Heading East: Idris, Volubilis and Fes

Wednesday 1st January 2025

A night to remember

The first day of the new year did not dawn as expected. Olivia had caught or consumed something that ensured she got little sleep or comfort. And no, it was not due to an overdose of new year celebration.

We skipped breakfast and the opportunity to visit the Mekenes Medina to let her tummy settle and sleep, and although she was lethartic and ran a temp for the rest of the day we are hoping it will pass by tomorrow.

A fellow traveller brought back plain cruskits and apple juice to sustain for her for the many hours of driving ahead of us.

Alleys of Moulay Idrissi

An hour into our journey East, we stopped at Moulay Idrissi, near Volubilis, the very old capital of Morocco. This city was founded by Idris I – who established Morocco as a stae and brought Islam to it.

We only spent a short time there, wandering the car free streets and alleyways. They were busier with both people and cats than my strategically timed photos suggest.

We dropped into the communal bakery to see how it is done. Women prepare the loaves and their husbands bring them to the baker to put in the oven for 20 minutes. In this case, the husband used the opportunity to sit in the cramped space and smoke hashish. Getting this recording was a highlight.

Ahead of the Instagram sensation

The lanes of Mouly Idris are currently painted a range of colours. Some vibrant, some faded. The local government has decided to meet the travel demand for instagram worthy location and will make all the locals paint their houses green.

In years to come, ‘The Green City’ will be famous, and we will have been there when it was peaceful.

The ancient capital of Volubilis

Volubilis was established during the Roman period around the second century AD.  The features of ducted water and sewerage, geometric city planning and mosaics are all features of their Roman occupation.

The many well-preserved mosaics were revealed when the site was excavated in the late 19th century. After an expert commentary from a local guide, we headed back to our van to complete the winding journey to Fes.

Fes not Fez (the hat)

We arrived in Fes in the late afternoon and a group of us headed out in search of a cuppa. After peruing the French influenced menu in a local Cafe I settled on  ‘Lipton au lait’. 

Surprising. Capaccino frothy milk with a teabag added after. Tea doesn’t steep so well in foam.

While the rest of the group enjoyed another meal in a local restaurant, Olivia and I had a quiet evening. 

I visited the local supermaket but after 20 minutes returned my two items to the shelves and escaped.

Imagine that every mother in your city decides to go shopping in the same supermarket on Christmas Eve.  And they bring all their kids in a country where contraception is not much of a thing.

And they bring their husbands to drive the full-sized shopping carts.

And you can not pass or squeeze between any member of the family cluster in the 1.6m wide cheese aisle, you must pass around the perimeter of the group, but you don’t know in the midst or the throng exactly where the boundaries lie.

I had cruskits and apple juice for dinner.