Day 4 - October 13 - Tangier to Chefchaouen and Fes

Today was another too long day. There is so much to see and do and so little time to see it.

We started the day with a walking tour of the grand and petit souk (market) followed by the medina of Tangier. Medina means old town. The stores were still closed when we arrived so there were not too many people. There are many Jews that live here as seen by the 3 synagogues in the medina. 

While in the medina we saw all the new wooden doors that were renovated during the covid pandemic. Although they are beautiful, they all look the same.

Our hotel in Tangier

Banyan tree - Largest in Morocco

Our guide Youssef on the left with a local craftsman.

Entrance to a hotel and restaurant.

Fort in Tangier

Umbrella Pines (where pine nuts come from).

Where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean meet.

The highlight of the the day was Chefchaouen or more known as the blue city. This city is another UNESCO site. On the way there, on the left we had beautiful views of the Rif mountains and the valley. The Rif mountains are 2460 meters high about 7,000 feet.

Chefchaouen used to be brown because of the clay they used and also because it made for good camoflaging. Then they started using limestone and painting it white but they found it too hard on the eyes with all the white in the bright sunshine so they decided to paint everything blue. They also noticed that white attracted mosquitoes while blue repelled them. The only colours allowed now are brown, white and blue. There are many different shades of blue in the city.

Entrance to Chefchaouen.

Rif mountains in the background.

Our walk in Chefchaouen took us to the laundry that is still used today. It is used mostly to wash heavy items such as rugs and big blankets. The water comes from the Rif mountains. According to our guide the water contains 48 % magnesium and that is why the people who are not used to it should not drink the water.

After the blue city we hopped on the bus for Ouezzane where we had another view of the city. The mosque in this city was built in 1063.

It was another long day arriving at our hotel at almost 9:00. 

We are staying in Fes for 2 nights so it should be a little more relaxing than the last 2 nights.