Day 3 Fez

Fez is a northeastern Moroccan city often referred to as the country's cultural capital.  It is primarily known for its Fez El Bali walled medina, with medieval architecture, vibrant souks (market places) and old-world atmosphere.

We spent the day wandering (with our guide) the narrow alleyways of the 1300 year old medina.  Cultural overload to see not only the merchants; but within the different souks, were madrasas, (Muslim schools), mosques, (Fez has over 200!), museums, and high-end rug, textile and ceramic ships.  A rat-maze for humans, and an occasional overloaded donkey!  Lots of pictures today......

Some of the alleyways were this narrow.  

In an earthquake you are the filling in an Oreo cookie.....

that's been stepped on.

This in the courtyard in our riad in Fez.  The lady on the right is French, she owns the riad.   She speaks no English, the guy on the left speaks French, Arabic and English, (he probably speaks Berber, and who knows how many other languages as well).  We are looking at the map of Fez to plan our our day.

The architecture of Fes has changed little in a thousand years, (except for the gazillion dish antennas).      The Direct TV satellite is to the south.

The width of the alleyways in the medina is approximately one and one half donkeys.  

They don't stop; you move.

The little guy on the right is praying with his dad.

Much of what we see was carved plaster.  It is carved when it is still damp.  

You carve quickly and in sections.  A real artistic achievement.

Fes is famous for its tanning pots.  They have been tanning leather this way for over a thousand years.  Only a small section was in use, the majority are being rebuilt, and cleaned out!?

 Check Wikipedia for what they look like normally.  

Below is a great description of what normally goes on when the pots are in use. 

At the Chouara Tannery, hides are first soaked in a mixture of cow urine, quicklime, water, and salt. This caustic mixture helps to break down the tough leather, loosen excess fat, flesh, and hair that remain on them. The hides are soaked for two to three days after which tanners scrap away excess hair fibers and fat in order to prepare the hides for dyeing. The hides are then soaked in another set of vats containing a mixture of water and pigeon poop. Pigeon poop contains ammonia that acts as softening agents that allows the hides to become malleable so they can absorb the dye. The tanner uses his bare feet to knead the hides for up to three hours to achieve the desired softness.

Finally, we stopped a a shop that made scarves and tablecloths, by hand, on looms.  Very informative, but they were also a bit pushy to buy their scarves.  Nice scarves but when you have a drawer full of nice scarves from other countries that aren't being used, we passed.  His last attempt was to dress us up and take our picture.  It didn't work.  Nice picture though!

Finally, if you are following this blog daily, tomorrow is a transit day south, to the Sahara Desert, with a camel trek and overnight camping in the Desert.  So, no blog for a day or two.  

(No shower either)