Chefchauen

After repeating "Non, Merci" until our throats were dry and haggling over the price of everything from hotels to water, we absconded to the nearest mountain city hoping for a more mellow atmosphere. Upon arrival there were blue skies and sunshine and the blue city seemed to be exactly what we were looking for. Then comes the rain. For seven days straight. Straight. We got about 2 hours of light drizzle to run out and take pictures and I was so overjoyed to be outside that everything seemed especially beautiful, so there are a lot of pictures of blue doors! We were lucky to find a great hotel to pass the week and we had good company, hot mint tea, a fireplace, and a book exchange so it was a lovely retreat from the big cities. Chefchauen is the most adorable town we have been to in this country so far and it joins the list with Quebec and Barcelona as the world's most charming places. The little doors are reminiscent of Alice and Wonderland and some of them you really would need to eat a magical cake to shrink enough to fit inside.









On our way out of the city we found that the entire country received as much rain as we did. Roads and homes were washed out and people lined the streets just staring in disbeleif at the overflowing rivers that were now their backyards.

Fes

We took the train across the countryside to the medieval city of Fes. The train ride at this time of year begins by crossing the bright green mountains that are covered in purple flowers. As it moves further north the mountains morph into hills and the colors change to oranges and yellows surrounding tall patches of cacti. Impresionante.
Upon arrival we grabbed a taxi and went straight to the medina where with our big backpacks we were like birdseed being feasted upon and pecked at by a flock of teenage boys that make their money by leading you to a hotel or restaurant. We finally stopped at a dingy concrete hole and set out to explore the medina and the mellah for the next couple of days.



The highlight of the medina is the leather tannery where there are tubs of different colored dyes in which animal hides are dipped and layed out to dry. The fetid smell is overwhelming and the dying practices are very unsafe for the workers who develop health issues from bathing in the chemicals all day. The carts of animal carcasses are enough to make one forsake her wallets and handbags forever.