Morocco Part 3: I'm Blue Da Ba De Da Ba Da

Heading north, baby! We wanted to go towards Fes which was the biggest city next to a small town we really wanted to go to called Chefchaoen.  Chefchaoen is known as "the blue city." It's a small mountain city that reminds me of the song "Blue" from Eiffel 65 because they literally painted the entire town blue.  All shades of blue, all the houses, buildings and streets.  Who knows why but it was a good move for them cuz it brought tourists like us there.  After seeing the red and orange of the desert for six days we thought it would be especially cool.  We were in a bit of a time crunch because we only had about 36 hours before our flight took off in Tangier which is about 3 hours north of Chefchaoen.  

This concludes the geography lesson but you get the idea that every minute and hour counted.  So when we got off the bus at the furthest north stop towards Fes called Erracheddia we felt hopeful that there would be a bus to Fes that we could hop on right away There was a bus! But it wasn't for another 12 hours.  Not gonna work so we thought - why not catch a cab?! It will definitely be more pricey- we heard it cost up to 1500 Durham to get to Fes (about 150 Euro) but we planned to bargain- big time.  We talked to the taxi driver and he easily accepted 250 Durham (what?! Maybe a red flag but we decided to believe we were just that good at bargaining) but for the catch that we couldn't go to Fes, but rather a neighboring city because he was already taking a guy that way and we would just all go together.  Ok that sounded like no big deal - this other guy in shot gun and Robby and I in the backseat, fine.  We slid in the back of the taxi and continued to make ourselves comfortable.  But we weren't leaving yet.  Suddenly the door opened next to me and another guy starts getting in the car with us...we heard that Morocco likes to pack their taxis and that shared taxis are the only way to get a decent price.  Alright that's fine, three of us In the back is a little cramped for a six hour taxi ride but we can do it.  Still not leaving.  Minutes later another guy opens the door, this one even bigger and smellier than the last.  Squeezes on in and at this point I have half my butt sitting on Robby's lap and these two grown men next to us are practically lap sitting as well and they seem as if this is no big deal.  Still not leaving.  The front door opens and another climbs in this time in the front of the taxi and totally sits on the center console between the driver and the guy in the front passenger seat.  At this point it would break all laws of physics to be able to fit another person in the car so the driver finally took off! And here we sat, buttcheeks falling asleep, legs squashed, arms contorted and all...for six hours.  Did I mention there was no AC and we were driving across the desert? I guess you get what you pay for.  This is how they roll in Morocco and once again i felt like a spoiled brat for the cush life style that I'm used to. They are warriors out there! The guys in the cab looked totally content the entire time, while I was gasping for air and practically punching myself in hopes to just pass out so I could wake up and be there.

Hard to see here but there is one other guy between me and the guy on the very left! 

Gettin cozy up in front!

(Can someone tell me if this video works and if there is audio? It's been so hard to upload our videos to this blog for some reason!) if it doesn't work try this http://youtu.be/upHkw5vO_mw

We finally made it to our taxi destination, Meknes! But not before the taxi driver made two random personal stops on the way up which probably set us back about an hour. Hahah but I have never felt better as I did stepping out of that car and into freedom.  It was about 6pm and we were only three hours away from Chefchaoen.  Another bus ride but at this point the bus didn't seem so bad In comparison. Our flight out of Tangier left the next night so we had about 24 hours now.  Plenty of time to get there and explore for a while!! The taxi ride was worth it!! (I can say that now that Im out of that taxi cab).  

The city Chefchaoen!! 

Yes we were exhausted, but being close to the mountains and it feeling 10 degrees cooler with a breeze was exhilarating! This city is totally a hidden gem- no one really talks about it as a "must see" but it was one of my favorite places! I was obsessed with all the different patterns of the houses and especially the doors!! They are so many cool looking doors!!

The city backs right up into the mountains

Can't get enough of the doors!

This was the medina which you can always expect to be a bit of a maze. It's cool to just get lost in the blueness and stumble on all the different designs and doors!

In Morocco they have these public bath houses where you bathe in hot water and then get scrubbed down by someone, a hardcore cleansing.  They are called hammans and I think are probably a lot like Turkish baths which in turn are a lot like being a 5 yr old and getting scrubbed down by your mom.  That was the first thing Robby wanted to do when we got to Chefchaoen, understandably so.  I could've gone for a good scrub down too but I had a feeling it might not be exactly what I envisioned and figured I'd wait for a Turkish bath.  I took off and explored while he experienced the hamman.  When we finally met up again the look on his face was priceless!

sheer relief? Confusion?

Apparently it was very different than we thought and he was slightly traumatized. I  will leave it at that for now...

They had little shops and medinas just like every other city in Morocco but these seemed much nicer and much less of a hassle.  The people didn't bombard you here and were really respectful when you said no.  

I loved it,  we walked around for hours checking out the shops and scenery and even up to a little waterfall at the top of town.  Which we ended up passing out next to and sleeping for two hours.  The perfect setting for a nap!

We woke up hungry so went and ate some couscous at a cool restaurant which ended up being the next best meal we had in Morocco! (next to the Tangene in the desert).  We were well rested, well fed, Robby was well cleansed and it was time to catch our final bus to Tangier!  I was ready for it. Although if I could do the trip over I'd definitely want a couple days in the cute city of Chefchaoen!

Couscous with veggies and some freshly squeezed OJ.  So satisfying. A meal a mother would be proud of and a huge step from the 15 yr old boy dream diet of corn nuts and cookies we had been living on for days.

This last bus ride wasn't unlike all the others in that it was pure torture.  The bus had no AC, no windows down, and was packed!! People were standing in the aisles for this one and Robby and I got the very back seat, which essentially sits above the scorching hot engine that you can feel under your legs, which are smashed up against the seats in front of you because you have zero leg room.  It was our last bus ride and that's what we told ourselves during the 3 hour journey.  The smell of body odor mixed with Moroccan spices reigned supreme for those three hours.  I am grateful for this bus ride though because we met the most amazing Moroccan man.  His name was Mountacir and he knew some English so he started talking to us on the bus.  He was such a sweetheart and was eager to learn all about our experience in Morocco and was so proud and happy to be a Moroccan and to tell us more about his country.  He talked to us about life and how living simple was the best way to live for him.  He talked to us about his family and some American friends he has in Morocco - there was a group of them living in his city right now and they gave English lessons and that's how he had learned.  It was so cool talking to him, we could tell he had such a good heart and when we got off the bus he told us to follow him because he knew we were in a time crunch to make our flight and he wanted to make sure we were ok. He rushed us straight to a taxi area to get a cab and spoke with a few different taxi guys to make sure we were getting a good price.  He translated everything for us to the cab driver and then he even rode with us all the way to the airport to make sure there was no hassle and that we made it!!! He wasn't even going that direction at all and would have to ride back with the cab driver to the bus station to get to his own destination.  At this point we were accustomed to helpful Moroccans expecting tips but we especially wanted to give him something.  By now we were friends and he had gone out of his way so much for us! When we got to the airport he got out and carried our bags and gave us huge hugs.  I wished we had some kind of cool momento to give him but we are traveling so light and have no excess right now so all we could offer was a small cash tip.  He looked at us confused and said no you have shamed me!! You are my friends and that's why I do this, you needed help and I wanted to help you!  It was the coolest way to leave Morocco, Mountacir had a heart of gold.  He even added us on facebook later to message us and make sure we made it okay to Spain.  Meeting him was the best way to leave Morocco and to remember how humble and sweet so many of the people are there.