Day 245 : Discovering the Medina of Fes

It is back to the hustle and bustle of life in Medina, lined with opened shops and crowds in the narrow streets. 

We headed out in the morning with a key destination in mind to visit the famous tanneries, visit the sights along the way and to see what the shops has to offer. 

 

 

Place Seffarine

From a distance, one could hear the “musical” hammering of metal, and which is when we realised we had came upon Place Seffarine. 

This square harbours one of the oldest craft professions in Fes, the brass ware-makers, producing brass ware needed for making tea (tea pots, goblets, stoves, kettle etc), as well as coppersmiths, who makes small and gigantic copper cauldrons, pots, containers and buckets, mostly still done in the traditional techniques, and a great experience just to watch these talented artisans do their daily work. 

Tannery Visit

We finally came across the tannery after walking around in a few circles locating the entrance.  As we walked in, we were approached by a guy (known as the “guardian”) who insisted that we paid him money before we can go in. 

The owner of the Riad told us this morning that it is free to enter, and that the police had just clamped down on such illegal entry charges.  So after some arguments saying that we were not going to pay, we proceeded to walk in. 

When we tried taking some pictures of artisans in action, the “guardian” told the artisans not to allow us to take because we had not paid. 

Seeing that we were not going to get anywhere, we negotiated with the “guardian” and brought down the amount to MAD5 (about SGD0.80) per person.  The Guardian’s attitude immediately changed, and was very nice to us and even gave us a brief tour, showcasing the various processes and got the tannery staff to pose for some of our pics.

It was always said that the ammonia smell at the tannery can be very suffocating, but we didn’t feel that way when we were there.  Perhaps it was still very early in the day, and the smell does not ooze out until much later in the day. 

The various colours used in the dying process at the tannery was amazing though, and made for real good shots!

Mausolee Moulay Idriss

We came across many people entering the premises and when we looked at the directions, we saw that it was indicated as the Mausolee Moulay Idriss, where the tomb of the founder of Fes is located. 

Recalling how we managed to enter the Mausolee of Moulay Ismail, and the beauty of the interiors, we followed the crowd, stepped into the premises, took of our shoes and headed in. 

As we walked towards the “security”, the “security” asked the ladies next to us whom were wearing the Muslim headscarves,  if we were with them, which they replied no. 

The security then turned to us and asked if we were muslims and we said no, and before we know what we was going on, they started shouting at us and chasing us away. 

We were even prevented from wearing our shoes in the premises and as we stepped out and put on our shoes, a Moroccan girl explained to us that the area is is described as Al-Haram (the forbidden) and only Muslims could enter the place.

Apparently Moulay Idriss has always been the most venerated Saint in the whole country and his mausoleum has become one of the most popular Moroccan and Fassis place of pilgrimage.

Other Scenes of Fes Medina

Gardens

Having enough of the Medina, we walked out, and came upon the Gardens of Fes.  It was a tranquil spot in the chaotic Fes ancient city, where we managed to seek reprieve for about an hour. 

It was a huge garden filled with many orange trees.  Most of the oranges were not of plucking reach.  Having had freshly squeezed orange juice from the street vendors on a daily basis, we were tempted to pluck one to eat. 

We came across one which seemed plausible to pick, however after trying to reach it for about 10 mins, we decided to give up, as we were also starting to get stares from onlookers. 

A group of young girls must have seen us attempting to pick an orange, and a couple moments after we walked away, they called out to us and stop us, and gave us an orange. 

We were shocked and embarrassed as we weren’t expecting such a gesture, and was wondering how they managed to pick one down, when our attempts failed.  We thanked them and quickly walk to a corner and took a bite at the orange. 

Gosh, it was extremely bitter and BLEAH!  We quickly threw it out and tried to clean the bitterness taste out of our mouths.  I wonder where do all the vendors get their oranges from then?

Jewish Quarters

After a short reprieve in the Gardens, we decided to head to the Jewish Quarters.  Having difficulties finding the route towards the Quarters, we asked for directions from a few guards near the King’s Palace.  None of them could speak English, and they tried speaking in French, which we were not able to understand.  We finally managed to get them to converse in Spanish, and with my little Spanish language knowledge, we managed to get our directions. 

We finally arrived at the Jewish Quarters, and found ourselves surrounded once again by more shops!  As we walked the streets, a guy (one of the best looking guys I had seen in Morocco so far, and equally agreed by Betty) walked along the same path from the opposite direction.  He suddenly stopped, and shortly after came to a sort of pose in the middle of the path. 

As we walked past him, he suddenly muttered the words “The weather is nice…” and continued on posing.  Betty and I continued walking, and shortly after, we couldn’t help ourselves and burst out laughing… what a pick up line!

Dinner

After a long day, we decided to head to a restaurant recommended by the owner of our Riad. 

It was a really nice classy restaurant, and they offered some a 3 course set menu at cost of about MAD63 (about SGD9.00). 

For our mains, Betty ordered a tagine, while I ordered their famous fish pie.  It was yummy!