It’s Fescinating

Was it the coins? The figs? Maybe they poisoned me so I have to stay here longer and spend more money. (my theory)

Whatever the reason, I got pretty sick in Fez, and so I’ve been trapped here for over a week now. But that’s OK, as it’s not exactly a bad place to be stuck. I mean, I could be ill in my tent.

It’s a pretty incredible city, the second most populous in Morocco, home to the world’s oldest university and is said to be the largest traffic-free city centre in the world. With over 10,000 car-free, narrow streets winding their way through the medina.

Ramadan is now taking it’s toll on some, and the roof of the hotel seems to be the best place to observe the festivities. Prime time: 3p.m-7p.m. It always seems to be the orange juice guys for some reason. People have warned me they can be quite aggressive in their sales tactics, but it seems in other areas of life too.

I’ve seen one strip naked in order to fight someone, and being pinned down by several men. Another was welding a knife the other day before throwing it at his friend in the chest and continuing to huff and puff. And the same guy was later seen dual wielding planks of wood and taking them into battle. The police were there that day too, doing a spot of shopping in the market, but they decided getting a good price for those melons was a better idea. It reminds me of the Glasgow Barras. Except everyone’s on crack.

But it’s all normal here. Put it this way: if you saw a woman flashing her boobs in the supermarket, you might forget what you came in for. But if you went to a strip club, you wouldn’t really be surprised. Well, here nobody is shocked when a fight breaks out because someone is starving, it’s almost expected, and once tensions are cleared everybody just gets on with their lives.

Despite saying all that, the city is pretty safe. As a visitor you don’t have to worry about the domestic issues. Kids run and play through the streets at night, and the people for the most part are friendly and happy that you want to visit.

Well, running out of time…so just a short update…I actually met two cycle tourers yesterday who inspired me to stop being so damn lazy and get on my bike again. So now I’m better I’m off to Rabat, the capital (strange, going completely the wrong way to the Far East) and after I’ll be heading north and back to Spain.

So until next time, cheerio.