Thursday 28 June 2012

Fez and on to Chefchaouen

Darren and I caught the night bus up from Essaouria up to Fez the night of the day we said goodbye to everyone. I slept supprisingly well, but it was probably more due to sheer exhaurstion from the festival than comfort. Poor Darren swapped seats with e so i wasnt bashed into by locals every 5 minutes, so i dont think he had quite such an easy ride.

Fez is a huge walled city, quite imposing from the outside and a complex tangle of alleyways through the gates. It was so hot we felt like we were being blasted with a blow dryer as we walked along with dust flying in the wind and sticking on to our sweaty faces. The Medina was interesting, if a little claustrophobic, so after spending the morning getting lost there, we decided to get loose ourselves in the new town instead. We were a little delirious by this point, and i couldnt help but laugh and the man who invited us to eat in his resterant and then ran off to get a sandwhich for us. Turns out they dont serve food, im not sure where the confusion arose. The walk home was a little sketchy as we'd left it until dark and didnt entirely know where we were going, but i wrapped Darren's scarf around my head to avoid attracting extra attention and we didnt really have any trouble at all.

The next day we headed back to the station in search of a bus to Chefchaouen. Unfortunately they were all booked (or something like that, we couldnt quite understand the problem), so we caught another bus to Ouazzane. It was pretty difficult to understand what was going on when i was looking for signs saying "Wazan", but it all became clear in the end. We waited here for an hour or two, drinking inordinate amounts of water and orange juice and chatting to a ozzie circus performer called Mitch. Finally our bus arrived and we bumbled in for another couple of hours of sweaty discomfort. Chefchaouen was definitely worth the journey though. The blue tinged buildings nestled into an impressive mountain scenery are a great escape from the hassle and bustle of the bigger cities.

Darren and I trecked up into the mountains yesterday and stumbled across a Cannibis farm. The farmer was lovely actually and brought us water before introducing us to his tiny daughter! There were goats stumbling around and we found a great tree to hide away from the sun under.

Today Darren has left me to travel up into Spain, but I seem never to be alone as I'm allready making new friends here on the roof. About 20 of us are sleeping up there for 40 diram a night (around 3 pounds 30p) to save money on accommodation. I think i'll stay for a few days.

xxx


Photos

OK well, im having some serious trouble rotating these, and i'm too lazy to re-upload, so you're going to have to deal with tilting your heads! Here's some photos for you anyway...


Starting with Marrakech




















On our way to Ourika Vally








Back into Marrakech




Gnaou Festival in Essaouria 








On to Fez




Chefchaouen