We were greeted by a nice man at the door when we arrived at our riad/ hostel (Riad Verus) in Fes. We were given mint tea, of course, and relaxed in the riad courtyard before the hostel manager greeted us and checked us in. The tile work and colors in the courtyard are really beautiful and we applauded our choice in accommodations. After we checked-in we were shown our room, and both were underwhelmed. The room looked like the photos online, so we weren’t misled, but the room was very small with very low ceilings and the only window opened into the courtyard. We could tell right away that there was next to no ventilation and that only got worse during our time in Fes. Nonetheless we got settled and headed out for dinner at La Cave. We got a few dishes we had not yet tried and were very happy with our dinner. The waiter gave us some bracelets and necklaces for free too. We were weary of this, as you always hear about “free” gifts that turn out not to be but Jen read in some reviews that this is what this restaurant does so we accepted them. Upon returning to our hostel for the evening, we found out that quiet hours do not start until midnight. The music from the common room upstairs travelled easily into our room, especially since we needed the window open for ventilation. Also, the hostel manager’s office was right next to us so we got a mix of him talking on his cell phone on speaker and other guests coming by with questions. This also happened until close to midnight most nights we were there. Then once we turned out our lights for the night, we were welcomed by the hallway light that shined through the plexiglass window above our room door, which was not at all helpful for sleeping. OK, my complaints about the hostel are done but needless to say we are not recommending this hostel to anyone in the future.
Our first full day in Fes we slept in a bit and had the huge free breakfast provided by the hostel. We shared breakfast with a guy from Germany and another guy from Luxembourg. In the afternoon we ventured out to see Bab Boujeloud, the Blue Gate, and get our bearings. It was quite nice out, so we ended up wandering to see some of the old wall of the city and up the hillside to see some ruins. Unfortunately the ruins were closed for renovation work, but we got some nice views of the old city from up here. Once we realized that the walk down the backside of the hill was a winding road, we opted to walk through a cemetery after seeing a local do so. We were a little unsure about doing this but there was pretty much a dedicated footpath the entire way and the walk took us about 5 minutes total. Back in the old city, we meandered through the medina past some of the woodworking stalls and then the more commercial area. We found the commercial area to be very busy and overwhelming and then realized it was Saturday and a lot of locals were out doing their own shopping and hanging out with friends and family. Jen snapped some photos of a few sights during our walk back to the hostel.
On day two we relaxed and did not do much during the day. I blogged, started working on my taxes, and Jen created some posts for Instagram. We were still in need of some down time after the long journey to and from the Sahara. In the evening we joined a cooking class with one lady from Japan. We decided on four dishes to make and then headed out into the market to purchase our ingredients with our host. We always enjoy doing cooking classes when we travel and this one did not disappoint. We made an eggplant dip, a carrot dip, lemon chicken, and a veggie tagine with egg and cheese. Yum! It was all very delicious and we got to see how Moroccans incorporate spices into their foods and the use of different cooking techniques. Our host explained to us that the pressure cooker was invented in Fes (we didn’t fact check him), as I was surprised that he kept mentioning the use of a pressure cooker for many dishes.
Our third full day in Fes was our long awaited day of chores, laundry and haircuts! We found a great laundry place right next to Maison Fassi, which is not on Google Maps, where we paid $7 for the wash and dry of our 7 kgs of clothes. The turnaround time was only 2.5 hours too, which we found very quick. Next we hopped down to a salon we stopped by the previous night to check their hours and made sure they do women’s haircuts too. I jumped in the chair first and had a fresh new cut in 20 minutes. Then Jen confirmed that the barber cut women’s hair too and she jumped into the chair. Jen’s haircut took only a little longer than mine. When she was done, I gave a thumbs up review and Jen looked in the mirror and approved of the cut too. It was not until we got home later and Jen styled her hair how she normally wears it that she realized it was cut unevenly close to her face. We have had some nice laughs about this, but hey it was only $15 total for both haircuts! After picking up our clean laundry and relaxing at the hostel, we went to dinner at Fondouk Bazaar and really enjoyed it. They had good food and a great vibe.
On our last full day in Fes, it was finally sunny again after raining the two previous days, so we ventured out to go see the famous tanneries. Ruben, the guy from Luxembourg we met at our hostel, told us about a smaller tannery where the shop owner let him onto their roof for free with no obligation to buy anything. We walked along the wall of the old city in a direction we had not been yet for our journey down to the tannery. Along the way we found some local markets with food and homegoods and got a little more authentic look at life in Fes than we had seen in the more touristy markets. We eventually found our way to the tannery and right when we arrived a nice gentleman offered us a look from the roof into the tannery. Jen confirmed that we did not need to pay him and he insisted we did not need to and that he is very proud to be Moroccan and to be from Fes and just enjoys showing tourists the process (ok, thanks, I’ll grab my grain of salt on the way to the roof). We stayed on the roof for about 15 minutes while he explained the process from washing in the giant watermill looking device upon arrival from the slaughterhouse, then into the cleaning vats where the skin is mixed with pigeon dropping which helps pull the fur away from the hide. The skins stay in these vats for 3 days before being transferred to the vats with coloring for 15 days. He explained to us that the coloring for the leather is all from local spies, flowers, etc. and depending on what color they are after they can use many items. He also explained that in the summer when it is hot out, the interaction of some of the spies and flowers in the hot air gives colors that cannot be replicated in the winter time. As a result, we only viewed a few of the coloring vats being used and they were all different shades of brown. After being on the roof we went back into the shop to feel the difference in the leathers between cow, camel, sheep, and goat. There really is a distinct difference between the four with goat (if I am remembering correctly) being the least tough and stretchy and camel being the most tough. Apparently cow is also very tough but will eventually crack over time, whereas camel will not. The shop was vast with different offerings and if we were only on a vacation and returning home after Morocco might have purchased something but of course just looked around and declined all purchase offers. As we were leaving we tipped the nice man and continued on our way through some more local markets.
Next we made our way to the henna and spice market which is located in the courtyard of an old hospital. The courtyard has some cool features and was a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the alleyway markets. Immediately upon entering this market we were met with the best attention grabbing (and of course nice) salesman in all of Morocco. The men at each stall start conversations with you without making eye contact and try to show you their products and get you to try their samples. We got trapped talking to the first man for about 5 – 10 minutes, and finally just had to walk away, and then graciously declined any conversations with the other men. We definitely understand this is the way of life for these humans and don’t blame their game, but after 2.5 weeks we were getting to the end of our patience with the almost constant hassling. We ended the day with a nice dinner at The Ruined Garden with more food than we could finish and a really nice staff. The host/ cashier was particularly friendly and we chatted with him for a bit, explaining to him how big the USA is (he was shocked that a flight from coast to coast was 5+ hours) and he was telling us he has applied for a US visa 8 times.
