We left Fes on Friday morning by way of train. My anxiety spiked when I discovered I’d purchased our train tickets for the wrong day, but fortunately we discovered this early enough to acquire tickets for the correct day with lots of time to catch the right train. We got seats in a first class compartment, which was nice and not that much more expensive than the second class cars. Anxiety spiked again when we stopped in Rabat because we never heard the announcement, but I’d been watching the map on my phone so we only lost a couple of minutes verifying where we were and then getting all of our stuff out of the compartment. Caught a cab to the airport with minimal fuss and then we were off to Paris. Because we had an afternoon flight out of Rabat, we had a long layover at the Paris airport and spend the night in the airport Sheraton. It was SO nice to have a room in a hotel after the Riad in Fes. Nothing was wrong with the Riad, to be sure, but being back in western culture and having a wonderfully soft bed was a tremendous relief.

Leaving Paris was almost as obnoxious as it was 10 years ago when I flew through there last. For some reason, they load BUSSES by zone and then haul you across the tarmac, around the outside of the airport to your plane and then you have to climb stairs to get into a jetway, that is actually attached to the airport before you can board the plane itself. I was grousing about this a bit on the bus and one of our flight attendants overheard me and stage-whispered that it’s because the French handle leaving. They make everything more complicated.

We’ve been home now for about 4 days and are still sort of on Morocco time. Getting up in the mornings is very easy, because 5:00 am still feels like NOON, but staying up even until 9:00 pm is practically impossible for me.

Signing off until our next adventure!

I promised pictures from Volubilis, so I’ve included them below with a few others.

Today we did a day trip out to Volubilis, Meknes, and Moulay Idriss. The point of the trip was to go see the Roman ruins at Volubilis, but the only tours we could find included that as a side excursion on a day trip to Meknes. Only an hour and a half, but we made it work. Interestingly enough, we had the same driver that brought us to Fes from the Sahara. Fortunately for us, he wasn’t trying to cover nearly 600 km in 11 hours, so he was able to drive more like a normal person and less like a maniac. Not once today did I feel like we might die in a fiery crash.

Ryan had a wonderful time remembering his high school Latin and trying to read the inscriptions on the stones along the path. Several times, I had to remind him how much time we had before the bus was going to leave so he would have time to see the whole site, and not just a small part of it. He took my prodding with good humor, even though there was grumbling that an hour and a half would only be sufficient if he’d been there many times before. There were beautiful mosaic floors in what are presumed to be the homes of the wealthy, and many different styles of columns. We never did manage to see the whole site, but I think we got most of it. We’re going to need to find a book that has information about Volubilis, as there wasn’t a lot available there.

After Volubilis, we stopped at Moulay Idriss for an hour for lunch. Ryan and I didn’t eat lunch where we stopped, rather just wandered around for the hour. We found some “chicken fries” chip-style snacks that were made out of crispy rice and chicken flavor that were pretty decent. If you’ve ever had Veggie Sticks, those are closest in texture and flavor.

Afterward, we piled back into the bus and went to Meknes, where we got lost, got unlost, wandered the Medina, and finally found some of the items that were on our list for bringing home.

We were back in Fes between 6:30 and 7, stopped at the Disney pizza place for dinner and then finished up our shopping.

All in all a really nice day. Tomorrow we catch a train to Rabat and then a plane to Paris where we will stay overnight before flying home.

Pictures won’t load tonight, WiFi is having issues. Special issue will come later (like several days later) with everything.

Today we split up. Ryan and Erich went and looked at architecture and did “cultural” things, Alrica and I wandered the Medina. It was a lot of walking and chatting. We connected with the guys around 1:00 pm ish, and did more wandering and shopping. We also explored a wood carving museum that had examples of all the woods used in Fes, along with many items carved from it. These included everything from writing tablets to cat flaps for the city gates. Some of it was around 800 years old – we think. There were a few different calendars referenced and it got very confusing. However, the really old wood was almost always cedar, which makes sense as insects are not terribly fond of it.

Today was also a tajine-free day. We had pizza and fresh orange juice for dinner, at a restaurant called, Disney Channel. It had pictures of Donald Duck and his nephews in several places. Good pizza too!

After dinner we walked up to an overlook and were able to see both the old and new city. Ryan got a few cool pictures of everything.

Today’s philosophic discussion was about cultural appropriation. At what point does adopting something from another culture become inappropriate? Is it when you just adopt something without learning and understanding its history and cultural significance? Or is it even that cut and dried? What about Scottish tartan? The Stuart tartan can be found all over the United States, only sometimes on a kilt, often it’s just seen as plaid. Is it cultural appropriation to wear something made with the Stuart tartan without even knowing it has historical and cultural significance? I wasn’t there for the discussion, but it sounded like they got distracted by something and never finished.

