discovering fes

When travelling, it is always important to let your feet do the walking...

Muslim Cemetery 

Neglected and crowded, but as a result, beautiful.

Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts & Crafts
A luxurious example of great carpentry itself, this museum tells history through craft. Walk around and admire the cedar woodwork and the enormous weighing scales on the ground floor, reminiscent of the trading hall that once was. The rooftop is an ideal place to listen to the calls to prayer, staggered and harmonious. If you place your head into the narrow openings that frame surrounding city views, it is all the more echoey.

Pottery Shop

Walk in and feast your eyes! Morroco may have made me sick of tagine, but never ceramics.

dar el yasmine

The deserted walk to the hostel at dawn didn't confirm the idea that I wanted, that somehow Fes would be different, would be kinder than Marrakech. But first impressions, as we all know, can be wrong. Especially through sleep-depraved eyes.

Morrocan hospitality had not failed us yet; Dar El Yasmine didn't disappoint. The staff were accommodating, rooms traditionally decorated, breakfasts glorious, and it was a great place to meet other travellers and share stories.

Hangout on the roof terrace for high-in-the-sky views. Dars in this part of town are designed quite tall and compact, the light that eventually reaches the ground floor creates an atmospheric shadiness, so take your reading book to the roof.

ma'asalama kesh

travel sick?

Image courtesy of Lindsay Oldham

There is a point in the story where you do get fed up. The first enthusiastic dive into the pool of a new culture is eventually met with a certain emptiness. Is this what travel sickness is?

temples in town

Religious temples inhabit every other street. Historically, Marrakech has been occupied by a variety of different rulers and sets of beliefs, each adding their own architectural mark, their symbol in the sky. 

I like the way this photo captures the closeness of these places of worship. It should remind us that we can all get along and live together in peace, not in the disharmony that manifests itself in the headlines of today. Can't we all be men and women of understanding?