Step Back in Time in Fes
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Time machines may be what sci-fi is made of, but until the boffins get around to inventing them, there is one way to travel to another world, another era, in just a few hours – a visit to Fes, Morocco.
Bypass the Nouvelle Ville, built by the French last century, for the 8th century atmospheric old city, Fes el-Bali. The labyrinthine maze of more than 9,500 twisty cobbled streets are still peopled by men in long, hooded robes, while warning shouts of ‘Balek, balek’ echo as laden donkeys trot stoically past.
Take a closer look and you will discover that the medieval robes conceal a mobile phone while the donkeys – cars are banned in the medina – are transporting a completely unexpected variety of modern paraphernalia. I even spot a fridge freezer strapped to one's back.
This is no kitsch tourist re-creation. Alongside the souvenir shops, stalls sell daily essentials for the medina’s inhabitants and you’re as likely to find a group of boys playing football through the alleys as a group listening intently to their guide.
Haggler’s paradise
One thing which has stayed the same are the old crafts. Fes prides itself on its pottery, especially the traditional deep blues, and a visit to one of the co-operatives near the city is a must, whether you come home with a miniature salt dish or decide to get an ornate fountain shipped.
The speed and skill of the workers is astonishing, whizzing the clay around on foot-driven wheels, painting an intricate geometric pattern by hand or laying out a mosaic table (face down) with the design only visible inside the craftsman’s head.
Elsewhere, beaten bronze and silver plates are transformed from a plain dish of metal into a finely detailed work of beauty by keen-eyed artists armed with basic metal tools.
And if you leave without a demonstration of carpet weaving, it would be a miracle – as well as a real shame. So demanding, the women who create the carpets can only concentrate for four hours at a time before needing a break. Settle back with some mint tea (without sugar unless you have a local’s sweet tooth) and listen to the well-rehearsed patter from the salesman, as he displays the traditional spare but beautiful Berber designs, following a style hundreds of years old, and richer red and blue Arabic patterns. We are just looking, he says with a smile and a hawk-eyed ability to spot the tiniest amount of interest – at which point, an endless stream of similar carpets appears and the bargaining process can begin in earnest.
Most famous of all, the medina’s tanneries operate just as they did centuries ago – thankfully visitors are provided with a large bunch of mint, as they smell just the same too.
Watching from the rooftops, the round clay holes look like a giant-size paint pot, but as well as dye, they’re filled with a noxious white mix of pigeon droppings and various other unpleasant compounds to strip the skins.
Men and boys scramble nimbly around, immersed to their knees scraping, hauling, beating, swirling, cleaning and dyeing the hides, as well as pounding them soundly in the nearby river, all to transform them into Morocco's famous leather.
Living history
The golden gates of the Royal Palace or the blue and green tiled gate, the Bab Bou Jeloud, start most tours – and you will need a guide if you’re to find your way around the best of the sights, although wandering the maze and getting lost is half the fun.
Then pass through the Mellah, the former Jewish quarter, with its balconied houses and old synagogue, complete with underground ritual baths, before venturing to the Bou Inania medersa, where students study the Koran.
Sadly tourists aren’t allowed into the 9th century Kairaouine Mosque, which can hold 20,000 worshippers, or the mosque holding the tomb of the city’s founder, Moulay Idriss II, although no-one seems to object to you peering in through the doorway.
Then try to visit the Dar Batha Museum, housing a collection of artistic, religious and household objects, and set in wonderful gardens, and finish at the newly restored fortress, still slightly too clean and unweathered, above the town for a view of the medina from above and a sight of the old city walls.
Boutique Hotels & Riads
It's traditional for Moroccan houses to be plain on the outside and to save the decoration for the interior. So behind the most unassuming doors are some truly stunning riads, homes around a courtyard, many of which have been converted into hotels.
For a haven just outside the walls, Ryad Mabrouka is run by its French owner, with a jaw-dropping tiled courtyard, then enjoy dinner at the poolside restaurant in the peaceful gardens.
If you’re looking for out and out luxury, La Maison Bleue wins with a superb restaurant. Built in 1915 for a local family, it’s just by the Bab Bou Jeloud, feet from the medina.
Riad Fes ticks all the style boxes. White walls, dark furniture, turquoise water in the decorative pool, sleek bar packed with cocktail ingredients, it’s a chic modern version of the traditional. Try to stop in for a drink, or at least admire the traditional door with its two knockers – one high for visitors and low for the house’s inhabitants.
If you want the amenities of a big hotel, Hotel Palais Jamai manages the trick of boutique styling on a grand scale. With a spa, several restaurants and full-size pool, the views out over Fes are stunning. Check out the Moroccan restaurant, if you can tolerate the cheesy belly dancing from the bored-looking dancer.
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