Fes, Morocco: It’s a Buyers Market

It is our second day in Fes, Morocco. We had a relaxed, late start to the day. We had a breakfast of breads, jam, olives, and hard boiled eggs. Then, Sarah and I decided to go shopping. We found some amazing scarves and purses, and reasoned away our guilt by buying enough for most of our friends and family. We wandered and people watched and then met the boys for lunch at a place called Clock Café. We found a covered spot on the roof and enjoyed the good service and good food.

We then met up with a guide to show us around a different part of the Medina. He drove us outside the wall to the other side, and toured us around. He told us interesting facts, talking above children running around and playing, donkeys carrying propane tanks, and stall owners trying to sell their products. As we walked through the thin, curvy alleyways, he explained why the ancient doors have two door knockers: one large and one small. It was because they would sound different, and a stranger would knock the top one and a family member would knock the lower one. Based on the sound of the knock, the woman of the house would know whether or not she needed to cover to answer the door.

We went to an old palace with many doors and corridors to finally walk in to a huge, high ceiling mosaic tiled room. The old Riad is now government owned and used to sell the handmade rugs and carpets of 1,350 divorced women who need work. Some of the rugs have 1 million knots per square meter and take up to four years to make. They are truly stunning. My initial thought was “They shouldn’t waste their time on us. We would never spend that kind of money.” Then, Peter started showing interest and I started loving them more and more. Next thing I know, Ben and Sarah are showing more interest. Shortly after that, we have narrowed it down to our favorite three and I am crawling on each to decide which I like best. After some haggling and joking and charming, we are the proud owners of an authentic Moroccan rug. It is a great wedding gift to ourselves (as if this trip wasn’t enough), and something we will have forever and always remind us of this trip. When we left, I don’t know who was smiling bigger, the shop owner or us.

Ben wanted to see the tannery, so we decided to stop by on our way out of the Medina. It is the oldest and largest tannery in Morocco and they have been using the same technique for 800 years. They walked us to the roof where we could look down on the factory. The process is that the butcher sends the animal hides over (fur still on), which is then soaked in limestone baths with water and pidgeon droppings. Why? Because they cannot use any chemicals in the process. The hides then go into one of three huge “washers” that used to be spun by donkey or mule on treadmill. Now, they use electricity. From there, naked hides are cleaned and dyed with natural products (i.e. indigo, saffron, turmeric, rose, mint, or they leave it natural). Then, artists create their work.

Pete and I needed a new laptop bag and I spotted a purse that I loved. It was a shame that I had already bought a purse just a few hours before, but I loved it. We were lucky enough to be there during the breaking of the fast, and all business stopped and we were privelidged to be invited to the table as they broke their fast. They start with water, fresh squeezed orange and peach juice, dates, nut cookies, and Ramadan cookies (fried dough in honey). They insisted on sharing with us, and we had a lovely time laughing and eating. Then, a young man carried in a huge roasting pan sizzling with two whole fish that had been cooked in spices, olives, tomato and lemon. They pulled out fresh baguettes and everyone dug in. Again, they insisted on sharing with us. It was a special, memorable experience and an example of the hospitality and kindness of the Moroccan people. After a great meal, they gave us great prices and we walked away with both the laptop bag and my new purseJ

We have rented a car and will be taking the scenic mountain route to Marrakesh tomorrow. I stocked up on a variety of olives and we will buy fresh bread and water tomorrow morning.

Morocco: Pain and then Healing

After an unexpected and uncommunicated time change to our flight, we arrived to the airport in Cairo just 20 minutes before our flight was supposed to take off. After being ignored and avoided by airport security, Pete and Ben demanded to see someone in charge and were taken up to an office of the airline. After evidence that our confirmation from last week said the flight was 8:30 not 7:30, they arranged for us to fly a different airline out to Morocco that night. So, us girls spent the day reading and resting at a nearby hotel, while the boys had to run all over Cairo and back to get paper tickets.

It was an uneventful flight and we arrived in Casablanca late last night. It was cool and breezy and clean and modern, and there was no crazy driving and it was a very welcome change. We arrived at our quaint, cute hotel around midnight and went upstairs to freshen up and get dinner. There was the unfortunate event of me slipping out of the shower and landing on my back. I was able to get it together and head out for dinner. We walked the safe downtown area, and were pleasantly surprised as two different locals offered to walk us to a good restaurant without asking for money. The first was closed, and the second was a little hole in the wall roteserrie. We ordered chicken sandwiches which came on great French bread with spicy mustard and green olives, and French fries. It was very good and satisfying and less than $3 a couple!

We woke early to catch the train to Fes. I was really feeling the pain from the fall in my shoulders and back, and took some Motrin to get me through. The train ride was great, going up into the mountains and offering views of surrounding farmland and crops. We arrived at Fes with no problem and were taken to our hotel. Our hotel is in the Medina here, which is the oldest medieval city in the world. It is a walled off area of the city that has 2,900 alleys and walkways. Many of them are only navigable by foot and lined with different shops and stalls serving spices, clothes, purses, and shoes.

