Day 12: The journey to Fes

02.22.2017

Breakfast over, Marcelina has her hand decorated with henna and we say our goodbyes to the wonderful women of the Maison d'Hotes Hotel. Said comes with us to Fes, partly because the taxi driver doesn't speak English and partly, because it's a lot more interesting than standing at reception all day with nothing much to do.

Never has a seven hour journey gone so quickly. The ever changing landscape provides a feast for the eyes, and a stop at a roadside cafe in Zaida provides a feast for the stomach.

We see snow covered peaks and drive above the snow line ourselves, a shock after being in the warm desert just a few hours previously. There are the apes of Azrou, accepting gifts of monkey nuts with unbelievable gentleness, the strange architecture of Ifrane, modelled on a European ski resort, and the modern suburbs of Fes, so different to the teeming, tumbling medina.

We say goodbye to Said and our driver in a car park where they have attracted the unwanted attention of some usavoury locals but, when we text shortly afterwards, they have escaped and are on their way home again.

We meet our next hostess, Joelle from France who runs a small hotel hidden in the thinnest alleyway imaginable.It is immaculate inside and close to the busy fruit and vegetable market.

Iza and I leave the children while we explore the nearby lanes. As we leave the hotel, a man tries to tell us that the route we are about to take is closed. My pre-holiday blog reading has come in useful at last. I know this scam. The person shows you an alternative route - if you're lucky, to where you want to go, if not you end up in his brother's carpet shop - and then asks for money. We smile, confidently, tell him that the lane isn't closed and walk on. He gives up and moves off in search of other victims.

In the food market, the locals are too busy shopping to take any notice of us and we enjoy the sights undisturbed. A severed camel's head outside a meat shop is undoubtedly the most memorable sight but, somehow, it doesn't seem right to take a photo. The square near Bab Rcif is livening up as evening approaches but we aren't yet confident enough of finding our way round after dark.

A huge spread awaits us on our arrival back to the hotel - somehow the food seems to get better and better as we go on, and it started pretty amazingly.

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