| 20 September - We had a few
hours to kill in the bustling city of Tangier before our bus to Fes departed. |
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| Tangier 20/9/1997 |
Tangier 20/9/1997 |
| This is one of the main squares in the city. |
We ate inside the medina (old part of the city which
consists of hundreds of narrow alleyways, full of shops and markets); this is the view
from our table, looking over the top of the Medina into towards the sea. |
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| Tangier
20/9/1997 |
| Inside the Medina. |
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| 22 September - We are in Fes, Morocco, after a long bus trip from Tangier. |
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| Fes 21/9/1997 |
Fes 21/9/1997 |
| The Medina in Fes is one of the largest in the world, and
the most interesting in all of Morocco, so our visit here focused mainly on its winding
streets. The mound of dried green leaves for sale in this shop is henna, which women use
to decorate their hair, hands and feet. |
The Medina is divided into areas for various trades; this
is in the copper zone. |
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| Fes 21/9/1997 |
Fes 22/9/1997 |
| The only form of transport inside the Medina - apart from
walking - is by mule or donkey. Then, there are areas where even those animals are banned,
as indicated by this sign! |
Medina, with mule. |
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| Fes 22/9/97 |
Fes 21/9/97 |
| These little donkeys carry amazing loads. We saw some
carrying three full bags of cement each. The animals only come up to your hips in height. |
In the tannery section of the medina, where leather is
prepared and dyed in these big vats. |
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| Fes 22/9/1997 |
Fes 22/9/1997 |
| More exploring of the medina. We read a lot about how much
you get hassled by people in Morocco wanting to sell you carpets - most of which we found
to be utterly untrue. We were hardly bothered by anyone here at all, and wandered about
for hours without a guide in the medina quite comfortably. |
We are staying in the Palais Jamai Hotel, a lovely 5-star
hotel right inside the Medina. It was the former palace of the Grand Vizier in the 19th
century, and is set amongst some rather pretty gardens, with a view right over the Medina.
This is the main entrance |
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| Fes 21/9/1997 |
| The pillar to the right is situated inside an
old Koranic school dating from the 14th century, and also appears on the 10 Dirham bank
note, as seen on the left. |
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| Rif Mountains 23/9/1997 |
Casablanca 23/9/1997 |
| The Rif mountain range outside of Fes. |
Casablanca is frankly nothing to talk about from the tourist perspective. However, the giant mosque is worth noting - said to be the second largest in the world (but I'm always wary when locals
claim that such-and-such a landmark is the biggest or longest...). |
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| Casablanca 23/9/1997 |
The air in
Casablanca is toxic, and the town is pretty awful, so we got out of it and went to the
airport. Now, Casablanca was over there. |
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