Tomorrow Ryan and I have a day trip out to see the Roman ruins and the city of Meknes.

Pictures from today and a camel picture from yesterday.

Where’s the Star Trek beaming technology when you need it? We left our camp in the desert via camel around 7:30 am. It was about an hour walk and we left the pickup spot shortly after. We arrived in Fes ELEVEN HOURS LATER, and most of that was spent riding in a very cramped bus. As you may be able to tell, this left me very jangled and cranky.

But the desert in the morning was just as beautiful as it was last night. I got significantly better at riding my camel. I didn’t name this one, and I wasn’t on Weeble anymore (yesterday’s camel, I can’t remember if I mentioned his name). The camels were ready to be up and going and were not interested in staying kneeling long enough for people to get on them. One stood up while Alrica was still mounting, and the one behind me took several tries before he would kneel long enough for his rider to get on. During all of this, the drover actually said, “I’m going to kill this camel one of these days.” And I was relieved that he wasn’t talking about my camel until that one, who I think of as, “that Devil Camel,” kept getting very friendly with my pant leg. I would look behind and down and there would be his teeth! The drover said not to worry, camels are vegetarian, but that wasn’t actually reassuring. After we stopped to watch the sunrise, I figured out how to ride with my right leg up in front of my saddle so that Devil Camel could not reach my pants to take a bite out of. Now, he may have just been a very friendly sort of camel, but between Frisco trying to pull off my saddle blanket yesterday, and the “I’m going to kill this camel” comment from this morning, I just didn’t have any interest in trusting him. I ended up on a different string of camels from Ryan and the cousins, and when we got to the drop off place Erich took a video of me riding in, and even came up with a theme song while he was at it. It was kind of fun and apparently I’m now, “Michelle of the Maghreb.”

Lunch was at around 2:00 pm. If you’re keeping track, we left our camels around 8:30 am. We stopped once around 10 when one lady asked for a toilet break. The stop actually sold snacks, but we were all still thinking that we’d be stopping about every 2 hours or so for a stretch/toilet break, so nobody bought any. When we did finally stop for lunch, Erich staged a mini-revolt and instead of eating at the restaurant we stopped at, our group walked about 10 minutes and found a lovely little sandwich shop that was half the price of the other one. We were able to have something other than tajine for about half what we would have paid otherwise.

After lunch, we stopped very briefly to see the Barbary Apes, I think Ryan may have gotten a picture of one. The tourists and various enterprising people (who want to be paid) feed them, so there was a lot of them alongside the road.

Finally, we stopped again and found a little market where I bought some Cheetos and Pringles. Neither tasted quite like they do at home, but I was quite ready for something that tasted like American snack food.

When we got to Fes, we witnessed an altercation in a traffic circle that was quickly devolving into an outright brawl. No punches had been thrown before we made it through, but some person in a car was being violently berated by several other people who were outside the car. After we got through the new part of the city, and I think it may have been rush hour, if they have that here, our driver dropped us off at the Blue Gate as our riad is inside the Medina, which does not allow any motor traffic. A 5 minute walk and we got here, and I am now safely ensconced in our room, by myself (Ryan escaped) writing down the day’s events.

Tomorrow is a relaxation/shopping day in Fes. Breakfast isn’t until 9:30, so we’ll be able to sleep in a bit before diving into everything.

A few pictures from today…

So, funny thing… The Sahara does not have internet. See yesterday’s post below.

^{This morning started with a surprise hike along a river through a small Berber village. It was approximately 35 degrees Fahrenheit for our walk. Had it not been a surprise, we would have worn different layers, but the ones we had weren’t too bad since we were half ready for the camel ride out into the desert later today. Our guide, Abdul, walked us through the village garden where they grow alfalfa, almonds, pomegranate, cabbage, and beans. Each family has their own plot and they barter with each other for anything they might need. We clambered over rocks across the river, waded through the river, and did a small amount of hiking as well. The river starts as a hot spring and then cools as it travels until it ends about 32 km away. There wasn’t the smell of sulphur though, just warm, fresh water. After the village, which is only about 38 years old, we went into a kasbah in the old village, which is 900 years old. As part of that, we got to see a few donkeys having their breakfast. Finally, we had tea with a family who demonstrated how they make the traditional Berber carpets by hand. I got to try carding wool and realized the women have to have really strong hands to get the wool ready for spinning. They use many different plants and minerals for the dyes including turquoise and lavender, which give them incredibly bright, deep colors.}

^{Lunch was unremarkable except for the pretty view of the village behind the kasbah. After lunch we drove to a little shop that provides costuming for the tours so people can get an idea of what traditional Berber clothing feels like. Mine was not at all flattering, but it was red, and I really like red. Ryan got called Ali Baba again because of his goatee, and his robe and turban suited him. Our tour guide took photos which he has promised to forward to all of us. I may or may not post them. 🙂}

