We are parked up at Ouazzane, in what is basically a car park at
the back of Motel Rif, Ouazane (34.77287N 5.54515W), overlooking a pretty orange grove. It has all the facilities that we need –
water/chemical toilet disposal/grey waste disposal/electric hook-up and
showers/toilets if we choose to use them – all for 70DH (less than £7) Toilets for me – no,no,no! But the shower is not
bad with plenty of hot water.
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| Ouazzane - behind Motel Rif |
Before then (having left Fes), we were on a campsite just outside Moulay Idriss at Camping
Zerhoun Bell Vue (N34.01527 W5.56238).
Lovely little planted up plots, pillars and urns to replicate
Volubilis. Toilets/showers block is clean, although temperature gauge
temperamental! The route from Fes to Meknes had the roads lined with orange
sellers in abundance.
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| No shortage of freshly squeezed orange juice here! |
We parked up in Meknes near to the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail,
where motorhomes can park overnight if they wish. Unfortunately the Mausoleum was closed due to restoration work being carried out on it.
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| The motorhome parking next to the Mausoleum (under the arch) |
Meknes is another city on the UNESCO’s World Heritage list. A short walk down to the main gate to Bab Mansour, which they say is
the finest in Morocco with its Almohad design and marble columns brought from
Volubilis. The design was really intricate.
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| Bab Mansour |
The main square where they like to sell a lot of pottery. I wouldn’t want to have to put out and get in all of this every day.
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| Plenty of tagines for sale in the main square |
Lots of lovely intricate alleyways.
The Medina was very busy so we didn’t hover for long but they
had a fabulous covered market selling the usual fruit and veg and multi-coloured
spice stalls and olives piled sky high! We then had a look around a few of the artisan shops.
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| Intricate silverware in an artisan shop |
We then visited the Medersa Bou Inania – built around 1358 and is
one of the oldest in Morocco. It is
hidden among the souks and only spotted by its imposing door. Medersa means place of study and originally, they had little
dormitories providing room and board to poor (male) students from the
countryside, so they could attend lessons at the mosques. The Medersa is encircled on both floors by tiny windowless student’s cells with beautifully carved cedar wood screens.
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| In the courtyard - windowless student cells above |
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| Entrance into the narrow prayer hall |
From the rooftop, you can gaze across to the tiled pyramids of the
Grand Mosque and towering minaret, inlaid with green tiles.
We got back to the car park about 2 ½ hours later and poor old
Sonny (the motorhome) was roasting!
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| Temperature Gauge showing 44° C |
Time to head to the campsite at Moulay Idriss campsite to cool
down with a cold beer!
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| Mel relaxing with a beer in the shade! |
The campsite is 8 kms from Moulay Idriss and 12 from Volubilis, so the next day we drove to them both in the motorhome. Volubilis and Moulay Idriss embody much
of Morocco’s early history – Volubilis as its Roman provincial capital, Moulay
Idriss as the creation of the country’s first Arab dynasty.
First stop the roman ruins of Volubilis – a UNESCO World Heritage
site since 1997.
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| Walking up to Volubilis (on the hill) |
The ruins are well excavated and maintained and mostly from the second
and third century AD. A great majority of its mosaics have managed to be restored and
some are complete.
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| Well preserved chariot mosaic |
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| The Triumphal Arch |
Volubilis is vast and I won't bore you with lots of ruins but just a bit of history!
On to Moulay Idriss, which takes its name from its founder – Morocco’s most
honoured saint and creator of its first Arab dynasty. His mausoleum is the object of constant
pilgrimage but the shrine is not open to non-Muslims.
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| Moulay Idriss |
A climb up to the top of the city gives you a great viewpoint of
it and the green tops of the mausoleum.
You then wind back down into the city, through the narrow streets.
This is as far as non-Muslims can go to the mausoleum
Whilst in Moulay, Mel treated himself to a haircut. The hairdresser used a cutthroat razer - luckily
Mel sat very still. He even cut his eyebrows, the hair in his ears and up his nose! All for 50 DH.
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| Mel enjoying a short, back and sides! |
A Moroccan man came in whilst I was waiting for Mel and started talking to me. It turned out he had lived in Guildford,Surrey for 18
years and had returned to Morocco after getting a divorce from his wife. He went on to tell me the story of how his
brother had met an English women and had moved to England with her. She converted to Muslim and they had 3
children. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed
with cancer and returned back to Moulay Idriss to die. The father then persuaded him (the younger
brother) to marry his dead brother’s wife to support their 3 children. This apparently is a common custom in
Morocco. He then went back to England
with the 3 children and they had a son (who is now 17). He said he had to have 2 jobs (post office
driver and taxi driver) just to pay the rent and put food on the table. He said the marriage was good but there was
no real love there and it was agreed he came back to Morocco, but his 17 year
old son stay in England. He said he was
happy to be back in Morocco but missed his family in England. We chatted about the big difference in
England and Morocco and it was clear he preferred to be in Morocco and to be
honest I don’t blame him!
He recommended a restaurant for Mel and I to eat at - delicious
Keftes and salad, then it was back to the campsite - where another first happened. The campsite owner
asked us if we would sell him some beer.
He gave us 30DH (a little over £3) for 2 small cans (they only cost us
25p each, brought over from the Carrefour in Spain). He hid them under his clothing, presumably so Allah didn’t see! We felt a bit guilty (only for a couple of seconds) at making such a huge
profit but to buy alcohol in this country is hard and very expensive.
Sadly, we move on later to our last stop in Morocco - Chefchaouen, before getting the ferry back from Tangers Med to Algeciras.
Sally x
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