| Page Views: 3,410 Last Visit to Fes: November, 2006 | Fes - November 2006 by kit_mc - last update: Jan 2, 2008 |
Fes - my intro to Morocco | Bab Bou Jeloud, Fes el-Bali |
With Ryanair now flying from Luton to Fes in northern Morocco, I'm guessing that lots of British people who wouldn't otherwise have had Morocco as a first choice holiday destination are going to end up here over the next few years, depending of course on how successful sales are. As Morocco was, like most places, one of the countries on a very, very long wishlist, when I found flights for 30 pounds return, I thought I'd be foolish to turn down the opportunity.
Fes is one of the so-called, 'Imperial Cities' in inland northern Morocco. It has a history dating back over a thousand years and is considered to be something of the cultural and religious sophisticated centre of Morocco having experienced waves of Berber, Arab and Andalucian migrants.
As with other Moroccan cities, Fes can be divided into the Ville Nouvelle - this is the most recent district built during the French colonial era where you'll find the train station - and an old Medina. In Fes, the Medina area is called Fes el-Bali (Old Fes) - you'll also perhaps find yourself in a third, very old district between the Ville Nouvelle and Fes el-Bali, known as Fes el-Jdid. Fes el-Jdid contained the Jewish Quarter, or 'Mellah' and here you'll find a synagogue and Jewish cemetery. |
| Mosque, Fes Ville Nouvelle |
|  | We stayed about 5 nights in total in Fes, 4 on arrival in Morocco and then our last night before flying home. I'd strongly recommend having a hotel to go to directly to Fes, and if it's your first time in Morocco, the Ibis is possibly one of the best bets as it's right next to the train station and the bus from the airport stops here. This is in the Ville Nouvelle and so we ended up taking the little red, Petit Taxis back and forth to Fes el-Bali. While you can walk it (and on the first day in fact we did), it's really quicker and easier to take a taxi - it's unlikely to cost you much more than 10 to 15 dhiram on any journey.
Of the sights that I saw in Fes, I'm glad that I saw the Merenid Tombs up above the city, Place el-Najjarine with its museum of all things wooden located in the heart of the Medina and the Dar Batha Museum.
Almost all tourists will end up in the Medina of Fes el-Bali at some point in their stay here. This is a maze of quite literally thousands of alleyways and getting lost is both easy and the one thing that you really don't want to do. As well as shop after shop selling just about everything you'd expect, but a very high proportion of ceramics, carpets, leather goods and anything else vaguely Moroccan, you'll encounter individuals on pretty much every corner trying to sell you something or take you somewhere (tannery, hotel, restaurant, hammam...). |
| | While many people may find Fes and its Medina full of 'exotic colour', I have to be honest here. I didn't enjoy it at all. It wasn't the dirt - though there is that. It wasn't the constant hassling, the smell of excrement or men peeing directly in front of you - though that happens too. Most of the special sights, of architectural and traditional artistic value are related to Islam, in the form of Medersas (Islamic theological colleges) or mosques, and then the beauty tends to be inside - out of bounds to non-Muslims such as myself. It wasn't even the fact that the goods on sale just aren't really that special when you can buy them in any number of shops in the UK even, that really left it's mark on my memories of Fes.
My main problem, in Fes as with the rest of Morocco, was the people that I came across. I don't know whether it was the time of year or that we were two men, or whether I just have the kind of face that says 'come hassle me', but whenever I left my room in Morocco I felt like I was under siege and this was at it's worst in the Fes Medina. It meant that I was constantly wary, constantly wondering who'd stop us next. It meant that I couldn't take photos or even stop just to gather my thoughts without someone else trying to sell me carpets or ceramics, or rather creepily, drugs and sex.
So all I can really say about Fes it that it is a difficult city to get your head around and you need a really thick skin to enjoy it. And I don't have that thick a skin. |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| Pros: | "Cheap" | | Cons: | "Don't even get me started..." | | In A Nutshell: | "Once in a lifetime. Thank goodness." |
 Comments for kit_mc about Fes | | | | |
barryg23 Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:15 UTC
Useful to know about the #16 bus from Fes airport. That should save us a few Dirham. Excellent restaurant tips - I think we'll try La Cheminee on Saturday - we're on Fes for 2 days at the start of our trip. | Davy_p Sun Nov 19, 2006 07:31 UTC
I look forward to reading more :-) |
|
|
email me
add as friend
