavours were right.


Fes

Fes is home to over a million people, and not even the locals know their way through all the windy lanes – no amount of detailed maps would help us navigate this without getting lost. So wisely, Intrepid gave us a local guide for the day.  We started at the Royal Palace.

Fes Royal Palace

According to our guide the palace grounds are incredible even including a golf course behind these walls.  Unfortunately, although we knocked, there was no invitation in to view.

Fes Royal Palace Doors

As well as wandering the streets we were treated to many behind the scenes tours, starting at the mosaic workshops where we saw them labouring over intricate tables and fountains.

Fes - Mosaic artisans

This was followed by the tannery, where workers cured leather in large vats of liquid and dyes. We were warned about the smells and even given mint leaves to put under our noses to block it out – and we were a couple of floors above the vats. Can only imagine the smell for the poor men who work in these every day.

Fes TanneryYou can find anything you want in the medina and although we probably only saw a fraction of it, it was mind-blowing.

Grains, spices and vegetables

Fes Medina

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Fish and MeatFes sellers

Fes Camel Sellers

Soaps

Fes - Soap Sellers

Lanterns

lanterns

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Casablanca, Rabat and Meknes

Exceedingly high expectations,  a tour group of random people, extremely hot weather and visiting during Ramadan; our trip to Morocco could have been a disaster… But it wasn’t.  Intrepid’s Best of Morocco tour was a highlight of the travels so far, and Morocco is one of the most magical countries I’ve visited. In just 15 days we covered so much of the country, from high in the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara to the beaches and more, with a fabulous guide Abdullah sharing so much about this beautiful country.

Due to very patchy internet coverage, and the need to sort through almost 1,000 photos, the Moroccan adventures will be split into a few posts.

Casablanca

Mosque Hassan II is one of the few mosques where non-Muslims can visit and it is breath-taking. The mosque looks old, but was in fact only completed in the 1990’s at an eye-watering cost of $700M euro. It can hold over 25,000 people inside and 80,000 outside.  During Ramadan the courtyard outside is completely full during prayers

We’re standing a good couple of hundred metres back to get it all in the frame.

Mosque Hassan II

Walking around the outside of the Mosque it’s immediately clear the building is huge, but its not until you walk inside that just how big, and how detailed it is becomes apparent.

Mosque detail

A one hour tour runs a few times a day ($12) and provides some great insights.  The intricate carved wood roof is retractable and can retract in just 3 minutes.  And the Hamam (bathing area) in the basement is only for show and is not used.

Mosque Hamam

Rabat

Next up was Rabat, a quick train trip from Casablanca.  Here we spent the morning exploring our first Medina (old town). Moroccan cities are an interesting contrast with the old town sitting right next to the modern area of town.  Stepping inside the medina is like a different world.

Rabat- Old and New

One of the benefits of visiting during Ramadan is that the normally busy towns are quite empty – both as tourists stay away, and locals are often resting or inside. Rabat’s old town is beautiful – all painted blue and white, and narrow winding streets.

Rabat Old Town

The doors are all ornately decorated.

Rabat doors

Not quite sure where we’re going, but it’s pretty.

rabat old town

Meknes madness

The low light of Morocco came early in the trip, on day 2.  We were all given a free morning to explore, and a map.. only the map was a little light on detail.  Couple this with the fact that no taxi driver seemed to know where any of the ‘must sees’ were, and almost all of our tour group being taken for a ride by the locals, and we were all pretty happy to get out of Meknes.  In our case, we were ‘befriended’ by a local offering to take us to our location, only to take us on a 20 minute ‘tour’ of the medina – and no doubt half his friend’s shops.  It was only once we had got rid of him at the main square we realised we had only been 100 metres from where we needed to be when we first met him!  Still, no harm done, and a funny story to look back on now.

Lost in Meknes

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