Chefchaouen/Fez

After Tangier I went to Chefchaouen aka the blue city. It looks so magical. I am impressed how every city as a color theme and are know for different things. Example Essaouira is know for making argan oil. The ride from Tangier to the blue city is about a three hour drive. I paid for a photographer to tag along and take pics of me in Chefchaouen and in Fez. Her name is Sara and her ig handle is @sarabj_photography. Such a sweet young lady, and was very helpful. I’m glad I used her honestly. In addition, I stayed at Dar Echchaouen in Chefchaouen. Really nice establishment with lots of plants.

Make sure you have lots of change on you while visiting the blue city. The “instagramable” sessions you have to pay in order to take pictures. You can also get fresh squeeze orange juice in this city as well. Here is some of my favorite shots while exploring the blue city.

Sunset view is amazing in Chefchaouen.

Fez/Fes (spelled wither way).

I stayed in Fez for two nights at Riad Ahlam. I had a tour guide named Raja take me around Fes. Her ig handle is @rajae12334___

Fun facts about Fez:

Fez is the 2nd largest city. 1.5M people live there.
Fez used to be the capital of Morocco.
There are three different sections of Fez; New Fez, Old Fez, and Modern Fes which has a river dividing it into 2 sections.

The Medina has 17 gates aka entrances. The main entrance is called the blue gates or Bab Bou Jeloud. One side of the gate is blue. The blue color symbolizes royalty. The other side of the gate is green and symbolizes peace.

I met a famous Arabic singer. His name is Abdelwahab Doukkali.

I then visited the royal palace. The name is Dar al-Makhzen. What I found fascinating was across the street is where the first Jewish section was built in Morocco.

Next on the was to see view of Fes. My God the view was gorgeous. You can see all three sections of Fez.

After viewing the city, I visited Art D’argile. A young lady name Zineb, who works there, took me around the whole establishment and taught me the making of mosaic tiles/pottery. They shipped all over the world. Let me tell you it is costly. I purchased 4 coasters.

Chouara Tannery

A tannery is where leather is made. Chouara Tannery is one of the largest and oldest tanneries in Fez. Upon entering the tannery, you are given mint leaves that is used as a “gas mask” due to the smell. The smell is pigeon poop that is used in the process of making the leather.

Here is the process of making leather:

Product arrives washed from the river.
Then the wool comes off the skin by hand.
The skin is put in the white basins for 15days with salt, lime, and pigeon poop. Pigeon poop acts as an ammonia.
Next it gets washed in the washing machine.
Then it gets dried on the roof.
After that it is placed in the brown basins with dye. The colors are natural. Yellow from saffron, blue from indigo, red from poppy flower, white from jasmine.
It gets dried on the roof again.
Then the skin gets squeezed with special lime to make it soft and useable.
Lastly it gets sent to the factory to make bags, shoes, jackets, slippers, etc.

I paid 300DH to enter the back. I wanted close up pictures of the tannery. Honestly speaking, the smell was more unbearable.

After the tannery, I toured all over the medina with Raja. We had lunch at one of the oldest riads in fes called restaurant Ryad Nejjarine. Service was top good and they allowed me to take pics after hours. Walked through the Mellah district, went into a shop and learned the process of making scarves, passed by many shops selling things like clothes, food, jewelry, and so much more.

Merenid Tombs. It was previously a royal necropolis for the Merenid dynasty of sultans who ruled over Fes starting from the 13th century. The view of the city of Fes is gorgeous as well.