Another favorite day of the trip. Andrew and I walked around through the medina, getting lost a lot, and then finding our way again. Fes, at least in the medina, is what I pictured when I thought of ‘Morocco.’ I could spend days walking through the medina. It was close quartered, chickens tied to cages in the middle of the walkway, horses hauling bottles of water through the old town, and everyone buying or selling something. Sometimes, especially after five months of travel, if my five senses aren’t being under a full blown attack, it’s not the experience I’m looking for. Fes assaulted my senses. It was not always pleasant, but it was wonderful, and exactly what I was craving from Morocco.
Walking through the medina was an elevated experience compared to the medinas of Rabat and Chefchaouen. We were two of the few tourists in the city- as we were told Ryan Air and a few others have discontinued their routes to Fes. Which is a shame, especially considering after a day, it had already become my favorite city in Morocco.
After seeing a few pictures of the tanneries, I warned Andrew that I really wanted to visit them. We read that you should be prepared to accept a child’s offer to take you to the tanneries in exchange for a little tip. Instead, an old man started guiding us there- not exactly by choice, either. Andrew and I were in our own little world wandering through the maze, enjoying getting lost trying to find where the tanneries were! I also get a little flustered when someone offers to help only to ask for a tip after. I know, I’ve mentioned this before, but what’s wrong with offering to help in exchange for a small fee right off the bat? I will happily pay!
Instead, we were lead through a leather shop (big surprise) to the view from the rooftop. I didn’t think any of the leather goods were well made (especially compared to the gorgeous leather bag that I passed up in Chefchaouen the day before) and wouldn’t buy from one of the shops right on the tanneries anyway- hello mark-up! Commission for the dude who walked us there, commission for the owner, commission for the dude who handed us mint on the stairs on the way up… No. Way.
We admired the view, I took a ton of pictures, and then we walked out and handed the man who led us there a small amount of change. Perhaps too small- but we didn’t have anything else on us! He grumbled. I wanted to take our tip back. It was at least enough for a bowl of soup and some bread to go with! We apologized, tried to explain that we didn’t ask for his help, and eventually turned and walked away.
Problem: I really wanted to go to the other side of the tanneries where it looked like it had a more interesting view. I hemmed. I hauled. We walked away from the tanneries before turning back around. Bigger problem: Now we really didn’t have anything in our pockets for a tip. We knew where we were going, and it wasn’t far to double back to find it, but of course, another old dude appeared in hopes of a lofty commission or a heavy handed tip.
Doubling back was worth it. The view was much better and I think the pictures I got were much better too! We lingered. It was peaceful. The older man who led us there wasn’t lurking right behind us as we looked on. I even pretended to debate camel vs. lamb footstools. (In case you’re interested, lambskin is WAY softer. Go for camel leather if you want a sturdy travel bag though!) We walked out, thanked everyone, and then we were faced with our “guide” wanting a tip. We pulled our pockets out so he could see how empty they were. He demanded what we gave our first guide, we told him, and he sighed. We apologized again, and he didn’t seem nearly as upset about the ordeal as our previous “guide” was.
On our way back through, we stumbled upon a medersa; an old religious school. Again, the ceramic tiling was beautiful. I want all of it. We stayed longer than we might otherwise have because it was starting to rain, and there was a little cover in the medersa.
We walked out of the medina and tried to go up to these arches overlooking the medina. It was pretty windy. Then it started to rain. We made it about halfway and ducked into a shop to try to wait it out over some tea a la menthe. (Yum) We walked back out and made it another quarter of the way when it started to cold rain on us again. The view from where we were wasn’t even so great. We walked back through the medina, got more Moroccans to wish Mochi a happy birthday, had the BEST soup from a street stall and went back to our fancy hostel for a hot bath!
