Fez to Chefchaouen

Several months ago I watched a documentary which focused partly on Morocco.  The two images that were left in my mind were the leather workers at the tanneries and a small town nestled high in the mountains which was famous because the buildings there were all blue. 

In Fez we visited the tanneries which were every bit as fascinating as I had convinced myself they would be, so my attention now was on finding the blue houses in the mountains.  It turned out to be a lot easier than expected after to speaking to many people who not only knew of this place but had glowing recommendations of it.  So we got back on the bus and headed there.....

Marrakech to Fez

After 4 days in Marrakech we decided to head north and take a 9 hour bus journey which would twist and turn all the way through the Atlas mountains. 

Whilst booking our tickets, Cassandra impressively leans over the counter at the station and in a very Moroccan style asks if "we can get a discount".  The guy looked blankly and raised his eyebrows, I laughed.  Cassandra turns to me and says "well we didn't have anything to lose?".  A few hours later we would find that statement to not be entirely true as there were 49 seats on the bus and we just happened to be sitting in 2 of 4 of them that didn't recline - all the other passengers laying back and enjoying the ride.

We set off at 11.30pm and it was an extremly surreal experience.  We passed a horrific car accident where a truck full of textiles had spilled goods all over the road and stopped once at a gas station in the middle of back and beyond.  I went to get a coke and was amazed to see so many people eating, playing cards and shopping at the butchers?!!

As I drifted in and out of conciousness, I would sporadically wake to see the Atlas Mountains, the odd farms and ultimately, how expansive the countryside of Morocco is.

As day broke I watched Cassandra sleeping with an everchanging backdrop of mountains, small dwellings and the odd farm.

We eventually arrived in Fez just before 9a.m.