Fez!

My only clear memory so far is a bloke in the middle of a crazy Medina (a market the size of a city) that could spin the tassel on his fez hat while clapping 4 castanets at the same time. He looked like a giraffe with a rubber neck and sounded like a cymbal bashing wind up monkey. I'm so tempted to buy a fez hat- actually theres a mission for tonight.

We started our stint in Fez with a taxi ride from the traino to the hotel. I don't need to tell you about the traffic here- lets just say the Mexican chick in the front seat was laughing hysterically when we almost smashed for the third time, the driver had to lock it up and the car that was going to pass after we moved locked it up to stop from hitting us. Apparently drinking water in front of fasting Muslims on the train is frowned on and Allah was letting us know. I was having a laugh coz I know how solid the 1910 Mercedes we were in is- This tank would have made the titanic look like balsa wood.

After we got in to the hotel we got sorted, I stole some clowns wifi and we headed out for a stroll on the town. We headed back about 19:30 for a dinner with the whole group at a local cuisine place. I got a set menu- Harate soup, Couscous Royale and Gateaux Moroccain (sounds fancy- looks like 4x Biscuits). We are lucky enough to have a bar in this hotel that has beers for only $20 DHS ($4 AUD so you can guess where the groups meeting point is each night and for each outing.

On Tuesday morning we headed out with our guide Hafeed to a mosque built in the 12th century, had a quick trip up some of the lower atlas mountains for a view of the town and then off to the old medina. The old medina was built in 808AD and celebrated its 1200 year anniversary in May. There is 350,000 people that live in there and that is aside from the schools, unis, commercial areas and all the other facilities that exist in there. Like all the other medinas, it is surrounded by a fortified wall and the entry is narrow gates. This one is unique in that it does not have anything wide enough for a car- it is all donkeys and carts. After the warnings from the guide- When we hear "Allack allack!" you need to press up against a wall or become a floor rug for an express donkey. I thought he was joking, till one fat arse donkey slammed me against a wall.

Within the medina there is the usual maze of streets with virtually no right angles, but this one has defined districts of things like: Silver/Bronze/Gold/Metal smiths, Woodwork, Tannery, Tailors, Weavers, Spices, Fruit and Veg, Meat and Poultry... Each has its own style, smell and setup. Without a guide we would have walked past the Harem setup areas without knowing we missed anything. The harem design is basically everything opening inwards- on the outside just plain walls. Inside, a central courtyard that is a flurry of activity. The entry to the weaving district was a doorway in a wall that was about chest height. The Tannery was a doorway that went straight to a staircase that weaved around to overlook the colouring pots-all Very well hidden from the outside.

The tannery was the biggest surprise- after a few stair cases we were handed a sprig of mint. I had no idea why until I was choking on the fumes coming off the place. We were 3 storeys above the pots and it was still overwhelming. They use Lime to bleach the hydes and it smelt potent even from 100m away. To see blokes running and hopping over pots from one corner of the yard to the opposite whilst carrying a full donkey load of leather blew me away. At the end me and lyn got abducted sold leather jackets. We both arsed up the conversion rate big time and when we corrected ourselves and our offers there was a heated argument with our guide, he slammed the jackets down on the sales desk and we high tailed it.

After the Medina we checked out a Ceramics factory that produced from scratch mosaics- The clay, Tiles, Mosaics and the furniture they are set in. It was pretty cool seeing how they actually do them. To get them flat they build them face down on a concrete floor, then put a mould around the outside and pour concrete onto them and let it set- A bit different from the way we have gone with cutting tiles and sticking them onto a surface. We saw a potter in action making bowls- The bloke took about 1 minute to crank each one out. We also saw a bloke cutting tiles by hand and saw the mountain behind him he had already done. I'd have been looking for a new job before my first million.

Wednesday we jumped a bus for a tour of the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the city of Makinez. Volubilis was pretty cool- it was leveled in the Lisbon quake of 1755 and looted from there so theres not alot, but theres still some huge mosaics intact and you can still see some of the engineering and architecture that went into the place. Plumbing and running water in what looks like a desert- damn.

Makinez is a bustling city that housed a king (Mullah Iblis) that looted all the other palaces and mausoleums when he came to power to make his own place flash. This guy did everything in big amounts- he had an enormous granary and reservoir to feed the entire city for a year, he had 1200 horses in his stables, 500 wives, 1000 kids, went to war for 23 years... Apparently he died tired- No surprise there.

Back in fez it was high time for another Flag Especial, and then dinner. I'm off to the medina to score a hat, then tomorrow its a 7 hour train ride to Marrakech.