Morocco- Fes

After having success with central city parking in Marrakech, we decided to do the same for Fes.  Dale is a very competent driver and without his skills I don't think we would contemplate driving in all the cities we have.  One problem with the drive into Fes is the presence of motorcycle touts on the way in.  They approach foreign vehicles trying to lead them to campsites or hotels and expect a tip.  Not only is this dangerous but largely unwanted by tourists.

We were spotted by one and after hearing we weren't going to the campsite he said 'I have a hotel in the medina'- what a surprise.  We said no and tried to ignore him for the next 5kms.  Whilst we were waiting at the lights, beggars approaching us from one side, the tout the other, Dale starting tooting his horn and telling this guy no.  He must have got the message as he swore obscenities at us and left us to it.  What a jerk- he tries to force his unwanted "help" on us in a dangerous manner to be told no and he has the audascity to swear at us.

City car parking in Fes

We arrived into the carpark which was extremely busy on a Sunday afternoon and paid for 2 nights at 50 dirhams a night.  We were happy to see a couple of campers including a German motorhome whom Dale spoke to.  With an hour of sunlight left we thought it appropriate to do some exploring.  After going through the Kasbah gate and getting lost in the maze of alleyways we turned around and retraced out steps and then found the entry into the souks.  There is a much more authentic feel about the souks here.  You can see the locals shopping, not just tourists.  Whilst in Fes we actually didn't get much hassle, twice mistaking people for touts who actually only wanted to point us in the right direction (one guy even telling us he wasn't a guide).  We found a couple of bargins in the souks (it is always much more fun when you are buying).  We got some books and I found some more scarfs- similar quality to Marrakech but two thirds the price at a fixed price shop.

The souk

The kasbah gate

The following day was forecast to rain all day.  We had seen the forecast in advance so weren't too worried and our location enabled us to pop out to a museum and medersa, though we still got caught out in one shower.  Navigating in the Fes medina is extremely challenging.  The two biggest roads on the map are mere alleyways and you are lucky to see street signs.

The Bab Boujeloud gate

We visited the Dar Batha museum, which I was impressed by.  They had some lovely artifacts and also a woodwork shop inside with two craftsmen making high quality products.  It was the best woodworking we had seen thus far.  On display in the museum were also musical instruments, Fes pottery and old Korans.

The museum courtyard

Fes Pottery

There are two medersas (religious schools) in Fes.  We chose to view the Bou Inania Medersa which when we originally arrived was closed for prayers.  For us the one in Marrakech was better because you were able to go upstairs, and in Fes the courtyard was only available for viewing.  However this medersa is still in use (you an see people praying) and open to non muslims so that is pretty cool.  We were approached by a man from the tourist information inside with the offer of a tour.  There was no pressure from him whatsoever to take up his offer.  I had read that recently the Police have arrested some illegal guides and this would seem to be the case from our experience.

We were happy with our choice to return to the van to watch some winter olympics when the hail and rain came down in the afternoon.  It was then that we saw 3 Spanish registered motorhomes pull into the carpark with you name it, the same motorcycle tout that we had "met" yesterday.  There was arguments for a good 10 minutes, we don't specifically know what about, but confirmed our decision not to use his help.

We decided two nights was enough for us at the carpark so on our final day it came out sunny and we walked up to a lookout point.  There is an arms museum on the hillside and we walked the grounds then followed the road along to the remains of some Merenid tombs.  The view here was fantastic and we also saw workers from the tanneries drying skins on the hill side.

Fes medina

The Arms museum

Animal skins from the tanneries drying on the hill side at the Merenid tomb ruins

The Grand Mosque in the medina

The Merenid tomb ruins

We also headed to a garden near where we were parked and then through the Mellah (Jewish district) to the Royal Palace.  As expected we had a few offers to visit the synagoge!  We were content to leave Fes and happy with our visit.  Overall we would probably saw it as average, it is a pretty crazy, busy place.  But it also had some really good features in the souks, the Grand Mosque (can fit 20,000 people and was the biggest in Morocco before the one in Casablanca was built) and the lookout points over the city.

