FES (Day 5)

We explored the Azrou downtown and local market before all catching an afternoon taxi to Fes, the spiritual capital of Morocco.

It was quite hot and there were no vacant hotels in the medina of Fes el-Bali (old Fes). So we found a less than desirable place with a community pit toilet and cold showers just outside the main gate of Bab Bou Jaloud.

We then wandered through the streets by ourselves for the day. Fes is a very, very long walled city, containing some 9,400 windy little streets. The whole place was absolutely packed with stores and people. One could buy traditional as well as modern wares. Some stores were so filled that you could hardly even step inside.

We stopped briefly at Medersa Bou Inania (a former Qur'an school), built in 1350 - 1357 by Sultan Bou Inan. It was quite peaceful... a completely separate world from the hectic streets outside. Intricate carvings in wood and plasterwork covered every corner.

We fought the crush of the crowd again for a while before ducking into another one, Medersa el-Attarine, built in 1325 by Abu Said. Again we found many lovely carvings inside the quiet courtyard.

In order to find the tanning pits, we first followed some kid... who transferred us to some man in a store... who led us through tiny alleys and eventually up a dark narrow staircase. Suddenly an enormous store filled with every imaginable leather product appeared. We had to walk through a maze of many rooms until we finally reached a balcony from which we had a view of the tanneries (and the city). Nestled snuggly between many beige stone buildings were some 70 giant low clay mounds that had been hollowed out in the center. Each one was filled with a different colored fluid. Several men, working with bare legs and arms, stood sometimes waist high in these vats dying leather.

For dinner we went with Andy and Nina to Restaurant Palais de Merinides, an exquisite old palace restaurant. We had a delicious meal of salads and couscous. Walking at night was different than in the daytime and we were hassled and followed by large groups of kids.

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