I decided to take a Vicodin to ease the pain that kept getting worse, and we were off. We stopped at a Moroccon place for lunch and had a great meal. We started with traditional Moroccan soup, a chicken/tomato based broth with small noodles and chickpeas. I then had a vegetarian tagine, which is named after the vessel they cook it in. About halfway through the meal, I started feeling dizzy and weightless because of the Vicodin. I was having a pretty good time, but trying to eat plenty to lessen the buzz. After the meal while waiting for coffee, I became pale, sweaty and nauseous. Pete led me up the small, windy staircase to the disgusting squat toilet to puke. My wonderful husband held me steady and I felt instantly better. After some mint tea I was back in business and we were on our way.

We spent the day exploring streets, shopping with success (Pete got a hat and I got two new pairs of leather sandals), and commenting on how this little medina and the people that walk the streets could be straight out of a movie. Almost every person you see is picture worthy. We took lots of photos, got lost (which is almost inevitable) and were led to a spice/medicine man.

It is a father and son, the father is an herbalist and his son sells the spices. They were nice and gave us their schpeal, as well as some free samples (we snorted Nigella seed which is supposed to be great for the sinuses and actually worked), and I asked him what to take for headaches. He asked me some questions about my headaches, and then laid his hands around my head and told me to tell him “when you feel it”. I waited and his very presence made me feel calm. Sure enough, after a few minutes, I felt “it”. All the sudden, I felt a lightness and openness to my head that I haven’t felt in a good two weeks (I’ve been having pretty bad sinus headaches with the dust and climate change). He then rubbed some oil on my forehead and temples. Next, I told him I fell yesterday and was having lots of backpain (I am off using Vicodin at this point). So, he did the same healing technique to my back which did give temporary relief. He gave us a bottle of oil to rub into my muscle that smells like BenGay and he says will lessen the pain. It was a great experience, and as a health practitioner, something very cool to witness.

We then headed into the City Center of Fes, outside the Medina. Cute, bustling, with great restuarants. We found a pizza joint and called it an early night.

Cairo: That’s it! I’m in Love.

Finally, we had a day to sleep in. We got a wake up call just to indulge in the amazing buffet breakfast offered at the hotel. We stuffed ourselves, and after some deliberation decided we would use the heat hours of the day to do laundry, pack, lay by the pool, and recharge for our trip to Morocco tomorrow.

We called Fahad and met him at 5pm at the market. He was two hours away from breaking his fast, and he looked tired, thirsty and hungry. He led us to the top of a hill to watch the sunset. We had an hour to relax, escape from the noise of the city, and watch as locals gathered with food to watch the sunset and break their fast. It was a beautiful sunset, and a cool experience to witness a breaking of the fast. We then walked through a neighborhood and Fahd flagged down a minivan (which doubles as a form of public transportation here) and we all climbed in. The locals were certainly entertained as we all climbed in and held on for our lives as the young driver went so fast he succeeded in obtaining some G force while going over a hill. He then stopped and we all got out.

Fahd led us to several mosques and back through the market. We bought some sandals from a leather shoemaker, and ate whole wheat pita bread fresh out of the fire oven. We walked down the Red Blood Street (now just called Red Street) which obtained it’s name from the blood that flowed through the streets after Mohammad Ali fooled the Mamlouks into his Castle with food and drinks and then ordered them all killed, 500 or so to be exact. With this move, he won the trust and loyalty and gratitude of the Egyptians by freeing them from the oppressive life under Mamlouk control.

We crossed a street, turned a corner, and were surrounded by tourists. This part of Islamic Cairo is stunning! The streets are better maintained and cleaner, and the surrounding buildings are truly indescribable. Children are running around playing on the grounds of castles, mosques, and other buildings that are 1200 years old. Street vendors offer prune juice, tea and coffee, fresh fruit, sweets, grilled eggplant and fried potatoes. Motorcycles speed through, honking their horns and smiling as they nearly hit you. With every corner turned, it is a new atmosphere and adventure. The experience was unforgettable and so lovely that I can say we will definitely visit Egypt again.

Cairo, “This city has a pulse!”

We woke early and learned AGAIN, the hard way, that most Egyptians will do just about anything to screw us out of money. Our hotel hired car convinced us to take stop by a stable and take camels or horses to tour the Pyramids. We agreed, meaning we paid him quite a bit of money just to take us to and from the stable. Oh well, lesson learned, and for all of you, if you ever visit Egypt (which you should), please contact us first for some tips.

We hired two camels and two horses, and were accompanied by a tour guide and two teens to help with the animals. We went in a back entrance and climbed a tall hill that overlooked Cairo and the pyramids. Seeing the Pyramids is quite the difficult experience to put into words. Two thoughts come to mind: 1- it is surreal being so close to something so famous and old, 2- the vanity of these phaorohs to spend so much money is such a poor country to house their dead boides in unbelievable. We paid the “government official”20 Egyptian pounds each (less than 4 dollars) to enter an excavation site that was just discovered one year ago. We got to climb in a tomb with Cleopatra heirioglyphics on the wall, a child’s tomb, and see the opening to underground passageways that led to the large pyramids, and learn about the mummification process. We then went to the Sphynx, which was the least impressive to me. Finally, our guide took the reins of my horse and raced us through the desert. It was so exhilarating!