The gardens

The Royal Palace

Morocco- Ouzoud waterfalls, Azrou and Ifrane

We left Marrakech mid afternoon and drove 160 kms to Ouzoud.  Here there are the highest waterfalls in Northern Africa at 110 metres.  We checked into Zebra camping, a nice site owned by a Dutch couple and 1.5 kilometres from the falls.  We were blessed with hot weather the next day (good for drying the washing!) and set off to the falls in the afternoon.  We approached the falls from the very top and then used a track to get down to the bottom and then came back up the other side.  There were several souvenir and cafe stalls, but most shopkeepers were standing around as there were only a handful of tourists.  We saw some monkeys on the way down as they were entertaining a tourist group- they really know how to play up for the camera.

We had a big driving day ahead of us when we headed north to Azrou.  The journey according to the sat nav would take about 4/5 hours and it took us 6.  We pulled into Euro camping, 4kms from Azrou about 6pm.  We had seen some beautiful scenery that day and for the first time in Morocco the scenery reminded us slightly of New Zealand.  It was a lot greener in this part of the country, and we saw large fields with stock and modest farm houses.

We decided we would walk into Azrou as we could leave the van safely at the site.  We started on the road then took a path that was a shortcut.  It was a good choice as we had some great views of the hills and the outlying suburbs of Azrou.  Azrou is named due to a large rock in the centre of town (azrou means rock in the berber language).  It was apparent that there was a degree of affluence here- in the tidy streets and some European style housing.

Euro camping

Village on the walk into Azrou

Public building in Azrou

The crown at the top of the Azrou rock

The Azrou rock

We had 2 very cold nights in Azrou and we saw a little snow on the 20 kms we travelled to the resort town of Ifrane.   Ifrane felt very westernised.  Even the typical Moroccan grocer shops were replaced with 'superettes'.  It was an interesting place to walk around and the traffic was heaving on a sunny Sunday in winter.

We made a stop on the way to Fes at a lake called Dayta Aaoua.

Afterwards we completed the 50 kms to Fes.  We saw apples and pomegranates for sale on the side of the road, and it felt like we could be in Central Otago.

Morocco- Marrakech

We have just spent 4 days in Marrakech and had a blast!  We used a central city car park near the Koutoubia Mosque which had been recommended by other motorhomers on the internet.  We were expecting to pay 60 dirhams per 24 hours, but once there we were told it would be 100 dirhams.  We tried to argue the toss to no avail, so paid for 2 nights to start us off.  When we went to pay for our 3rd night 2 days later, a different guardian wondered if he needed to give us change for the 100, and a local who translated for us, said we could stay for as long as we like!  I responded to him that we must be paying too much!  I didn't mind however as for 9 euros for each 24 hours we had a guardian sit about 5 metres in front of our van day and night.  It was an extremely conveniently located parking place and saved us from paying for a taxi back and forth from a campsite.

Now to the city itself!  It is a bustling place, where crossing the road was a challenge in itself.  There was a good Police presence, and although you should always have a close eye on your belongings, in no way did we feel unsafe.

The Koutoubia Mosque

The Bab Agnaou gate

This was our second Moroccan city and the first time we had really seen what would be classed as pay tourist attractions.  We started off at the Saadian Tombs.  They are a 16th century resting place of many princes, chancellors and wifes of the Saadian dynasty.  It is vital to do your own research and bring your guidebook as here there was no information available (you can hire a guide).  The tombs were walled up a few decades after they were built and only unearthed in 1917 due to discovery from some aerial photos.  There is fantastic architecture in the place and mostly well kept apart from one area which they are tidying up.  We made an effort to visit early as there is limited space to view the tombs and there would be queues when it is busy.

