Getting lost in Fez

In the Moroccan town of Fez, the word Labyrinth is brought to life like nowhere else I have seen.

There is a reason Mandy and I got lost more than once exploring the marvellous Medina of Fez. Inside the walls of the old town, there are no cars but that is because the paths are too narrow. At some points they are even too narrow for a bicycle and you will definitely meet the occasional donkey!

Wandering the streets and alleys, it is hard to believe that some 90,000 people still live in the Fez Medina.

Before exploring the city itself, we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking Fez. This really gives a great perspective and you can see how vast the Medina is.

The real Fez experience all starts when you stroll beneath the famous blue gate of Bab Boujeloud, it feels like you are being transported back in time. This is the oldest part of the city and is officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Navigating the Medina is adventure on its own and on our first day, we had a guide take us around to see all the sights.

One of our first stops was the Bou Inania Madrasa. This is a former Islamic school that can now be explored by tourists. Inside there are bright, elaborate mosaics and incredible wood carvings decorating the walls and floors and a fountain as the courtyard centrepiece. This is the city’s only building still in religious use that non-Muslims are permitted to enter. There are still parts of the building where women are not welcome.

We spent some time exploring the heart of the Medina and taking in all the smells and sounds. Here you will find everything for sale. Handwoven Berber rugs, leather slippers in every shade conceivable, intricate brass lamps, spices and bottle after bottle of Morocco’s argan oil.

Fez is famous for its leather tanneries, so of course we made a stop there and of course I bought a pair of pink leather sandals that I still have seven years later!

The best views of the tanneries are from the shops surrounding them. Be warned – the smells is really strong and I do recommend taking the offered sprigs of mint to sniff as you explore. The views of all the stone tubs make it all worth it though.

The tanneries here still operate in much the same way they did in medieval times, with manual labour and natural dyes. The various animal hides are first soaked to break down the tough leather, loosen excess fat, flesh, and hair that remain on them. The hides are then soaked in another set of vats containing a mixture of water and pigeon poo. The poo contains ammonia that acts as softening agents – I think that is what really contributes to the smell!

I found it amazing that so many vibrant colours are created from natural dyes. Saffron making a bright yellow and mint making a nice green for example.

On the second day, we decided to explore on our own and it certainly resulted in some interesting adventures.

I was determined to find the henna souk I had read about in the hotel and get a henna tattoo.

After meandering around in the heat for a while and even sitting in on a school class of young children – very randomly – we found the tiny souk amid stalls selling pottery and surrounded by gnarled trees.

What it took a few moments to understand is that henna is sold here but not applied. The stall owner arranged for a local woman who spoke only Arabic to apply the traditional tattoos for us.

This involved following a man through myriad alleys and walkways to her home – and me without my trail of lollies to retrace our steps with. GPS really won’t help you inside this Medina, even some locals who have lived here all their lives still have trouble navigating around certain areas.

We were ushered upstairs in the home and communicated via charades and my basic French with the man who I could only guess as a husband!?

She offered us mint tea as she created beautiful designs on our ankles and hands, but it did take a while to feel comfortable in this environment and looking back, this probably wasn’t the safest thing we had done.

Of course, the story doesn’t stop there. On leaving, we were just shown the door and we found ourselves in a very unfamiliar and residential area of the Medina and with no idea how to get out. We just started walking… and got completely lost!

Soon we happened upon a fresh food market, thinking we must be going in the right direction. We were wrong. A few passers by mentioned how unusual it was to see tourists in this part of the Old Town.

Eventually someone offered to show us the way out – for a fee of course. This is something that will happen a lot as you wander around.

We got lucky and our ‘guide’ actually showed us areas that many people don’t go and was super knowledgeable about the history. We tipped him pretty well for as a thank you.

Fez is a place I would definitely visit again because there are still corners of the old city to be discovered and getting lost is half the fun.

Enjoy the labyrinth of souks, colours, mosques, tagine and beautiful chaos around every corner and book your own stay here.