Chefchouen
Day 1 After the long journey in Achmeds midnight taxi, we slept for about 5 hours. We came down to the town square, full of market stalls and cafes. I'll just write brief detail now as Im about to go for hammam, turkish bath;
We found a wonderful guide called Mohhamed who has taken us all over the old medina on the first day, showing us the bakeries and weavers and flour mills. Chefchouen has little market stalls lining the main thoroughfare which broadens out to a central square. The temperature was in the mid twenties, with a constant light breeze. We walked all through the back streets with Mohammed, there are no cars in Chefchouen, when the taxi's come up the mountain they all have to stop in the parking lot outside Hotel Parador, and from there, you walk everywhere. We followed the stream to the very top where it springs from the mountain.
All the women were there washing their clothes and household linen. I don't think there is a washing machine in the whole of Chefchouen. We were standing on a bridge overlooking the river gorge and the washing place and Mohammed said it was ok to take photos. A man standing next to a woman, who was doing the washing glared and glared at us - he looked like a real fundamentalist. We were a good 100m away and photographing the gorge & the view, but it was clear he wasn't happy! When we went past the same spot two days later, there were cars up on the bridge everywhere, and traffic cops guiding their parking. We realised they had all brought their cars up to wash them.
We found a wonderful guide called Mohhamed who has taken us all over the old medina on the first day, showing us the bakeries and weavers and flour mills. Chefchouen has little market stalls lining the main thoroughfare which broadens out to a central square. The temperature was in the mid twenties, with a constant light breeze. We walked all through the back streets with Mohammed, there are no cars in Chefchouen, when the taxi's come up the mountain they all have to stop in the parking lot outside Hotel Parador, and from there, you walk everywhere. We followed the stream to the very top where it springs from the mountain.
Day 2 Then on the second day Mohammed took us trekking in the mountains. We went outside the medina and through parts of the new town, where he proudly showed us the new school and new apartment blocks. The roads are terrible, and there is dust and litter everywhere. They don't seem to clean up building sites properly, just shove all the rubble into the vacant block next door or into the gutter. There are goat herds & sheep flocks everywhere with children and young men guarding them.
In the evening we ate at Casa Hassan Restaurant - the menu consists of Harira, (Moroccan soup), Moroccan salad (tomatoes and onions), Chicken tagine,Beef tagine, Cous cous, omlette, a couple of vegetable dishes and fruit salad or lemon tart for desert. The tagines are available with either vegetables, or sweetened (prunes and almonds). We found this was the standard menu at all the local eateries. Coffe is milk coffee everywhere, brewed in a saucepan like the Indian chai.
Day 3 Today we visited an artists house, where Gill considered buying a stunning painting of the town. We follwed this with a short trek up to the top of the water stream again, then on up to the ruins of an old Spanish chapel. Great views of the medina again. Tonight we are going up to a large Western hotel for dinner and a glass of wine, something not readily available here;
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