I spent an entire day travelling from Essaquira on the Atlantic coast to Meknes - first by bus and then by train. I got into Meknes in the evening and got a taxi to the inexpensive hotel that my train compartment companion, Ali, had recommended (see my Meknes page entry). I didn't see any of the city that night, and the whole next day was to be in the neighboring city of Fes.

I took the first morning train from Meknes to Fes and arrived about 10 am. Right on schedule, I met with “Toufe”, a Fes native and my guide for the day. He had an interesting story. He had lived in New York City during 9/11 with his Jewish girlfriend and they shared an apartment very close to ground zero. All the dust and dirt floating around in the air for months had given him a case of asthma. He had a continuous cough.

My Fes guide, on the left, clowning with one of his fellow guides before we started the tour

Main entry to the Fes medina, Bab Bou Jeloud

My guide said he spent every day in the medina, and it seemed to know just about everyone and was continually greeting many of the locals. We walked through the winding narrow pedestrian-only streets of the Fes medina. The medina of Fes is one of the largest in the world and the most interesting in Morocco. There were lots of craft shops throughout the medina. At one time, Fes was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and some of these old buildings remain in the medina as proof.  We visited some antique shops which were formerly private mansions. I didn’t buy anything, but looked at the old Moroccan objects they were selling as though in a museum.

Former private residence of a rich Fes merchant, this is now an antique shop

Public fountain in the Fes medina

I visited a few carpet shops and most of them were hard-pressure selling. But I went to one and saw a kilim style carpet which I bought – a big reason is the small size it shrunk to when rolled up.

We visited a leather tannery which was processing hides and selling leather goods. They allegedly had an employee who was 93 years old and still doing heavy manual labor. He said the work kept him young.

Rooftop view of the Fes tannery

Rooftop view of Fes looking north

My tour ended about 4:30 and I paid my guide his fee of about $30 USD. I took the next evening train from Fes back to my hotel in Meknes, and I spent the next day exploring Meknes.