Exploring Fez in Morocco
We’re driving the slow road south from Chefchaouen passing the Rif mountains and acres of agricultural land. Exploring Fez in Morocco is next up on this tour but for now we’re just enjoying the drive.
Oranges and other fruits are grown here and numerous animals can be seen en-route. There are donkey’s, shepherds herding sheep and cows, as well as goats, dogs and cats beside the road. High up structures have storks in their huge nests towering over us as we drive by.
Filling with fuel
The roads are long, winding and often uneven with lorries carrying stacks of goods. These are old and slow, so traffic builds up behind their heavy loads.
Fuel stations are in abundance, so we take advantage and stop to fill up and buy some Ad Blu. This is the first time we try paying with Apple Pay, which wasn’t successful although we are able to sometimes use it later in the trip. For now, the credit card works a treat.
Driving along, we see children walking by, some waving as we pass.
Police check points
There are regular police check points which seem to be at each town or roundabout, often with speed checks too.
Thankfully, they wave us on.
Chaotic driving through Fez
Reaching Fez takes much longer than we think but then the journey just gets longer and longer still.
Driving through Fez is chaotic, with eyes, ears and everything on full alert. It’s such a big city, with traffic squeezing between us and people weaving in and out the endless mopeds, cars and trucks.
Our hearts are in our mouth as we drive the last stretch to the campsite. There’s just so much going on!
Then a moped waves us down, the driver wanting us to follow him in a different direction to the campsite sign. We put our foot down, as he rides beside the wing mirror, we’re hoping to reach the campsite entrance first.
Thankfully, we inch forward enough to steer into the barrier entrance of the campsite resort, leaving the moped to disappear into the distance.
Camping Diamant Vert in Fez
Camping Diamant Vert looks like a luxury resort, being within a hotel-style chalet complex. It’s in a tree enclave, with a stream running along and large swimming pool area next door.
We check in, asking for a pitch for 2 nights at reception and pay before settling on a pitch for the night. It cost us 125 MAD (about £12.50).
Then we drive on to join the various motorhomes, overland trucks and campervans on site. It’s busy but not full and there’s a good dump/fresh filling area just outside the amenity block.
The swimming pools are all empty, presumably for Winter.
Although the amenity block looks nice, we find out too late, there’s no hot water at all in the hot tap of the showers. Most reviews mention it, but we sort of thought perhaps we’d be lucky!
Taxi into Fez
The following morning it’s time to explore Fez. The campsite is too far from the Medina to walk, so we opt for a Petit Taxi. We were planning on walking out of the site to pick one up from the nearby roundabout, but by chance one drives to the site to drop someone off.
We take the opportunity for a lift to the Medina, to the Blue Gate of the vast Medina area.
Taking about 20 minutes, the taxi cost 32 MAD (about £3.00), it’s a Sunday and the roads are a total contrast to our drive in yesterday. It’s really quiet thankfully with no hold ups.
Arriving at the Medina – Exploring Fez in Morocco
The Medina of Fez is the biggest pedestrian area in the world, so we’re anticipating an interesting day ahead.
We’re standing outside the Blue Gates which is a large arch that’s green on the other side. From here, numerous tiny alleyways spill out in a maize of different directions.
It’s difficult to know which way to go, and despite expecting numerous offers of a guide, only one chap approaches. We’re not sure if it’s best to take a guide or go it alone, but we decide to chance exploring at our leisure.
No sooner have we begun, and we fancy a coffee at one of the tempting little coffee shops of the first tiny street.
It’s a colourful restaurant where a table for 2 awaits on a wooden pallet outside the entrance. It’s just about big enough to sit at the table with 2 chairs in the small alleyway. The restaurant has wonderful mosaics on the walls and the most spotlessly clean toilet.
Coffee costs us 20 MAD (about £2) each and unlike Chefchaouen, they don’t automatically bring a bottle of water.
Time to venture further
Now it’s time to venture further into the Medina and it’s a strange feeling not quite knowing where we are.
The labyrinth of alleys begin to meander off into numeous sections of undercover stalls selling everything from leather to cloth and food to metal goods. There are areas for eating, even bathing in the form of a Hamman, each nook and cranny has something different.
Every area is narrow and hectic with a masterclass of skills making all sorts of items to sell. Donkey’s walk through, and the aroma of spices and herbs fills the air. There’s clothes dyeing in large tubs of liquid colour, with stone pools home to all kinds of fabrics undergoing colour change.
It’s a messy business, where furnaces burn and men use their hands to make a countless array of goods.
Old age traditions are in abundance with anything and everything being built, crafted and sold. Cow hides are being brushed down and numerous leather goods in the process of being made. Every corner of the Medina is alive with enterprise, with so much being made by hand.
Stalls galore
Not only are there so many crafts being made, but there are stalls galore selling them in tight-knit shops.
Stone ovens have bread baking on a fire, whilst sweet treats are baking too, the dough being kneaded in front of the stalls.
There are fishmongers selling shellfish, large catches of sea fish including fish steaks of some sort and plenty of sardine-like smaller fish.
Meat stalls are in abundance too, with a variety of of meats being chopped, diced and displayed. Amongst the offerings are live chickens as well as camel heads and hooves too.
This vast Medina is a maize of activity where small squares merge with the undercover alleys.
Navigating our way – Exploring Fez in Morocco
By lunch time, we seem to have gone round in circles a couple of times. Navigating our way through the Medina of Fez has been a strange mix of intriguing and panic at times! It’s impossible to see everything as there is just so much going on here.
The only disappointing thing is that we don’t get to the well known tannery. For some reason we just can’t find it, although we’ve seen a number of skins in one form or another and the smell has become a bit too much for one day.
By late afternoon, we feel fairly ready to leave for some relaxation, away from the hectic action of the Medina.
A petit taxi outside the Blue Gate takes us back to Camping Diamont Vert, taking roughly the same amount of time as earlier.
We learn it’s 11km away and there’s little traffic around on this Sunday afternoon.
As storm clouds gather and with thunder in the air, we arrive back at the campsite just in time.
Now all we have to do is decide where tomorrow will take us, but for now it’s time for a well earned cup of tea.