Medina of Fes

Monday morning our guide took us through the old part of Fes. Fes el Bali (Medina of Fes) is the oldest walled part of Fes founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. With a total population of 156,000, is believed to be the biggest car-free urban area in the world.

We walked through narrow passages with markets, stores, and homes.

Note the camel head hanging below the picture of camels. We haven't been offered camel head yet in any restaurant.

We went shopping for a rug for the downstairs family room. We found this very colorful rug we are looking forward to livening up the downstairs. We highly recommend this rug establishment in Fes - Mansour Mustapha at Palais Quaraouiyine.

Steph says:
Today we had a bodyguard who has also protected Mick Jagger! He joined us when we started our tour of the Medina this morning. He was introduced to us as a local guide which was puzzling because he didn't lead us at all. He merely followed behind us as Asiz led the way. Asiz didn't tell us his true function until we were having lunch.

Apparently he is known and recognized locally so everyone keeps their distance. I asked if he had a gun and he said no. When we were in Egypt in 2009 we had an armed guard on the bus who was carrying an Uzi which is why I wondered.

Asiz told us that he had once served as a tour guide for Julia Roberts in Marrakech and although she was unrecognizable, her bodyguards led everyone to notice her. Our guard was very discreet apart from his white sunglasses and brown velvet suit.

We walked from one end of Fes to the other. When we saw the distance from a lookout point above the city later, it was far - I estimate at least five miles.

Our rug buying was a success. I successfully negotiated a greatly reduced price. When the manager asked if I was a Berber, I said that it's in my blood. I learned from previous trips to Turkey and Morocco that the prices are very fluid. We looked at many different types of rugs until we saw one at the very end that spoke to us. As Asiz said: this one was a whole story while the others were chapters. Tribal  rugs all tell stories because they were used as a nonverbal form of communication among illiterate tribal members.

After lunch we visited a tile/mosaic place. Dwight pointed out that we can buy mosaic tables in Mexico and/or Pier One. We did buy a platter, a bowl, and a small plate. They are dishwasher and microwave safe, a big selling point for us, and not very expensive.

Tomorrow we are going to a Hamman for a bath and massage and to Meknes and another town nearby. More later...