The Fes Medina

Thursday 2nd January 2025

Today we changed guides for the trip through the famous maze that is the Fes Medina. We met Layla at the hotel, and she provided background comentary as we drove to our first stop, the Palace Gates. We spent some time understanding the hidden messages and meanings in the shapes and colours of the mozaics and bronze embossing on the doors. Messages about the sky, stars, mountains and faith.

The Jewish  Quarter

We walked along the main road of the Jewish quater, that is no longer called such because it suggests a ghetto, but also because at the last count in 2014 the numbers had dropped to 300 from 20,000 and most liekly there are none living there now. 

The Pottery Cooperative

We dropped into the local pottery cooperative. Tiles and mosaics are ubiquitous in Morocco. We were shown the process of making the pots and tiles, and the labour intensive chipping and placing that it takes to make a bowl or water fountain.

The Medina

Our next stop was to a high point to view the Medina from above and gain a sense of its size and general layout. The message that you could get lost and never escape was reiterated, but I started to wonder if this just feeds the tour and tourist industry.

By the time we completed our exploration, and also after checking with the description in Let’s Go, I am confident that we could have navigated our way through using basic bush-whaking strategies. It is built on the side of a hill, and all peaks in the area are visible.

While in the Medina, we visited two cooperatives to learn about the manufacturing that takes place there.  A tannery and a silk weaver. We saw very little of how these products were made, but, on the other hand, given extensive information about how the finished goods were government certified and left to make our selection in the shop.  We didn’t. It felt contrived and exploitive,  and I was expecting something more authentic and informative from Intrepid.

We were told that we would get lunch in the Medina; expecting some freedom to select from local sellers. Instead, we were heared into a restaurant with set-menu and prices that would mean the cheapest meal and a coke would cost $28 AUD each. I am delighted to support local traders, but hate being exploited for no reason.

Our Medina tour came to an end in the late afternoon and we finally escaped the bossy instructions of our new tour leader. I didn’t relish my duties as the holder of the communal tips as I thanked Layla for her services with the bakeesh handshake.

Liv and I headed again to the supermarket, but this time armed with the advice to go before sunset. The experience was very different, and so we had a simple dinner of bread and tinned fish for me, and plain bread for liv.