Ibn Ibn Battuta

A Walk in the Medina: Bab Fettouh to Bab Khokha

Fes map west / Fes map east

The sudden, unpredictable showers that have been falling with increasing frequency in Fes let up yesterday afternoon for a few hours – enough for Ryan and I to put Fez from Bab to Bab to use, as I first did a few weeks ago with Jacqueline.

To begin our walk, we needed to reach the starting point at Bab Fettouh, the city’s main eastern gateway. This proved to be a navigational challenge in its own right. We blundered through numerous wrong turns and blind dead ends, but picked our way across the old city by occasionally begging directions from helpful locals.

Dar Bennani: The Almost Perfect Home

Map of house location

Two weeks ago Jacqueline decided that she just couldn’t take it any more, and informed me that we were moving out, toute de suite. In their war of attrition, the little apartment in Ziat had outlasted her.

As for me, while I agreed with Jacqueline that our apartment had its share of imperfections, I was learning to love it for what it was, and really settle into the rhythm of daily life there. Sure, the squat toilet wasn’t pretty, the kids in the street were so loud they sounded like they were in the living room, and besides being lopsided our bed also smelled like moldy pine needles. But no home is perfect, right?

I was outvoted in a landslide, 1-1, and our housing search resumed.

The Moussem of Moulay Idriss

Fes map west / Fes map east

Yesterday marked the annual moussem (festival) in honor of Moulay Idriss II, who’s something like the local patron saint here in Fes. The son of the city's founder and a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, Moulay Idriss was also the first ruler to unite the region now known as Morocco. He did so in the early ninth century, with Fes as his capital.

The moussem’s main event is a raucous procession which begins outside Bab Boujloud and winds its way along the main route of Tala’a Saghira to the saint’s mausoleum at the heart of the medina. It was an exuberant occasion.

Water, Water Everywhere, No Time to Stop and Think

Fes map west / Fes map east

Saturday was the first day all week I didn’t need to wear my rain jacket to walk out the door. It was also the day the whispers began all throughout the medina, and grew to a frenzy.

After almost a whole week of driving rains, culminating in an all-day deluge on Friday, a friend and I spent the morning exploring the Old City, and returned to the local salon de thé for lunch in the garden. I was up to my elbows in chicken tajine, baba ghanoush, and cinnamon-spiced potatoes when Denny showed up.

One More Seedy Port City, and the Road Home

Map of route

After breaking camp, Saturday morning Jacqueline and I drove to Al Hoceima (الحسيمة), the largest city along this stretch of coast. After treating ourselves to a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and rich cafés au lait (all luxuries compared to our recent staples of stale bread and Vache Qui Rit) we explored the beaches along the coast south of the city. The guidebook again misled us with talk of “pristine, white sandy beaches” but the Cala Bonita beach just south of town was nice enough to warrant a visit.

Following the Forgotten Coast: Al Jebha to Kala Iris

Map of route

We continued the treacherous drive along the coast Friday morning, passing through neglected little seaside communities as we headed eastward. Large domed grain stores clung to the cliffs along our route. At one point, Jacqueline and I pulled over and gaped in amazement as a tour bus loaded to the brim with locals careened past. Many of the passengers must have had a deeply religious experience on that drive.

By mid-morning we reached the fishing village of Al Jebha, the last sizeable

Beautiful Views on ‘the Edge of Death’

Map of route

Returning from our hike in mid- afternoon on Thursday, Jacqueline and I quickly set off on the next stage of our trip – the drive to the coast.

From Chefchaouen, the road twisted downhill at absurdly tight angles. Mercedes taxis roared up around the curves, nearly tossing our flimsy Kia off the road several times. We cruised downward into a wide valley, where the road began to follow the Oued Laou (the Arabic word oued/واد means river, stream, creek, or creek bed) toward the coastal town of the same name, where we planned to spend the night.

North to Chefchaouen, Diamond in the Rif

Map of route

Before Jacqueline and I hit the road early Wednesday morning, I had hoped for an epic beginning – two travelers embarking on an unknown road, giddy with anticipation. But stalling the car at every traffic light on the way out of town hardly lends itself to such romantic visions.

Nonetheless, our pint-sized Kia, loaded with gear, chugged forth into the rolling brown hills northwest of Fes. The road was largely empty. Every few kilometers, an inter-city taxi might roar past, or I would push the little Kia around a lumbering farm truck.