^{FINALLY the camels! We had been advised to pack a small overnight case for the camp, so Ryan and I both had our packs and expected to wear them for the trek out into the desert. Fortunately, not only did we not have to wear them, we didn’t have to strap them to our camels as the tour brought them out to the camp by vehicle.}

^{Getting onto the camel was very similar to getting on a horse with two notable exceptions: 1, the camel kneels for you, and 2, there are no stirrups on the saddle. I asked about sitting with one leg up as I had read that is the best way to ride a camel for stability, but the saddles they were using are based on a horse saddle, and we were forced to ride astride. It worked out though. Riding a camel is very wobbly, but after a few minutes we all got used to it. Ryan was able to let go of his saddle with both hands and could take a few pictures with his phone. I could sometimes take one hand off, but I need to to take pictures, so was only able to get some when we were stopped so our drover could take pictures of us while we perched atop our saddles. At one point the camel behind me, which had been nicknamed Frisco by Erich, got bitey and tried to pull my saddle blanket off of my camel, and we had to stop so the drover could chew him out (the camel, not Erich). There wasn’t any more biting, but I kept a wary eye on him the remainder of our trip. When we got to camp, a few of the camels did not want to kneel for us and getting down was rather abrupt. Nobody fell, but there were several yelps of surprise as each camel either knelt of its own accord, or was yanked down by the drover. We got our tents, and then grabbed cameras to watch the sunset over the dunes. I think we may have gotten a few decent photos of the sand. Dinner was more tajine, chicken tonight. Thinking about tajine, it’s very much like a crockpot. Everything in it takes on a similar flavor based on the spices used as part of the cooking. After dinner came music and dancing for some of the more energetic people in camp. Unfortunately, the music was done on electric guitar and drums, and while nice, was very loud and was almost immediately behind our tent. The cousins went to their tent shortly after dinner, and Ryan and I walked out onto the dunes. We lay on a blanket on the sand and looked at the stars for a little while, but even with a blanket, cold sand seeps the heat out of you, so we didn’t last very long And went back to camp to get into bed. It’s cold enough out that while I’m typing this, I’m wearing my winter coat over my nightgown and an undershirt beneath it, also my pants from today and winter hat. It took several minutes to convince myself to take off my hiking boots and put on my slippers! Reminds me very much of the camping trips up into the mountains Ryan and I did when we were first married. We’ve both been known to sleep with our shoes on when it mountains got chilly.}

Pictures from yesterday:

Today started around 6:00 am Marrakech time (about 11:00 pm Central time). Fortunately, we all packed everything back up last night to avoid last minute scrambling before heading out on our 3 day tour through the Atlas Mountains.

The sun rises in Marrakech around 8:30 am, so it was still full dark, and pretty chilly when we met our tour a little before 7:00 am. I got to use my winter hat! We drove for about an hour and a half, then stopped for a stretch break where Ryan and I were allowed to sit in the front of the van as Ryan was feeling unwell due to the motion of the van with all the twisty, bumpy roads. It was miserable at the time, but being able to sit in the front with the driver allowed us some beautiful views nobody else got to see.

After some mint tea and more driving, we stopped and took pictures of High Atlas Mountain. It was a very brief stop and then it was back into the van for more driving before we arrived at Ait Ben Haddou, where we had a delicious tajine lunch and more mint tea before meeting our guide to the site.

Ait Ben Haddou is about 1100 years old, and was an important trading location where caravans would come up from the south, traveling up to 53 days by camel to trade for salt and minerals. It was a fortified village with its own king and had several kasbahs inside the walls in addition to the royal quarters which included the local justice offices.

It was eventually made an UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has helped protect it as well as provide some needed infrastructure like a bridge between the old city and the road. Without the bridge, when the river flooded, people had to wait three to four days for the water to go down before they could cross.

Ait Ben Haddou is where the stairs are. SO MANY STAIRS! And they’re old stairs, so they’re cobbled with a variety of beautiful rock in many different shapes and sizes. And being 1100 years old, they’re also uneven, which made climbing them challenging, but the views at the pseudo top (I didn’t get to the actual top, I stopped one tier down) really did make them worth it.

It was discovered by Hollywood several decades ago. Some movies and shows you might recognize that were filmed there are Lawrence of Arabia, Game of Thrones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Gladiator (1 and 2).

