Fes, Morocco

The old medina (walled city center) of Fes may be the oldest medieval city in the world.  It also has the most labyrinthine cluster of streets in what some consider to be the world's largest urban car-free zone.  Also boasting the world's oldest university, there's a lot of history here. Unfortunately, the locals didn't seem to be as easy-going and friendly as other Moroccans.  They seemed solely concerned with making money from us and expressed their hostility when we didn't want to buy something or insisted we had no desire for a guide to lead us through the maze of the medina.  After all, getting lost is half the fun and there were plenty of narrow alleyways (often dead ends) to keep me busy.

The tanneries of Fes are world famous.

Photographers love to capture these picturesque colored tanks filled with liquids used in this centuries-old practice of turning animal skin into leather.  It's a big tourist destination replete with touts attempting to give you tours of the tanneries or kids trying to lead you there. The smell of ammonia can be overpowering so locals hand out handfuls of mint for you to breathe through (for a tip of course).

The Bou Inania Madrasa

Two views of Bab Boujloud, one of the main gates into the medina

Amazing architectural details in the streets

Butcher slicing a chicken's neck

In the medina, donkeys are used to pull carts for construction projects, transport or trash collection as the narrow streets are much too small for cars.

Marrakech, Morocco

In Marrakech, I purchased a djellabah, (basically a traditional Moroccan Berber robe that looks like a costume from a Star Wars movie).  And I hardly took it off for many days, as I felt that it helped me blend in the crowds and Morocco in January was colder than I expected so the robe helped keep me warm.  Here I am in a 'magic shop,' surrounded by dry lizards, giant pythons skins, animal pelts, herbs, potions, tinctures, horns, etc. with a spiky fierce-looking desert lizard on my chest.

Walking through the ancient street and narrow alleys of the souks of Marrakech is a sensory overload.  It is easy to get lost in the alleys, which just keep winding around and around and before you know it, you're totally turned around.  Some areas seem to have an endless supply of the same tourist goods: leather slippers and jewelry.  But then you turn a corner and there's a row of beautiful lamp stores, beckoning to you like Ali Baba's magical cave and you have to stop to admire them, or smell the spices or taste the sweets.  And the vendors certainly aren't shy; most are eager to invite you into their shop for a cup of tea.  

The thoroughfares are jam-packed with pedestrians, yet bicyclists, hand-pulled or donkey-pulled carts, scooters and even cars try to push through the flood of humans packing the streets of Marrakech's medina (old city center).  

Just going for a stroll in Marrakech becomes a vibrant experience.  The call to prayer gets broadcasted out over the old city from the minarets of the mosques five times a day.  Even in such a tourist destination as Marrakech, alcohol-drinking establishments are rare, as alcohol cannot be served if it is within view of a mosque.  The easiest option to obtain alcohol is to go to a European supermarket like CarreFour.  Hash, on the other hand, does not seem to be as condemned by Moroccan Islam. Young men (and even a couple young boys) constantly offered me hash on the streets of the medina.

Wandering through the souks long enough will bring you to other types of markets where the locals do their shopping. Here the alleys open up into the spice market square.  There are other areas of the city that are just brass workers or wood workers, all selling their wares.


Acrobats perform in Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech's huge open square in the heart of Morocco.  This square is utilized by locals and tourists both and one can find food stalls, musicians, fortune-tellers, dancers, snake-charmers, boxers, monkeys wearing sunglasses, juice stalls and vendors of all sorts. Everyday in the square is a spectacle of sights, sounds and smells.

Throughout the mazes of alleys, rounding a corner, you'll come upon an ornate entrance to a mosque.


Posing with the djellabah in our riad we found cheap on Airbnb.


More lamps


The ornate architecture all around Morocco is incredible.  We visited the inside of the Bahia Palace to admire the beautiful symmetry and designs of this old residence.








But you don't have to pay an entrance fee to see ornate architectural elements.  You can find crazy details in doorways on the streets or in the riads (old homes converted into hotels or guest houses).


A chameleon on Lily's head at the magic shop


And Marrakech even has an Earth Cafe though it's not related to my family's Earth Cafe in Norman, OK. But I did feel at home among the orange colors.

Aït Ben Haddou

The beautiful earthen clay architecture seen here is part of this UNESCO-designated fortified city (or kasbah or ksar).  Aït Ben Haddou in Ouarzazate province at the edge of the Atlas Mountains has been used as a set for many films including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and The Last Temptation of Christ, and more recently on Games of Thrones.

We went for a nighttime walk when arrived into the old city with flashlights (as there are no street lights.)  We met this guy who invited us to his home for tea, music and jokes.  We promised to return the next day to take a look at his shop.

And of course he charmed us into buying stuff.

The same type of mud bricks that comprise the original fortress are still used for building.

Tommy atop the kasbah

A view across the dusty town from the terrace of our guesthouse looking towards the fortress of Ait Ben Haddou.

Group selfie with Tommy and Lily

In order to arrive in southern Morocco and the Sahara from the cities in northern Morocco, we had to cross the snowy Atlas Mountains.  The day before, the highway crossing the mountains had been closed due to the snow.  Our bus ride took four hours longer than expected due to the wintry road conditions.  It was a harrowing ride with lots and lots of switchbacks.  Many of the Moroccan locals spent the better part of their bus rides in the mountains getting sick into plastic bags...but the views were gorgeous. 

Napping may be the best way to get through a long bus ride and to ignore the awful sounds of the retching of fellow passengers.

Sahara Desert Outside M'Hamid, Morocco

While at the Taragalte Festival, we explored a bit outside the festival location: walking around the surrounding sand dunes and checking out a sleepy village oasis.  This location is the first major oasis that a northbound caravan would encounter after traversing the Sahara Desert from the desert of northern Mali, and so it has historical importance for the desert caravans of yesteryear.  Today, invisible international borders may prevent nomads and desert travelers from making the same treks.

Boy ridin' his donkey

Crumbling adobe ruins in the village and fun with shadows

The desert at sunrise...

The endless sand dunes stretching to the horizon is a surreal environment.