Interesting facts we learned:

-Each of the three large pyramids took 30 years to build.

-After the inside of each was built, the workers who designed it were killed in order to ensure that no one could come back and steal the bodies or the gold.

On the walk back to the stables, a man on a horse came to bother us. Our guide tried to whip his horse to get him to run away, and in the narrow alleyway, I received a whip to the left calf. After we finally made it back to the stable, the owner invited us in for air conditioning. We went into a dark building, and he led us to the back to smell perfumes his family has been making for generations. They did smell good, and were unique, so we bought some. We were then dropped at the Egyptian Museum to wander and look at tons of amazing artifacts and artwork housed in a rundown building with poor lighting and no a/c.

Our time here just kept getting better. In the evening, we decided to walk to Islamic Cairo. After one too many turns down a dark street filled with glaring men, and realizing that we may have misjudged the distance, we got in a cab and were dropped off on a corner. A nice man approached us and started talking with Pete in Arabic. He recommended a few places and said goodbye. As we continued walking, Pete stopped to get some Arabic sweets and he approached us again. Before we knew it, we were experiencing the tour of a lifetime! Fahd, our impromptu guide, gave us an insiders look at the Market.

The Islamic Cairo Market is unbelievable! It engages all the senses. You walk along these crowded, narrow, cobblestone streets. People, motorcycles, and cars whiz past you. With every turn you are confronted with a new palate of colors, new whiffs of food or gasoline or body odor, and new sounds of either Arabic music, mosque sounds, or people selling their goods. We were lucky enough to be approached by a nice, honest man who lives in the area and showed us around. I can say with certainty that we had a truly unique, rare tourist experience at the Khal-al Khallili Market. First, we went to a 200 year old stand that makes the traditional Fes hats (the red dome hats). We saw how they make them and shape them with a very hot, old iron machine. We were led to an herbal doctor who sells different teas and spices for every ailment. We drank tea, sniffed and tasted a variety of herbs, and ended up buying saffron and an herb for tea that is used to improve memory and prevent Alzheimers. We were led through a dark building to a staircase that led to a famous papyrus paper store and window shopped the amazing artwork.

We finished dinner at an air conditioned Indian/Egyptian restaurant which had the slowest service, but good food. We went home tired, full, and excited for the next day.

Walk Like an Egyptian

After an eventful and busy two weeks in Jordan (I will post a friends blog, as I was too busy to write), we arrived in Cairo last night. I had mixed feelings about coming, and had no idea what to expect.
After getting through Passport Control, we were literally hounded and followed by a group of men trying to get us to take their cab. The airport staff was less than helpful, and even our hotel desk offered no help. We finally settled on a price and were on our way. The traffic is insane and the drivers are even worse. It was an entertaining and nailbiting ride. When we arrived at our hotel on the Nile, it was so nice to shower and settle in. Because our friend Ben let the manager know how terrible the airport workers representing his hotel were, we were upgraded to a Deluxe room with a Nile view. Very nice!

We then met with the concierge to plan some tours, and agreed to take a driver to the Pyramids tomorrow, but decided we would be adventurous and face our trip to Alexandria on our own. We walked about 1km down the Nile to a river boat and had a dinner cruise on the Nile. Grossly overpriced, but the entertainment was nice. There was a great band, heavy on percussion, a belly dancer, and something I had never seen before: a Sufi dancer. Sufi is a mystic order of Muslims that use spinning to fall into a meditative, prayerful trance. This guy came out in a brightly colored outfit with a large round skirt and spun in circles for no less than 8 or 9 minutes. It was completely unbelievable. At one point, they turned off the lights and he lit up the whole spinning costume, separated the skirt and looked like a UFO! It was great fun to watch him and we gave him a handsome tip afterward for making the cruise seem worth it.

We walked back home along the Nile and passed families and couples parked on the road, eating and laughing. One group yelled "Welcome to Egypt" and we received nothing but friendliness. Of note, is that couples are much more affectionate here. We saw multiple couples with the woman covered, snuggling and looking out at the water. It was nice.

This morning, we woke early and got a cab ride to the train station. We took the 2.5 hour trip to Alexandria and walked and walked and walked. As it is Ramadan, most things were closed, so we spent a lot of the day wandering and people watching. We did see the mosque that Alexander the Great is rumored to be buried under, but there was construction and a huge pile of rubble prevented us from seeing it too close. We made it to the Biblioteca Alexandria, but it too closed early and we only had ten minutes to look around. We walked a bit along the Mediterranian, soaking in the beautiful sea view surrounded by city and listening to the honking of horns and screetching of tires. We then decided to take a tram to get a bit of a local experience, and it was a blast. For 17 cents for all four of us, we were able to board the tram and see the city with our heads hanging out the windows. At the last stop, we decided to walk the rest of the way to the train station. I stopped and bought some scarves and we perused some other shops.

Overall, Egypt, I'm in love. I can barely wait to explore Cairo some more. This city has a pulse and energy that is palpable. It is bustling and exciting and colorful and loud.