Partway back down from the top, we learned a little bit about how the Berber people communicated over long distances. Jokes were made about how it was the Instagram of the time, but primarily, messages were written on stretched goat skin and then carried by caravans between the villages. These messages were written using Moroccan tea and saffron, which, to my understanding, forms a colorless ink that can only be revealed by fire. The demonstration included creating an image using indigo and saffron for sky and desert sand. Mix the saffron with Moroccan tea and add more details, wave the paper over a flame and voila! Now there are camels and some sand dunes and many more details other than blue and yellow streaks across the page. It reminded me very much of the lemon juice “secret” codes I played with as a kid. Although those usually ended up with just small fires, and no revelation of secret writings.

MORE driving and then we were treated to learning about how rose water and oil are created. It takes 5000 kilos of roses to make 1 liter of rose water.

MORE driving and then we arrived in Tinghir and our hotel. Wonderful food and now it’s about time for bed. Tomorrow begins another very long day that will include CAMELS.

No philosophy tonight. Everyone just went to bed.

You cannot go to a medina and souk without seeing the snake charmers. I had expected them to be in baskets, or boxes, or some kind of container, but that is not the case. They’re just right out on the pavement, their handlers kicking at them to make them rise up and spread their hoods.

Ryan was very … brave? and got rather close for some pictures and a video.

The snake he is holding is considered harmless, but he was told the cobras and the viper still all had their venom sacs. I definitely would not have been holding any kind of snake, and I kept a good distance from the venomous ones.

In the souks we found a few items to bring home, but mostly just enjoyed the experience of an open-air market. Since it’s a weekend, there were many tourists over from Europe soaking up the sun before heading home to the cold and damp of winter on the European continent.

A green-signed McDonald’s offered up fried cheese and water before we went to a grocery store for a few snacks for tomorrow’s trip into the Atlas Mountains.

We finished the day with traditional tajine dinner. Unfortunately I was hungry enough that I forgot to take a picture before I snarfed it down.

Tomorrow we’re off to the mountains and a couple traditional Berber villages.

Philosophical conversation of today regarded the ethics of jaywalking in areas where jaywalking is illegal.

Is a beautiful city! No pictures yet, there was too much figuring out how to get to our apartment and then visiting with the cousins over dinner to take any.

Right now, I’m listening to Erich and Ryan have a philosophical discussion about logic, mathematics, and philosophy. For example, and to get other brains thinking about it, this is where they started, “If nothing is ever “true” (and thus, nothing is ever “false”), did humans invent logic and math to support a basic human need to understand their universe? Or, did logic and mathematics already exist intrinsically, and humans just discovered them?

Yes. This is a totally normal conversation for these two individuals to have. Apparently even when one of them hasn’t slept for more than 24 hours.

Tomorrow we’re going to explore the city, check out the local McDonald’s to see what interesting foods they sell here, see some snake charmers, and some general Medina wandering and shopping.

And one last question to leave you with: Is mathematics the language used to describe a structure, or is it the structure itself?

We’ve been in the Paris airport for about little more than two hours. The fog outside is so thick it’s hard to see even the tails of the planes at the gates! After finding our gate for the flight to Marrakech, we wandered to the end of the row and found the giant sleeping kitty surrounded by lounge chairs full of also sleeping humans.

Some OJ and pain au chocolat, and now we’re back at our gate, charging phones, and resisting the almost overwhelming urge to sleep.

Next flight leaves in two hours.

Oh, and yes, I did bite the bullet and bring the owl suitcase.

Next Thursday we leave for Marrakech!

A brief itinerary:

• Day 1 – Friday: arrive in Marrakech, locate the apartment we are staying in with Ryan’s cousins
• Day 2 – Saturday: explore Marrakech
• Days 3, 4, 5: Trip to Fes via the Atlas mountains and the western Sahara desert, partly by camel
• Day 6 – Wednesday: explore Fes
• Day 7 – Thursday: day trip out to the roman ruins
• Day 8 – Friday: travel to Rabat for flight to Paris, overnight in Paris
• Day 9 – Saturday: fly home

Looks like Marrakech runs about 10 degrees warmer than Fes. Since it’s January, it’s winter in Morocco, which will put daytime temperatures in the upper 50s to the high 60s. Nighttime temps will be in the 40s. This makes me feel anxious about packing, as layers will be required and we’re trying to pack light. I keep having to remind myself that we’re going to have to do laundry when we get to Fes since our clothing will likely smell of camel. This reduces the amount of clothing needed for the trip, but I also haven’t managed a single out-of-country trip without having to purchase another suitcase in the return airport due to the souvenirs I acquire while shopping! Maybe since Ryan will be traveling with me, I’ll be able to manage with just the bags we start with. A good portion of Fes is pedestrian only too, and cobbled, so lots of bags won’t be a good idea. I wonder if perhaps one of my little blue under-seat carry-ons will fit inside a carry-on we’re already bringing, or if I should just bite the bullet and bring the owl suitcase that has been all over the world with me..it’s not THAT much larger than the carry-ons…