Travel writing about Morocco #25

"One of the most interesting development in the last eighteen months has been the way that a majority of travel articles have switched of attention away from Marrakech or Casablanca and focussed firmly on Fez" - This was what one travel editor told us. So today we did a quick search for the latest articles related to tourism in Morocco and here is a sample of what we found. The quality of the writing varied quite markedly but they did concentrate on Fez. We have included one article by a blogger which was a little weird in that it appeared to have been translated by Babelfish (we suspect from French). It looked like a tourism commission plan, but was inaccurate and out of date. We have included an extract from it simply for comparison.

Writer:
Daniel Drolet. (For Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service)

Headline:
Morocco offers a surreal mix of old and new - (Donkeys transport cargo through twisting alleys and passersby talk on cellphones)

Excerpt:

FEZ, Morocco - In alleyways barely as wide as my outstretched arms, the city's bustle pushes past me in waves -- giggling schoolchildren chasing each other, veiled women on their way to market, wizened old men in traditional djellabas walking hand-in-hand, Moroccan style, and chatting.

Every minute or two, weary donkeys laden with cargo trot past, their masters yelling "Balik! Balik!" as a warning to get out of the way. I sometimes have to push myself flat against the walls of the houses to let them pass.

Thin shades pulled overtop of these labyrinthine alleyways keep out most of the sharp North African sun and create a dark, dappled place where the scent of orange blossoms mingles with the acrid smell of ammonia. Somewhere nearby, in a cubbyhole off the street, there is a schoolroom, and I can hear the angelic voices of children chanting their lessons. The sound of it is as sweet as honey.

For a moment I am disoriented, unsure not only of where I am, but also -- more strangely -- of when I am. Is this the 21st century?

A man talking on a cellphone walks past. I am not in the 13th century after all. I am in the medina of Fez, the ancient capital of Morocco. And Fez, like all of Morocco, is a strange mix of new and old, modern and traditional, cellphones and donkeys.

...The medinas are daunting mazes -- and the most fascinating things I saw.

The medina of Fez is the most amazing of all. Now a World Heritage Site, it is 1,200 years old and feels it. The buildings are too tightly packed for motorized transport. You visit on foot, and commerce moves on the backs of donkeys.

The most amazing of all the craft shops of Fez is the city's tannery. After being given branches of mint to wave under our noses for the smell, we are led up a narrow set of stairs to a shop full of leather goods. At the back of the shop is a balcony, and from the balcony is the most amazing sight.

Writer:
Elena Fenrick (Edmonton Journal)

Headline:
The Western Kingdom

Excerpt:

Buying a train ticket to Fez is an easy transaction; getting on the correct train is not quite as easy. Six of us spent a half-hour stranded in Kenitra, waiting for the train we should have taken.

Fez was fantastic and fulfilled my childhood dream of being in Disney's Aladdin. The Medina, famous for its tanneries and one of the world's oldest universities, comprises thousands of medieval streets and alleyways.

Our guide led us to an Amazigh (Berber) carpet house, a women's co-operative that produced silk scarves, a herbal pharmacy and the famed tanneries.

In my opinion, Morocco's greatest asset is its people. Family is a priority to them, and time isn't measured as rigidly as it is in Canada.

The genuine kindness of strangers was a recurring theme wherever we went. People wanted to help us. Yes, there were those who wanted to sell us something such as a henna tattoo or their guiding services. But, many were simply curious about why we were there and wished to show hospitality to foreigners.

The local shop owners in the souk (marketplace) and waiters at certain cafes began to exchange pleasant greetings with us. When I brought a few friends back to a specific jewelry shop, the owner recognized me and gave me a tiny, silver Hand of Fatima necklace as commission.

Writer:
Millie Ball (Newhouse News Service, Star Tribune, Minneapolis.)

Headline:
Offerings of peace amid the excitement in Fez, one of Morocco's great ancient cities.

Excerpt:

Of the million people who live in greater Fez, about 350,000 live in the crowded medina, mostly above shops. Fez's old city is immense, with 187 neighborhoods -- each with its own mosque, bakery, hamman (a public bath), Qur'an school and fountain. The medina's 9,000 maze-like streets incline gradually so that by the end of the day, you have climbed a good bit.

