Fez, Meknes, Volubilis oh my!

Traveling can really take things out of you. After two days of straight travel and many hours in the bus sleeping, somehow I am still tired. We started the "Four Dynasties in One Weekend" tour of the middle of Morocco early Saturday morning. At 7:45 we boarded the bus and began the two and a half hour drive to Meknes, and upon arriving (after sleeping the majority of the time of course) I found it to be very beautiful, even in the occasional rain. We first saw the beautifully decorated Thursday Gate (Bab El-Heftouh), proceeded onto another gate, which was also very beautiful, and then went to the Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss, who fought against four enemies in the 15th century to keep Morocco from submitting to a foreign ruler. Quite a spectacular achievement considering the force of the Ottoman Empire and Spanish alliance. To fight these formidable foes, he had to be sure that his army would always have supplies, and in order to do so he created a massive granary to store enough barley for his 12,000-horse army for three years. You could never predict when another Moroccan drought would strike the countryside, and since he asked for a certain amount of barley instead of money for taxes, he knew his granary would always be full. After this brief sojourn in Meknes, we departed for the nearby town of Moulay Idriss, a holy city where the ashes of this great sultan reside. What was truly spectacular about this city was the fantastic view of the valley and adjoining ridge. There we had lunch at a local restaurant reserved solely for tourists that day. Afterwards we descended the very steep side of the ridge, and it definitely reminded me of driving in the moors of England; when dad attempted drive away and we came upon a winding, 12% grade road in our relatively large van. Just substitute "bus of 41 SIT students" for "large van".

It was definitely an interesting experience, and well worth it because upon descending the ridge, we came upon the ruins of the Roman city, Volubilis. Although it was raining part of the time, it was absolutely gorgeous, especially when looking out upon the surrounding farmland. The mosaics archeologists were able to find there were also spectacular and almost completely intact. Being there was odd in a way though because it felt like a part of Italy with all the olive trees along the hillsides and the Roman ruins, but there was still a Moroccan vibe to the whole area. I really felt at a crossroads, as odd as that idea may seem. Overall, it's an experience better conveyed through pictures (in other words, check out my stuff on Flickr: Pictures)

After Volubilis, we proceeded onward to Fez! We arrived at night and had the opportunity to wander around the city for a couple hours (in groups of course) before we went to dinner. The dinner was probably the most interesting variety show I have ever seen. It began as a simple dinner with music experience, but then the acrobatic drummers came out and the whole evening really began. There was a magician, belly dancer who also played with fire, singers, and even a fake Moroccan wedding just for all the tourists. In addition to all the interesting events (again, see Flickr), it was nice to just relax and talk for a couple hours with people, and then go to bed early! That is one thing I've noticed about Moroccans, they never seem to go to bed before 11 or sometimes after midnight, and then most get up around 7 or 8 each morning. It took a while to get used to after having a steady sleep diet of 8 hours, but now I think I've adjusted. But I digress. Fez: absolutely crazy in the Medina, which was where the majority of our tour took place. The Medina of Fez has much smaller streets than the one in Rabat, and it truly is like a maze! But the artisans there are amazing. They work in what appear to be museum set-ups of how people used to work in other times, and turn out some of the most beautiful metal-work I have ever seen. We also (unfortunately for my nose) visited the tannery. Apparently the entire process has not changed much since the middle ages, and there are still earthen pits where they treat and dye the skins. While interesting to see how the craft has not changed much from the past, it does raise some serious health concerns for many of the workers, who spend all day in vats of chemicals or dyes. I should mention that all the dyes come from natural sources, but are still probably not good to be steeping oneself in day in and day out. Otherwise, the leather they make is the best I have ever seen. It is all very soft and I just couldn't resist purchasing a pair of blue-green sandals. The other craft we explored that day was weaving, and went to one of the guild houses in Fez to see how scarves and other textiles are made from the Agave plant. Previously, I had only known agave as a source of wonderful sweet stuff that I put in my coffee, but apparently if you work with it you can get some almost silk-like material that is fantastic for scarves and bedspreads. I was tempted to purchase a scarf, but had unfortunately already spent all my money on the wonderful leather goods at the tannery. However, I have a feeling that I will be going back to Fez at some point because they call it the intellectual capital of Morocco and possibly the oldest university in the world is there, built in the 9th century. So even though I was a tourist this weekend, I think I'll be getting to know Fez in the future.