Day 7 Asilah - Fez

1/4/10
We woke up and walked around Asilah a bit in the morning, then stopped into a café and had a pastry, a crape, and café. Across the street there was some guy sitting in a doorway selling what looked to be greasy bags of donuts. My biggest regret about Morocco is not buying one.

We had some misadventures walking around town with our packs trying to find a taxi to take us to the train station. We stood in the mud in front of a sign that said “Taxis” for about 15-20 minutes and watched non-stopping taxis drive by. We finally found a taxi and arrived to the station in time. The station was very nice, new and was playing some delightful classical music. We bought our tickets to Fez and as we waited, I tried deciphering the signs around the platform, armed with a French phrasebook from the early 80’s, half of which talked of Paris and 3-star Michelin worthy cuisine. Brilliant.

The 11:45 arrived. It had originated in Tangier and was fairly packed. The cars were laid out in blocks of 4 seats - with a row of two seats facing another row of two seats. The idea is to occupy the 4block so that you don’t have to sit next to a stranger. The only 4block of seats available had one row of the seats inhabited by two very large suitcases. We sat facing them. Across the aisle sat the owners of the suitcases. Before we had actually sat down, in my quick assessment of situation I thought we might be making a long, exhausting mistake. I was right, Our neighbors for the 4-hour ride to Fez were British students (two guys, two girls, non-couples). Highlights included one of the girls loudly reading pages of a guidebook she had photocopied, followed by a conversation about her take on relationships and her boyfriend. The grand finale was when the girl decided to do her nails and filled the entire car with lovely wafts of nail polish. I could barely turn up my music loud enough to drown out the sheer poetry that flowed from her lips. Pearls, I tell you. I fear I may have suffered permanent hearing damage due my proximity to her.

Outside the window things were more interesting. Shepherds and hills and a pleasant countryside.

It was raining when we arrived in Fez. Our goal was to avoid the disaster of the previous day. We disembarked from the train and had to go through a tunnel under the tracks to get into the station. There were no lights in the tunnel. It was pitch dark. But no worries, once we got to the main part of the station, there was a guy holding up a sign with my name. We had booked Riad Lune et Soleil ahead of time and a driver was waiting to take us there. No hassle. Hooray.

The driver dropped us off and pointed down an alley. We wandered down a ways and found the door. A lady answered and showed us to our room.

Wow. The Riad (guesthouse? /Bed and Breakfast? /mansion) was a 3 level palatial joint surrounded by an open courtyard. Our suite was on the top floor. For less then you would pay for a lame room in Europe, We stayed in the nicest room I have ever had the pleasure of inhabiting. There was a little patio with couches and chairs outside overlooking the courtyard. Inside, the room was huge and had cool things hanging all over the walls like farm equipment and swords and dishes and postcards and stuff. And, it had a hot tub. Woo woo.

The Riad lady brought up some tasty mint tea and Becca and I relaxed on our patio. It would be hard to leave the room. The room ended being a pretty fantastic oasis from the awesomely incredible, medieval cluster maze of Fez.

After testing out the hot tub, we wandered around Fez after dark. There is nothing like Fez. It is a cartographer’s nightmare. Making an accurate map of its medina would be like solving Rubik’s cube with your feet and at the same time deciphering the Rosetta stone in a zero gravity environment while blindfolded and pregnant with twins.
It is the world’s largest car-free urban environment – i.e. a tangled mass of narrow winding alleyways flanked by buildings/shops/restaurants/workshops/mosques on each side. It was sensory overload. Soaps and spices and table makers and rug makers and coke and ice cream and donkeys and cds and shoes. Lots of noises and smells and sights for delight and mindspins. We ate at Kasbah café, the top floor overlooking the Bab Boujalud gate and the Medina. More beef Tajine and chicken Cous Cous and hot chocolate (not beer).

After dinner, we wandered around some more. It is easy to get lost in Fes (stay tuned). We went down some street with no lights and some shady peeps tried selling us some merchandise that I am sure would not do wonders for my health. So we decided to head back to our room.