Fes Fes was founded about 1100 years ago and is a large city of a million people and has the world’s largest car free zone in a city, the Fes al Bali medina. A medina is a walled city, and late one night (well after midnight) we arrived at one of the gates to be escorted to our riad (accommodation) through narrow winding alleys. A non-descript door on one of these alleys let us into the elegantly beautiful courtyard of Dar el Menia, pretty is not even the word for it! The attention to detail in the décor was eye opening and the tiny riad lived up to our expectations. Dar el Menia was well placed within the medina and we could walk everywhere …. and that is what happened, we walked everywhere! Never have I gotten as lost as often in Fes and never has a husband and wife been tested as to sense of direction …. I have to give Pippa her due, she was not only very patient with me, my map and gps - none of which seemed to be much use most of the time - but she also found our way a few times from memory, quite a feat I tell you! In both Fes and in Marrakech we experienced the Moroccan way of selling. It is possibly the most counterproductive sales technique I have experienced. It was not even haggling, hardly ever got that far, it was haranguing, bullying and downright abduction! On several occasions people would purport to help you to get somewhere, but it really was only a ruse to get you into their shop, or their uncle’s that sell shoes, or friend that has a good price on carpets, “ …. is it tiles you are looking for, or maybe a leather jacket, I know a shop, follow me …..” yeah sure, and quickly you do as all other tourists do, studiously ignore the locals and grunt “NO” every now and then. And when you realize your “guide” has duped you, you need to pay to get rid of him! There was also the Jewish shop keeper, who’s opening line was that he was not like the “Arabs” and then proceeded to apply his sales technique that was indistinguishable from his fellow countrymen outside. When he realized we weren’t falling for his sales technique he went over to the emotional blackmail technique of selling … long sob story that included tea for us (we felt we had to pay after that sad story); after this we learned. The craft- and workmanship is unbelievable, truly exceptional, from interior decorating to leather jackets. The Moroccans clearly have an eye for detail and relish in beautifying their spaces. The tile work and carved stucco and wood inlay is humbling. And the people are interesting, notwithstanding their sales techniques! Not many people appreciated my style of photography, i.e. portraits of ordinary people, and so most of my photos were perforce surreptitious. There is even a photo of a finger wagging man who proceeded to admonish me about taking photographs of people. Of all the people and their doings we observed, surely the most hardcore of jobs must be those of the men working in the tanneries. What a sensory overload visiting these tanneries were. As you near your destination a growing whiff of bad odours make you quickly realize the sense in obtaining a bunch of mint leaves to crush and hold to your nose. Every now and then you are tempted to remove the mint leaves from your nose, but the stench is overpowering, it is one of those smells that thumps your very being, yes you can almost feel it. But, the leather jackets we bought in the shop next door were of incredible quality, not only the most beautiful soft leather, but also the workmanship, perfect stitch by stitch. We then caught the train to Marrakech, a somewhat tedious and long (8 hours) journey that goes to the coast via Rabat and Casablanca and then back inland to Marrakech.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:06:28 +0000
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