Next stop was the El Badi Palace.  It was built in the 16th century by king Ahmed el Mansour, the most famous of the Saadians and took 25 years to complete.  Now it is mainly ruins.  As well as walking amongst the ruins we were able to climb up onto the roof terrace which gives good views of the city.  There were also about a dozen storks nesting on rooftops nearby.  We even saw half a dozen fly back to the nests after feeding.  There is also a minbar from the Koutoubia Mosque on display there.  It was made in the 12th century.  It was used every Friday (the most important religious day here) up until 1960.  The preacher would stand upon it to give sermons.  It was restored and on display with several panels of information nearby explaining the history and restoration of it.

We then visited Bahia Palace.  It is a group of houses linked together and has very impressive ceilings, archways and courtyards.  Like the Saadian tombs and El Badi palace it is 10 dirhams (1 euro each) to enter, which is great value for what you get to see.

That afternoon we had a walk around the new town area.  We met our friend Gabrielle that evening in the main square Place Jemaa el Fna.  Gabrielle is also spending a year in Europe and we last saw her at Dale's brother Mark's wedding in May last year.  Place Jemaa el Fna is the central square in Marrakech.  Restaurants and souvenir shops line the outside and in the centre are food and juice stalls, ladies offering henna, snake charmers, monkeys and falcons.  It is a bustling place, and one to keep your wits about you especially at night.  We made our way to a restaurant for dinner which had a balcony overlooking the square.

The next day we spent with Gabrielle seeing the sights north of the main square.  Getting to the Maison de la Photographie proved interesting as we went via the maze of souks (markets).  We were approached several times to visit the tanneries.  We knew to avoid this, but it was confirmed by reading tripadvisor later and reading several stories from people who had been hustled there by unwanted guides.  We were also told by a man that the Photography museum was closed due to refurbishment (after he had pointed us in the wrong direction too).  We had also heard of people doing this so didn't really believe him.  We still couldn't find it so we headed to the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, which we had planned to see that day too.  We actually asked the gentleman selling the tickets there and he confirmed the photography museum  was open and gave us directions.

The Medersa was founded in the 14th century and was the largest Quranic learning centre at the time.  It housed 900 students in 132 dorm rooms.  We were able to go into all the dorm rooms, some of which were displayed as they were at that time and there was a large courtyard which was very impressive also.

Next we finally made it to the Maison de la Photographie.  It is in a traditional riad (a house inwhich the rooms and balconies face onto a central courtyard) and showcases photos from 1890 to 1940.  Photographers came to Morocco to photograph what was considered mysterious lands and people.  The photos feature parts of Marrakech, also the Atlas mountains and Tanger.  We had lunch up on the roof top terrace, which was peaceful up above the hustle and bustle of the streets.

Lunch: aubergine salad (left) and chicken tagine

Our last museum of the day was the Museum of Marrakech.  It was established in 1997 and features contemporary art, clothing, pottery, knives and daggers and an original hamman (bath house).

We had a couple of hours left before dinner so we headed to the souks!  Gabrielle did well buying several items and Dale bought a berber wool jersey.  He'd had his eye on one for a while so it was good that he found one he liked and managed to buy it for 240 dirhams (21.40 euro) after the shop keeper started at 400 dirhams.  I finally bought some scarfs for 60 dirhams each, starting price was 120 dirhams.  Dale bought two small boxes (We hope made of camel bone, not plastic!) for 80 dirhams.  He spent about 10 minutes haggling and left the shop twice.  We were happy enough with the price of 40 dirhams per box, but we had a good laugh the next day when we saw them in a fixed price shop for 40 dirhams each!

Gabrielle and Dale

We said our goodbyes to Gabrielle, and hope to see her again in Morocco further north.  On our final day in Marrakech we went to a garden called Jardin Majorelle.  It was 50 dirhams each to go, but we had heard good feedback about it.  It was originally started by Jacques Majorelle in 1924 and opened to the public in 1946.  After he died Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge acquired the property and restored it.  In is now run by their foundation.  The contrasting colours of the plants and the buildings was very pretty, it was well shaded from the heat and quiet (apart from the tourists of which there was many).