Wanting to make the most of our Moroccan adventure, Carl and I traveled to Fez on Saturday and then to Marrakesh on Sunday. Each time returning back to Rabat.
The travels from Rabat to Fez and back totaled 6 hours. We were very fortunate to meet up with a friend, Karim, of our in-county Liaison, Meriem. Traveling to Fez was a smooth journey, the cost was only $12 (one way). Navigating the rail system has been pretty intuitive, but you must purchase tickets ahead of time and make sure you have first class (this determines that you have a place to sit).
The travels from Rabat to Fez and back totaled 6 hours. We were very fortunate to meet up with a friend, Karim, of our in-county Liaison, Meriem. Traveling to Fez was a smooth journey, the cost was only $12 (one way). Navigating the rail system has been pretty intuitive, but you must purchase tickets ahead of time and make sure you have first class (this determines that you have a place to sit).
Info on Fez -
We didn't really know what to expect when we arrived in Fez, but a couple questions from Karim lead us to the old Medina. We passed through the Mellah, the Jewish quarter, which was built near the King Mohammed 5th's palace. As the story goes, the King wanted to make sure the Jews who did not leave for Jerusalem were safe. He kept the small village for them, which was also inhabited by the Arab settlers. After looking into this a little more, I found this was more of an isolation of the Jews, but with the 19th century colonization it opened more economic and social possibilities to the Moroccan Jews.
We were used to the Rabat Medina, but this one was huge! Seriously, we would have never been able to maneuver around the spice, pottery, meats and leather shops if we didn't have a local. It is definitely possible without a guide, but we were able to see a lot more with one...and he helped us with bargaining! This concept of bargaining here is funny, they have a price, but you should not pay that price and instead go lower. If you can speak French or Arabic this works in your favor.
The city of Fez has the oldest university in the world -- University of Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859.
Here is another interesting fact - in order to help people make some money, and I am talking about people here who have absolutely nothing. The government lets them volunteer as parking guards or street parking patrol guards (armed with a stick). Now, this is a volunteer job and they do not get paid or should you pay them when you leave in your car, but they get paid. I asked why does this happen, and I was told what am I suppose to do? Let me country starve?
Below are some pictures of our trip to Fez.
We didn't really know what to expect when we arrived in Fez, but a couple questions from Karim lead us to the old Medina. We passed through the Mellah, the Jewish quarter, which was built near the King Mohammed 5th's palace. As the story goes, the King wanted to make sure the Jews who did not leave for Jerusalem were safe. He kept the small village for them, which was also inhabited by the Arab settlers. After looking into this a little more, I found this was more of an isolation of the Jews, but with the 19th century colonization it opened more economic and social possibilities to the Moroccan Jews.
We were used to the Rabat Medina, but this one was huge! Seriously, we would have never been able to maneuver around the spice, pottery, meats and leather shops if we didn't have a local. It is definitely possible without a guide, but we were able to see a lot more with one...and he helped us with bargaining! This concept of bargaining here is funny, they have a price, but you should not pay that price and instead go lower. If you can speak French or Arabic this works in your favor.
The city of Fez has the oldest university in the world -- University of Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859.
Here is another interesting fact - in order to help people make some money, and I am talking about people here who have absolutely nothing. The government lets them volunteer as parking guards or street parking patrol guards (armed with a stick). Now, this is a volunteer job and they do not get paid or should you pay them when you leave in your car, but they get paid. I asked why does this happen, and I was told what am I suppose to do? Let me country starve?
Below are some pictures of our trip to Fez.
Here is a picture from the top of a hill looking down on the Medina in Fez. In the background you can see the smoke from burning garbage. The city was built so that smoke would never blow over head.
Marrakesh
Our Marrakesh trip was too short. I wish we had more time to stay over, and experience the night activities. However, we did get to meet up with other TGC fellows, have a nice lunch, see Palais El Badia, see Jemaa El Fna Square, put a snake around my neck and see the Moroccan protests to support the Western Sahara as being part of Morocco. We spent 4.5 hours in a train, and then 4.5 hours in private transportation to get home because the train system was backed up. Why was it backed up? They gave free transportation for all of the people who wanted to go to the United Nations in Rabat and support Morocco and the Western Sahara and protest against comments made by Ban ki-moon.
The Sale and Temara Group with Kendra!