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Fes, Morocco
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Time of Visit: November 7-10, 2022
Fes is the former cultural capital of Morocco. It lived up to my expectations in that sense: filled with mosques, palaces, artisans, and history around every corner, it's very hard to get bored walking around the old city.
I started my tour of the city by walking towards the Mellah, or Jewish Quarter, located about a kilometer away from the southern gates of the massive medina. Between them is a beautiful large park
- Jnan Sbil - where three separate Moroccan families wanted to take a picture of me with their children.
Past the park is a long pedestrianized avenue of clothing and jewelery shops that was supposedly the Mellah. It was unclear where it started because all the men were uniformly swarthy and mustached, and quite a few Muslim women in Morocco go hijab-less, so there was no visible indication of anyone's creed. As far as I could tell, the only significant difference between the Jewish Quarter and the rest of the city was that synagogues charged entry fees while mosques did not. Upon further investigation, I learned that "in 1997 there were reportedly only 150 Jews in all of Fez and no functioning synagogues remained in the Mellahw," and I assume all the remaining Jews have since moved to Israel, so I guess the "Jewish Quarter" name is just window-dressing.
The next morning, I went out to explore the medina. Online forums warned of aggressive touts, so I went in with the strongest RBF I could muster up.
Walking quickly with an RBF largely shielded me from most harrassment, but every time I slowed down or showed interest in a shop I would inevitably be met with a barrage of ni-haos and my friends.
It's hard to overstate the skill of these merchants. At one carpet shop, I was given the whole dog and pony show: first I was served tea; then I was given a sob story about how difficult it was to make a living with so much competition and so many mouths in the family to feed; then, no fewer than 20 carpets of varying size and quality were unfurled before me, even though I had told them I only wanted a small mat. Then I selected a small carpet I was interested in, was quoted an outrageous price, and I countered with an outrageously low price; the seller feigned offense and told me that he wouldn't be able to feed his family at that price, and that if I wanted that price I needed to buy at least five carpets, and I told him there was no way I was buying two carpets, let alone five, and he immediately lowered the price by fifty percent.
I feigned disinterest and nitpicked and haggled until we reached a price that the seller pretended to be unhappy about. Once I handed the money over, though, it was smiles all around, and the seller even gave me a bag of tea leaves, which is how I know I was definitely ripped off. It's still a fraction of what I would have paid in America, though, so I think it's better not to overthink these things.
In spite of its touristification, Fes's medina is truly incredible environment to be in - a stark contrast from the manicured, reconstructed old cities of Western Europe.
In spite of the medina's charm, I must mention that I felt extremely unsafe in the deserted alleys, even as a 6'2" man. On multiple occasions, a young man would start speed-walking in front of me and start "showing me the way" to nowhere in particular, and when I told them to go away because I didn't need guidance, they would just insist that I give them money. After I refused several times, they would walk away, but about 20 minutes after I told one of these "guides" to go away, I turned a dark corner and ran into him and his unemployed friends. They stared daggers at me as I passed and I was sure I was going to get jumped, but luckily a bustling street was two turns away and I quickly disappeared into the crowd.
It's little wonder why these young men feel so entitled to tourists' money. They grow up in the medina, which is just about the worst place to live as a young person - government investment goes towards making the place more tourist-friendly, not making it more livable for residents. Schools? Healthcare? Nah, paint the walls of this alley blue, and make it a $100,000 contract that goes to the mayor's friend. Foreigners making 10x what you could ever dream of waltz in and gawk at the "authentic" locals and "charming" architecture, yet recoil when you want a cut of the action in your own backyard, and accuse you of being "greedy" and "conniving" (don't believe me? Look at any Morocco discussion thread on Reddit.)
This doesn't excuse annoying behavior like following tourists around begging for money, but I can understand why these young men feel entitled to do so. Crime is not an option, either: the Moroccan security apparatus is primarily designed to suppress Islamic extremism and protect tourist revenue, so courts throw the book at those who brazenly rob tourists. When proper jobs are in short supply, this, I suppose, is the next best thing. I genuinely feel for these guys.
I would still recommend everyone visit Fes, just not alone, and preferably with multiple large men.
