Getting there…
My brother and I decided to go to Fez by train from Marrakech. We decided that we wanted to have the opportunity to see the panorama, comfortably seated. We started in the Gare de Marrakech and were immediately surprised. It is large, comfortable and clean. The second surprise was the excellent train we boarded for our trip. In the first class wagon you could be in Europe. It had very nice compartments, with velvet seats. We got in and closed the door and the curtains, hoping that no-one would come in Ja…ja… During the journey to Fez nobody came in. It takes 5 hours, after several stops in different towns, to arrive in Rabat.
You could alight from the train in Rabat for some hours and visit the city. Either you could stay the night there of get a later train if there is one. Visit the city and then from their take the train to Fez, that takes another 3 hours.
The return journey was from Fez to Marrakech was more exciting. When we boarded the train, we realized that there was only one wagon for first class, whereas when we came from Marrakech there where several of them. We boarded and again we closed our curtains.
I take picnic snacks with me on every trip, especially in the countries where you have to be careful about what you eat. I always carry nuts, parmesan cheese nuggets and some tins of wonderful Rio Mare tuna salads in my luggage. They are great, everybody likes them and have their own foldable forks. I take some chocolate, and other small snacks. They are always very useful.
In one of the stops an old lady with her daughter tried to get in the compartment. We sought to convince them to go to another one. Finally, they showed us their tickets and sat with us. They closed the curtains like us and sat, smiling for a while. The train left the station and we passed through several stations that were unusually full of people. The two women started to look quite nervous talking in Arabic. When we arrived in Rabat station I noticed lots of people jumping into the station from the walls around it. Then we saw men with German shepherd dogs. The young girl spoke some English and showed us the chaos that was going on around the station on her telephone. There was a protest about the Western part of the Sahara Desert which Morocco claims. It is a zone that is disputed among a number of different countries. The Algerians say it is theirs and the people of Sahara, say, that is theirs. There is a lot of tension in the area, and better to avoid it is dangerous.
The day that we were returning from Fez in the train was the annual meeting in Morocco for their claim to ownership. It was a very tense situation. The government allows people to take the train for free to get to the meeting from other towns in Morocco. And we got caught in the middle of it!
When we arrived in Rabat station, where the meeting took place, it was chaotic, everybody at the same time wanted to board the train. Men were like marabunta ants jumping on it. Of course, there was not a place for everybody. The old lady was hysterical. I told her to calm down. She called her other daughter on her phone and passed her to me. She told me that the mother was very nervous about what was happening. I told her not to worry. To calm her, we invited her and her daughter to have some food and they tried to invite us with theirs. After a while the compartment was full of other tourists and nothing happened.
When we had arrived in Rabat station the first class only wagon was stopped under a bridge. That’s why it was only one. There were some men there with big sticks at the beginning and end of the bridge. The people were allowed to board the second-class wagons to return back home, but not first-class.
In the end after arriving in Marrakech station we were able to avoid all the hundreds of people and run to take a taxi back to heaven in El Fenn.
Arrived!
If you have time, make a visit to Fez (the Imperial city). It is a very nice town to visit. I really enjoyed it.
Fez is an incredible, ancient town in the heart of Morocco. Very rich in crafts, lots of artisans work in the souk. You can stop and observe them as they work. It was one of the important cities in the country for tourism, until about 15 years ago. After the Arab spring that happened in several of the countries nearby the tourism in the area suffered. This is very sad because a lot of money was invested in tourism in the town to restore palaces and riads. We really enjoyed our stay in this very nice and interesting city of Morocco. Don’t miss it!
You will find there a very nice and old souk. Avoid going on Friday, since it is closed. It is a labyrinthine place, full of bends. The streets go up and down. Be careful as you can get lost very easily. It happened to me just as it was getting dark. We could not find the way out to take a taxi back to the hotel. It was not a nice experience. We asked and followed people, but we took more than an hour to reach a little square where we could find a taxi. Everything was closed and only few people were around. It was a Friday and almost all of the shops were closed.
The next day the souk was full of life, everything was open, and you could take a donkey to go up and down the streets of the market if you don’t want to walk. Alternatively, you can hire a donkey to carry your merchandise. It was a funny experience. We enjoyed it. We also enjoyed a lot to go around the town in a horse and carriage. There are a lot around Fez, especially decorated for couples in love. The first one that we asked for a ride wanted an enormous amount for an hour’s ride. We asked to a second and a third one, who proposed a reasonable price. The first day we hired him for 2 hours and visited all of the city. He was a clever young fellow and we used him again for the second day of our stay. It was comfortable and helped with carrying all of our purchases from the souk!
Hotels
A good place to stay is the Fez Riyad Sheherazade. It has a great ambience and great buildings. (address 23, Arsat Bennis -Fes; tel +212 535741642).
You can stay in Riad 9 (9 Derb Lamsside, Fez) in a beautifully restored 3 bedroom’ house in the Medina, that is the sister property to the fantastic Restaurant 7 (7 Zkak Rouah, Medina, Fez).
Alternatively, there is the fantastic Relais Chateaux Riad Fes. Guest Palace, gourmet and Spa. (address 5, Derb Ben Slimane Zerbtana, Fez; tel +212535741206; email reservations@riadfes.com ; riadfes@relais.com ).
Shopping
Like every important Moroccan city or town Fez has a very big and interesting souk. Be ready to walk up and down, since it is hilly. The shops are distributed on both sides of the narrow streets. You have to battle with the donkeys that transport all kind of merchandise, people walking up and down the streets and shoppers like us!
Every market in Morocco has different merchandise. Marrakech has the biggest variety of shops, with very trendy ones and lots of decorative objects. Fez and Tangier have more local Moroccan things. We found very interesting pieces while going around on the donkeys through the alleys.
As I mentioned earlier don’t visit the souk on Friday, because it is closed, except for some shops in the Jewish area that are open. There are many shops that have a big variety of things and very reasonably priced. Obviously, you have to discuss prices with the merchant. You will find very nice and interesting rugs of wool and straw and cactus mix shawls. They can ship you home what you buy. It is better to enter the upper part of the souk, walk down for some blocks and then return to where you came in. Unless you are with a local who can guide you. It is easy to get lost.
A good shop with a large assortment of merchandise is Le Souk Artisabale Fez, which has jewellery, scarves, carpets, etc. (address Labtatha 43 bis, Fez Al Jadid (next to Café la Noria); tel +212 676820676; email rahma_lahbib@outlook.com ).