Arriving in Fes on Friday, everything is closed for Jumu’ah. It’s dark and spooky – almost scary. There are more hustlers here than other places and they are more aggressive. La Shukran works but they still try one more time. Our riad is down progressively smaller and darker streets. The last few are hardly wide enough for use with out bags on our shoulders. When we finally arrive there is no indication on or near the door to say that this is the riad we want. Three kids sitting near the door insist it is the entrance to Dar 7. We ring the bell and the lady that answers speaks no English at all. An auspicious introduction to Fes.
Saturday morning, breakfast at 8am. Had a short chat with a couple from England who were leaving today. Before we had finished eating another couple from Kentucky sat down and we spent an hour visiting with them. They had travelled quite a bit but were interested in some of the places we had been. It was one of those conversations that make travel enjoyable. Well past the time we had planned on getting out we were finally on the road. We left through the door we arrived to yesterday. The daylight made it much less ominous. A few turns in deserted shoulder width streets and we arrived on a street running full tilt with all the shops open and wall to wall people. After a bit of wandering I realize the crowd is not all tourists. There were a good number of locals out shopping as well. This is the 5th or 6th medina we have visited so the narrow winding streets are quite familiar. There are a few thing a bit different here in Fes. There are a lot more covered streets here. Good for shade and I presume rain but it plays hell on navigation with one’s phone. We have been using off line Google maps to find our way to the places we had listed to see and to return to our riad.
First on our list is the Medersa El Attarine, part of a school for religious studies built between 1323 and 1325. It has been completely refurbished and is quite a nice space, beautifully detailed. There was a 50MAD admission which is not much money and is the nicest example of the architecture of that time. The students residence is interesting but not nearly the same condition as the Medersa.
It took quite some persistence but we finally found the Anou. A cooperative for promoting and selling the handcrafts of the women of Fes. There was a weaving class in progress when we got there. Rookies were learning how to work a loom and weaving their own creation. There are some nice things for sale if you have room for a rug in your luggage. A hint to the location, once you know you are close ask some of the vendors. They do not know of the place by name, Anou, but if you show them the address they all know where the street is. Amazing, hundreds and hundreds of tiny streets in every direction and these guys pointed us right to it.
The Zawiya of Moulay Idriss II is one of the holiest sites in Morocco. It is the tomb or Idriss II, a sharif considered the founder and patron saint of Fes, ruled between 807 and 828. I read somewhere that 5 visits to his tomb is equal to one visit to Mecca, satisfying one of the pillars of Islam.
Last stop the Chauara Tannery, one of the places Fes is known for. It is free to visit the tannery so don’t let any of the hustlers tell you any different. You can view it from many different shops and again there is no admission. One fellow followed us and gave us a little speech. I just ignored him. At the end he said how about a tip. I just said no and he was a bit pissed but I did not ask for help and frankly did not want it. Since it is free the tannery is worth a look and it is interesting to know a little about it, which is easily found on line, but it is not worth a whole bunch of time.
The day went pretty well. I know that we have travelled a lot but others with travel experience told us we would get lost in medinas. We have had a bit of trouble finding the exact place we wanted to go but honestly we have found our way to and from our riads without any trouble at all. We don’t set the directions option on Google maps we just pin the place we are headed and generally make sure we are going in that direction. So far it has worked every time. Even though getting lost is sometimes the best part of travel we have yet to do so where it suppose to be easy to do so.
Off on a short day tour tomorrow. Ciao.