Seeing photos of old Fez is one thing. Being here is something else. Being here means smelling spices and cooking meat and baking bread. It means walking past a wall case of false teeth advertising a dentist's services and surveying offerings in a warehouse of rental wedding thrones. Being here means hearing the noises of the medina, the warnings about donkeys, hawkers' attempts to lure buyers, calls to prayer that begin with what sounds like low moans and escalate to a piercing, rhythmic cry.

...We climbed steep stairs and a young, skinny waiter brought us small dishes of spicy mashed fava beans, caramelized onions, lentils in tomato sauce, chicken shish kebab cooked with red peppers and cumin, and chicken with onions. We ate the delicious food Moroccan style, with bread rather than forks.

Back downstairs after our meal, we were welcomed heartily by Hamid Berrada, the owner, a bearded man with laugh lines. "What's the name of this place?" I asked Saida, who looked puzzled. Nobody calls it by a name.

Writer:
Michael Schneider (Star Tribune, Minneapolis)

Headline:
Cooking class offers taste of Morocco

Extract:

Donkey carts clattered across cobblestone streets; butchers wielding cleavers hacked away at sides of lamb, beef and camel; women haggled in Arabic, French or Tamazight, a local Berber language. We were in Fez's meat, produce and spice market, maneuvering through the chaos with the guidance of Lahcen Beqqi, a master chef and expert on Moroccan cooking.

My wife, Ruth, and I had signed up for a one-day cooking class taught by Beqqi to learn more about Morocco and its cuisine. Beqqi, a 32-year-old baby-faced Berber from a small mountain village, made a fitting teacher. He had moved to Fez, the country's food capital, in 2002 and had cooked at some of the city's finest restaurants until he opened a school, Fes Cooking, in 2006. His classes offer not only cooking instruction (and eating, of course), but also an introduction to Moroccan shopping and mealtime traditions.

Lahcen with Rick Stein

...As we relished the meal during two glorious hours, Beqqi related stories of the multiethnic influences that have produced this distinctive cuisine: the Berbers of southern Morocco who brought tagines and couscous; seventh-century Arab invaders who introduced grilled meats and a love of dried fruits and nuts; Moors who contributed their taste for olives, oranges and lemons, and Sephardic Jews of North Africa who popularized the pickling and preserving of fruits and meats, plus the gastronomic contributions of Ottoman and French colonists.

I lay back on the sofa and sipped my last glass of tea, feeling like a pampered pasha. At 4 p.m., after a busy but gratifying day, Beqqi called a taxi to take us back to our hotel, a trip whose cost was, thankfully, based on distance, not weight.

Writer:
Unknown

Headline:
Tourism in Fez

Excerpt:

Tourism in Fez is a cyclic activity without any clear trend in terms of growth.

Tourist activities in this city are marked by a stable inbound tourism which has accounted for more than 70% of overnight stays recorded in the destination over the last decade.

Compared with inbound tourism, it is worth noting that Fez doesn't make full use of the potential of outbound markets. From a historical point of view, the city targets only one segment of the French market (circuits' clientele).

Finally, it should be noted that:

• Fez is not a destination in its own right: it is merely a stopping place in the tour of imperial cities;
• Fez is a product designed for a kind of clientele of a single market (circuits' clientele, French market);
• Fez is not marketed as a City Break at a time when it may be fit for this type of product which has witnessed a sustained growth in different markets

Classified as a world heritage by the UNESCO, the Medina of Fez is the Key Resource of the destination as well as the most attractive sightseeing tour of the region, and that is all thanks to:

• its numerous patrimonial resources (9 monumental gates, 7 medersas, more than 100 mosques/mausoleums and 64 monumental fountains),
• its human whole as well as its authentic lifestyle which is viewed as unique in the world.*

*This last extract was from a website called "Tourism in Morocco". The article that has been, translated, re-posted and may well be an old document. The claim about targeting French tourists is certainly out of date ( the targeting of Canada, for example, brought more than 32,000 visitors to Fez last year)

The View from Fez - travel writing index

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news