Morocco – Road Trip – Fes

Louisa: When I was in Grade 9 I read Agatha Christie’s “Destination Unknown” which was set in Morocco. This set off my long felt desire to come here.  Part of the story is set in Fes and describes the magic of the winding, chaotic, ancient medina.  So of course exploring Fes and it’s medina has been top of my list in coming here.

On Thursday we set out on our magic adventure.  We took a round about way of getting there as we didn’t study the map too closely we relied on local assistance which wasn’t very helpful.  I’m not sure if it was a lack of good communication in iffy French on both sides or if they didn’t really know.  In general we’ve found the Moroccan people friendly, helpful, and very nice so I rather think it was iffy French.

Eric: Actually I think we did pretty well considering we don’t know the city, how to spot road signs, and spent a lot of effort simply adjusting to city driving. In general locals pointed us in the right direction but I got turned around with the quickly shifting roads that realigned themselves with numerous roundabouts. To head in a certain direction means to you need to flow through the roundabouts almost like water would falling down a series of ledges. It takes a lot of mental fortitude, confidence, and intuition to know you’re headed in the right direction.

Louisa: We eventually found it after trudging through the hot midday sun.  Some lunch helped revive our spirits before we plunged into the winding streets of the medina. We quickly found we have a minor difference in our travelling styles.  Eric likes to talk to everyone and can quickly get anyones full life story.  Me, I like to just observe and avoid engagement for fear of being accosted and taken advantage of as I was in Egypt.

Eric: I think I should expand on what Louisa calls “eventually found” and “trudging”. The part of the Medina we went to first was almost exclusively for locals and on the outskirts of the main Medina. We ended up here because we didn’t know better and needed to make a decision about where to start. We noticed we were not being accosted by the local shop keepers and how good that felt to just wander through the small souks looking around at our own pace. After taking a wrong path — we were following the flow of locals — we ended up in the north west corner of the Medina way, way, way off from where Louisa wanted to be. The Medina is like a labyrinth and we were standing in a spot that looked like a dead end which was causing some anxiety. Fortunately, our salvation literally was around the corner and we found ourselves out in the open. What followed next was the trudging along the northern wall of the lower Medina until we came to the much more frequented — by tourists and well-to-do locals — entrance that brought us to a much more lively quarter.

Louisa: Eric struck up a conversation with first a leather merchant who wanted us to go see his father’s workshop at the tanneries and a tour guide who wanted to spend a few hours taking us around the medina.  All at a reasonable price of course.  He also chatted up a carpet merchant who kindly explained how the carpets are made in his family’s workshop which we absolutely had to visit. Being the engaged interested person he is, Eric marched off after the kindly carpet merchant and I followed along dreading what was to come.

Eric: The leather merchant was actually just a kid working at just another shop along the lanes, he and his older companion showed us some of the wares they had, proved their value by trying to burn them, etc. What was very interesting was the use of cactus fibre to create some of these materials.

Louisa: The carpet shop was down a couple of streets and up a flight of stairs where we were greeted by a cheerful, welcoming man eager to tell us of the great workmanship of his berber tribe.  After ensure our comfort on a couch and providing mint tea, we were shown many beautiful carpets.  After some good negotiations we settled on a single small carpet made from cactus fiber dyed a lovely orange yellow by saffron.  Happy with our purchase we made to leave.  The kindly gentleman of course insisted on showing us some additional items including hand woven blankets.  Somehow, in the end we walked out with two blankets and our carpet.

Eric: Siad is the cheerful mans name! For anyone who has been welcomed into a shop as a tourist in a country like Morocco it’s safe to say a similar game is played in both places. I thoroughly enjoyed the exchange that was going on, relating my own experiences to experience they’ve had with other tourists. Going through different styles of carpets with Louisa combined with a bit of storytelling about ourselves to our shopkeeper. It’s a neat experience that I enjoyed but I know Louisa was anxious and a bit stressed about. This visit to the carpet shop was really spur of the moment and fit my style well but not Louisa’s; it’s important to note that neither 1 of our styles is completely effective in getting the most out of “The Medina Experience”, later that day we discussed what was good and what was bad for each of us and came up with a solid approach for how to go about it next time!

Louisa: In all I think the medina was a disappointment as it was pretty much like any other medina we’ve been in.  The carpet buying experience was definitely unique and as you have seen it described.  I don’t think we were too royally ripped off.

Eric: I’m a bit sad that Louisa’s expectations weren’t met by our stroll through the Medina. There are things we could have done to make the experience smoother — taking a taxi there for example — though sometimes there is simply too great a gap between what our expectations are of a place and what reality shows itself as. Traveling like this in a country such as this one thing is very clear, give yourself time, time, time.