Tangier, Chefchaouen, & Fes
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die—it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
–Maya Angelou
Day 4 - Saturday, January 13, 2024
We awoke for our first day in Morocco in the northern city of Tangier. We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel (included), packed up our belongings, and met our tour guide Abdul in the lobby just before 9 am. We met the other 18 in our group on the bus:
Andy from North Wales
Natasha from Dallas
Cayla and her mother Carey from Canada
Claire and Andy from Weymouth, England
Jane and Tim from Yorkshire
Clay and his father Scott from Colorado
Sharon and Joe from San Francisco
May and Sam, Chinese immigrants living in Canada
Fanny and Joe from China
Tina and Steve from South Carolina
We didn’t know it at the time, but we hit the jackpot with Natasha, Andy, Cayla, Carey, Claire, & Andy! (Everyone else was great, but the eight of us formed an especially tight bond.)
A brief bus ride took us to a viewpoint overlooking Tangier’s harbor. From there we walked passed the Spanish and French balconies to arrive at another lower viewpoint overlooking the small harbor. We then boarded our bus again and drove about two hours south to Chefchaouen. Along the way we passed the old border between Spain and Morocco as we climbed into the Rif Mountains of northwest Morocco.
The name "Chefchaouen" is of Berber origin. It is derived from the word isakon or echaouen, which means “the horns,” and the word chef which means “look at.” Chefchaouen thus means “look at the horns,” reflecting the two mountain peaks overlooking the area. Nowadays, Chefchaouen is better known as "the Blue Pearl" of Morocco, with its traditional houses painted in striking blue and white.
The most popular theory for the blue and white paint scheme is that after WW-II, when the Jewish community in the area grew as people fled Nazi persecution, blue was painted on the walls, floors, and steps as a religious practice, to represent the color of the sky and connect the city to heaven and God. Other parts of the medina were still white until around 40 years ago—when the rest of the city followed suit, likely for aesthetic or tourism purposes.
Dave and I had coffee on the rooftop of La Lampe Magique casa Aladin, with breathtaking views of the city and the Plaza Uta el Hamman and Kasbah below. We thought this was our lunch break, but it turned out there was a group lunch planned at the nearby Tissemlal of Casa Hassan restaurant. I had my first Moroccan vegetable tagine and found it very enjoyable.
After lunch we returned to our bus and stopped briefly at a turnout that provided an overview of the city below. Then we settled in for the 3.5-hour drive to Fes, made longer by the inability to pass countless truck loaded with hay. When I say loaded, I really mean massively overloaded: an unimaginable amount of hay suspended magically, precariously, over the front of the truck…never falling, though you expected it to at any moment. The hay was also piled higher than one would expect possible and hanging almost as dangerously beyond the rear bumper. They must go through a lot of truck shocks and springs in Morocco.
We finally arrived at our hotel in Fes: Hôtel L’Escale, where we checked into our rooms and then had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
After dinner, Dave and I walked down Ave Allal Ben Abdellah and withdrew more dirhams from an ATM and then, after much searching, located a bar that served alcohol: La Noce Restaurant. We had our first Casablanca lager. The bottles were only 25cl (centiliters), which is about 8.4 oz or half a pint. So, pretty small for a beer. No worries, however, because the cigarette smoke was so thick inside the restaurant, it wasn’t long before our eyes were watering, our lungs burning, and we were asking for the bill.
All in all, it was a great first day in Morocco, with exploring the narrow, winding streets of picturesque Chefchaouen as the highlight.
Sunrise as seen from breakfast at Fredj Hotel in Tangier.
Another view of the sun rising on our first day in Morocco. Below is a quick video showing my hotel room at Fred Hotel in Tangier: https://youtu.be/sskwSECS_hE
Leaving the hotel, ready to board our bus.
Tangier from the upper overlook.
The Spanish and French balconies of Tangier.
Famous Grand Socco market square with Sidi Bouabid mosque behind.
Right off the market square rests Bab Al Fahs. Bob means gate and Al Fahs is Arabic for “hinterland.” This is the main gateway to the south of the medina, which links the old town to the new town. You may recall that the City of York calls their gates “Bars,” so very similar terms.
Medina is a city in Saudi Arabia, the second most holy city of Islam (after Mecca), which contains the tomb of Mohammed. However, a medina (small m) is the old part of a town or city, found in many countries of North Africa, not just Morocco. It is typically walled, and contains narrow streets, fountains, palaces, and mosques. Many medinas are car-free as there is not enough space in the alleyways for cars to pass. The word "medina" is also now a generic term for city or town in modern-day Arabic.
Beautiful green mosque.
At the end of our walk through old town Tangier, before boarding our bus.
Not sure why these were made doors instead of windows…just saying! 🤔 Sold “as is.” Railing not included.
Dogs are considered unclean, so there are considerably more feral cats than dogs (as you’ll see).
Morocco is a rather large country, so in addition to a lot of touring each day, we also did a lot of driving. We had a nice coach, so it was pleasant enough. The drive from Tangier to Chefchaouen (above) was just over two hours.
Inside the narrow winds of Chefchaouen’s souk (marketplace).
Here a cat, there a cat, everywhere a cat cat!
The jillaba is a long, loose-fitting outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in much of North Africa. I think I know where the Jawa’s from Star Wars got their look. They do look warm and cozy! And in Abdul’s case, very stylish.
From the rooftop of La Lampe Magique casa Aladin, “looking at the horns”—the two mountain peaks presiding over their namesake.
On the rooftop of La Lampe Magique casa Aladin with the kasbah behind. A kasbah, also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term alcazaba in Spanish. Google the song "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash from 1982 and you’ll find the story behind the lyrics interesting.
Overlooking Chefchaouen from the roadside heading south out of the city on our way to Fes.
During the 3.5 hour drive to Fes we passed a lot of massive stork nests found in the most awkward places. It suddenly made sense why one of Morocco’s beers is named Stork—the others are Spéciale Flag (pilsner) and Casablanca (also a lager). Dave and I found we liked Casablanca the best. On my torturous ride home on the Amtrak bus, there was a stop in Solvang. Lo and behold I noticed something I had never seen before: fake storks and their nests on top of several buildings. I guess 1,500 miles north, Denmark must have these pesky nests in their country as well.
This image is from Jethro Hardeman on Pixabay, but it gives you a pretty good sense of why it took us so, so, so long to get from Chefchaouen to our hotel in Fes. There were dozens of these trucks sharing the two-lanes roads with us. It was difficult, to say the least, for our bus driver to repeatedly have to pass these dangerous monstrosities on wheels.
Finally to our hotel in Fes: Hôtel L’Escale—which means “the stopover” in French.
In a conservative culture, perhaps cute half-pint bottles make sense. What did everyone at the tables around us do?—ordered bottles three at a time! The La Noce Restaurant was way too smoky to stay for long. Good night Fes. I said goodnight!
