Day 8 – October 12 2014

We started our day with seeing the Qasbah des Oudaya. Some Moroccan man tried to smooth his way into being our tour guide for tips but Sameer told him we’re good with exploring on our own…

We went to the unfinished Hassan Tower and Masoleum of Mohammed V next. The hassan tower was never finished because the king died. The intent was the build the world’s largest tower and biggest mosque.

We went to the Chellah roman ruins next to explore the grounds. After wandering the ruins, we left and stopped at a roadside café near another city Ouezzane and had lunch. The only two options were a bbq chicken or beef kebab plate for 35DH (about $4.50). It was very satisfying and great value.

We got the Chefchaouen around 4pm but it was pouring rain. Our hotel was gorgeous and we got a little villa house. When the rain stopped, we wandered the blue town. It was very lively even though it rained sporadically but we just shopped from store to store avoiding the rain.

Apparently, the town is known for good marijuana and we were approached by a shady local trying to sell us some hash. The vendors are pretty funny too. This one guy listened to our conversation talking about what to buy in each city. He told us the best thing to buy in Chefchaouen is carpets. His sales pitch was that he had all types of carpets. We said “No thanks, we are poor” and he replied “We have poor carpets”. We cracked up and then he corrected himself “We have student carpets”. We also found this pastry shop that sold chicken samosas, croissants and cake slices. It was not bad but could be more flavourful.

We ate dinner at our hotel where I got the fish pastille (almost like a fish flakey pie pastry). It was not bad.

Day 9 – Monday October 13, 2014

We woke up early to watch the sunrise over Chefchaouen but it didn’t really happen due to clouds. So we ate breakfast and went back into town for some more photos in the better weather. It was a quiet morning so we got some great photos.

We also stopped by the pastry shop and picked up some fresh crepes (like a roti pratha bread) which was delicious. Before departing the hotel, we went up to the terrace once more to take in the gorgeous view of the town. The sun was shining and it was beautiful.

We departed for Volubis, a roman ruins site.

While driving in the city, Moulay Idriss, our car broke down. We pulled over and some local man tried to help us. We ended up following this local as instructed by our driver to see a panoramic view of the city. Meanwhile, our driver hopped onto the back of a stranger’s motorbike to find a mechanic. We walked to a café after with wifi to kill time and wait for the van to be fixed.

After the van was fixed, we drove to a roadside kebab stop. The only option was beef kebab. It was delicious!

We arrived at Fez, the oldest imperial city in Morocco. We checked into our room and wandered the area and saw a bit of the lively medina. We end up in a rooftop terrace for some drinks and snacks before calling it a night.