Fes!
Some light breakfast, we started our guided tour of Fes around 945. Our guide, Ibrahim (?) had an interesting accent, leaning heavily towards speaking clearer English.
Our first destination was the Royal Palace. Well, the outside of it. Apparently, because of two military attempts at a coup d’etat in the 60s when Hassan II was in power, they decided to tighten up security and not allow anyone in and it was the French that disallowed non-Muslims from entering mosques and mausoleums, and it just stuck after the French left.
Fes, the first imperial city, was built by Moulay Idriss and finished by his son, Moulay Idriss II. The city we were stranded in yesterday actually had a lot of historical significance. It was were Moulay Idriss first lived when he came to Morocco. He was considered the first king, the first refugee, and the bringer of Islam into the region, starting a new dynasty in Morocco.
The Moroccan flag, the star in middle represents the five pillars of Islam. Those being… Believing there is one God and Muhammed was His final messenger, completing the pilgrimage to Mecca, giving 2.5% of annual earnings to charity every year, praying five times a day,……. Uhm.
Anyways, we drove further out to a vantage point, a military outpost. It gave us a panoramic view of the city, the 20th century city on the furthest left, 14th, and then the 9th, the Medina. The Medina is a very much a walk into the past.
Driving out, we passed by a building that was an American Fondouk. A fondouk being a place for travelers to rest, mainly for animals. However, this one in particular became special, the director was an American woman and it is now a free veterinary clinic for any animal run by Canadian or American directors. Canada, known for its exceptional education in veterinary medicine.
Our next stop highlighted the artisanal skills of Moroccan ceramics. We were brought to a ceramics school that was open to tourists, showing off fountains and such. First being shown the raw black clay, soaking it in water to be mixed by foot, then again in smaller chunks beaten and sized by hand. Handed off to the foot motorized spinning things to shape them into plates, bowls, etc. Dried or fired once to hand off to a painter to decorate it with local and naturally created colors, the most common color being the cobalt blue, found in Morocco. Next, two guys were tracing shapes and then hammering them out of the flat clay plates that had one side painted. These small shapes would then be used to create the mosaic patterns in tables, fountains, etc. Showing us the process of actually creating the fountain back, there was one guy holding a handful of small pieces, placing them down color side first onto a template. After all of the pieces, thousands of little clay pieces, were in place, they would pour concrete over the back of it to adhere them all together. The final product is pretty cool. And then the gift shop. The discounts, deals, haggling… Good job Sameer, lol. The guide through the school was basically the salesperson, taking a cut from whatever we buy, or they just have to meet a quota, who knows.
Now, into the Medina. Karen mentioned in the van about a Moroccan donut, and Ibrahim brought us to get some. They are usually made and eaten at breakfast with tea. They reminded us of the Chinese… Rolls that go with congee. Except a bit chewier and these Moroccan donuts are eaten hot.
Walking through the Medina, like the maze it is, or guide brought us to the narrowest alley that was not fit for McDonald’s people. Haha… Single file through on one direction. These alleys were so narrow for security reasons, fighting one on one is much easier then from all sides. There was one shop that was essentially a guild of mothers who bake cookies for events such as weddings, giving it that homemade and personal feel.
El Madrasa, an older but maintained Riad, was a multi-purpose building but it’s main function was to teach. One of the first locations for higher learning, having dormitories in the upper floors, the main courtyard served as a mosque and classroom.
Going through the medina, he showed us the small workshops, souks, for steel, leather, silk and cloth, dyeing silk, carpenters, contrasted by their accompanied shops to sell and essentially a Chinatown alley of imported fakes.
The famous leather tannery! It is strongly suggested that we grab a couple stalks of mint leaves so that the smell of the leather, especially the “fresh” leather does not affect your stomach. We were brought to the a view of the tannery from above, taking a look at several vats of dyes, water, skins… The further bunch of tanks were apparently to clean the hides, full of ammonia, from… Pigeon shit. To make it clear, Pigeon feces. There was a lot stuff done off site, such as the actual skinning and whatever comes before that. The hides, be it goat, lamb, cow, had to be dunked in the dyes several times over a couple of weeks to maintain their rich color. Red, yellow, blue, brown, black, green, etc… Every color dye is locally sourced. Yellow being the most expensive, usually done with saffron or tamarine. They had a lot on sale, from slippers to cushions to jackets and bags and belts.
Next, lunch. Dropped off by our tour guide, to the obvious tourist trap, we sat and ordered. I had the pastilla, chicken filled, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. It wasn’t bad, but it was like a big samosa, haha… Expensive too.
And…. Back to the Riad, tipping our guide.
The Riad also owns a Hammam, so we opted to try that one out, as is obviously for tourists. Calling up our trusty driver Abdul, we set off and paid for a private hammam and 30 minute relaxing massage. We were brought upstairs and we’re directed to some lounge chairs as 3 or 4 girls sat on the side chatting amongst themselves and made comments and giggling when we said something about being naked… Shortly after, we were herded into a change room and told to change for the Hammam. We figured it out and sat inside the bathing area afterwards, waiting for the lady. She didn’t really say anything as she prepared. Eventually she doused each of us in water, scrubbed on the black eucalyptus soap, and rinsed it all off. It left us feeling nice and smooth, but also a bit cold, the room didn’t seem to be heated at all. Next up, one by one, she grabbed a loofah glove and scrubbed us down, getting all that dead skin. That felt good too. After rinsing us all off, she washed and shampooed our hair and sent us on our way for the relaxing massage. The relaxing massage was relaxing, essentially rubbing lotion all over, with slight but ineffective pressure. After finishing up, she turned the light off and left without a word. As I lay there, not knowing what was going on, I eventually sat up and she came in, “Shower?” ok. This shower…. I had no idea how to change the temperature. The left knob seemed to turn forever and the right only went 90 degrees. I had lost the hot water by now and was standing there for a good 5-10 minutes trying to figure it out, whatever. Cold shower it is. Let’s get out of here. Dried off, back to the lounge chairs to wait for everyone and get dressed, the girls just back in their chairs, chatting. Everyone seemed to have the same experience, left on the massage table not knowing what to do. Apparently that dark time was when you were supposed to fall asleep and relax……. Right. I had completely forgot about it, but a facial with clay masks was supposed to be included as well, Michelle had tried asking but they did not seem to understand. At the entrance, we asked about this and they said, “you are supposed to ask them to do it, because not everyone does it.”…. So they gave us some clay mask for” free”. Two bags, one of clay the other of henna. To split amongst ourselves… Thanks. All in all. The best and only good part was the scrubbing. Would definitely not recommend. Maybe a different place is more professional and helpful for tourists.
Had an okay dinner. Soup, brisket, some almond pastry dessert. The random coconut biscuits were really good though, we asked for more. I pulled the birthday card to get the biggest one, haha. Oh. Right. It’s my birthday.
Anyways, we all had agreed that in hindsight, we could have done less time in Fes. It’s possible that it is just the area we stayed in our the people we encountered, but we did not have that good of a time here.
Ceramics, Fountain, El Madrasa, Leather Tannery
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