It occurs to me after nearly a month here in Morocco that so much of its beauty is hidden, both from people who are visiting, and from the outside world. That is partly from a practical point of view, all the things that you can’t see, as a non-Muslim, or all the things that you just don’t know that are even there, until you go down a passageway, or open a door, and all the reasons that people might not come here, as they are concerned about visiting.

I would love to be able to go into more of the religious places here, but appreciate that is not possible. It was wonderful to be able to visit the Hassan 2nd mosque, that was amazing, as was the madrassa in Fes. I had visited one madrassa before in Marrakesh and they are such stunning places.

I am truly fascinated by how much of the medinas’ beauty is hidden from sight . The idea of the riads, the courtyard houses is just so different to what housing is like in many other cultures. I know that a lot of it is practical, to have houses that are covered so that they are cool, but it is that lack of externality that I find so different.

In the UK, and in where I live in Spain, we put a lot of emphasis on what our houses look like from the outside. We have this idea of ‘kerb appeal’, that a house should look good even from the outside, that you should have a lovely garden, that everything should be very well kept and neat.

Here, things are very different. Most of the time, and I have noticed this in Spain as well, in the more traditional places I visit, there is not that emphasis. The streets are narrow, they are often in need of restoration, they look as if nothing beautiful could be contained within. Spanish village houses often have very little kerb appeal, and look very ugly and unkempt.

This is the door to my current riad, at the top of the medina in Marrakesh. Not much to look at from the outside, and I wouldn’t even have stopped to take a picture usually 😉

The street is full of little food stalls, and bike and motor bike repair places. It is noisy and dusty, although there are lots of street sweepers going up and down, so it isn’t dirty. Motorbikes dodge past you all the time, and there are cars coming down as well. At the top of the street is a crowded marketplace. It doesn’t look like a place of peace or beauty at all.

And yet a few steps away is this, my accommodation, Riad Carol. The riad still has a garden in it, as it originally would have done. There is an orange tree and it smells just like home at the moment, which is great as I love the smell of orange blossom. There is also a banana tree, right outside my room, which is so cool!

My room is on the ground floor and opens out onto the courtyard. It is quite small and dark, to keep out the sun, so no good pictures, but has a very lovely painted door and window.

As well as the garden, and a kitchen and storage rooms, there is a large living area at the back of the space, it has the traditional sofas around the walls and this wonderful plasterwork ceiling.

I would love to know the history of this place, I can’t find anything online, but since this is one of probably a thousand similar places in this city I didn’t really expect it. It has clearly been restored, and so not all the paint work is original, but I would imagine most of the plasterwork is. It is still in need of some TLC, and the plasterwork is showing signs of damage, but I would imagine places like this are a DIY nightmare, with so much to try and maintain.

However, it has been really good to stay in another traditional house in a traditional area. I think it very much depends what kind of a traveller you are. I am very much a ,’budget accommodation and more to spend on experiences’, person. I would rather have something like this than a modern hotel, even if the plumbing in some of my accommodation in Morocco has been interesting. It is clearly quite difficult to fit en-suites into riads, so I have some unique wet room arrangements, a bit like the showers you see on van life videos!

The other thing that strikes me is that people might not come because they are concerned about travelling here. When doing research for this trip, there were so many websites that I visited that had warnings, or articles entitled, ’10 things to watch out for’, or ‘Is Fes safe to visit?’ As a solo traveller as well, people often worry that I am not going to be safe on my own in a country where people might approach me because I am European, and either want me to buy something, or offer to help me when I don’t need it.

I have felt very safe here, I have been asked so many times to come and see something, and I just say no politely. I wandered all over the cities, down little alleyways on my own and felt fine. One man in Fes medina asked me what I was looked for, and he was a little confused when I just replied ‘pretty doors’. These are some of the lovely ones just up from my riad.

I think, as in any city, you have to be aware of your own safety, but that applies to everywhere. Ellen and I visited New York last year, and the late night subway trip from the airport was one of the dodgiest experiences I have had in while.

As for the other things that people are concerned about, like beggars and poverty, yes it is here, obviously, however my old home town of Huddersfield had a lot of that as well, so sadly I am used to being approached for money. Again I just say no, as I would rather give money directly to charities who support housing and well being.

I really would urge people to not be put off, and come to Morocco, as it is such an amazing place. I feel as if I have seen enough now to say that I have got a real feel for the country, from the rolling green hills and mountains of the north, and the deserts here, the wonderful coastline, and the brilliant cities. I would love to come again sometime to see more of rural Morocco. There is a tantalising glimpse of the Atlas mountains from here, capped in snow.

The people are very welcoming and friendly, and I have stayed in some fabulous places, as you have seen from my posts. In case you are interested, I have spent an average of £20 a night on accommodation costs, and think that is excellent value for all the lovely places that I have stayed in. However there is so much choice that you can have very modern luxury with lots of ‘kerb appeal’ if you want it.

I had a wander in the newer part of the city yesterday and walked past the famous Mamounia Hotel. Mum, Jake and I did visit last time we came and it was beautiful, but it is also about £800 a night to stay there! I didn’t even try to get in this time, as they have a really strict dress code and these people in the picture had just been turned away. There are also lots of lovely places that don’t cost the same as I have paid for my whole month here!

I only have two days left here now, so am trying to visit as many museums, and see as many doors 😉 as I can before returning to the UK for five weeks. I am excited to be catching up with friends in Scotland and Yorkshire, as well as my sister and her family in Worcester. I will also be spending time with Ellen, who has been on a wonderful adventure of her own in Europe, which I haven’t had chance to hear about yet.

So I will be doing my next post from the comfort of Ellen’s house. See you soon and until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

I wanted to experience a variety of different types of accommodation in my time here in Morocco and have chosen to stay in a traditional riad, or courtyard house in the medina of Fes. According to this blog the difference between a riad and a dar, like the one that I stayed at in Essouria, is that riads have a courtyard or garden.

I am staying at Riad Skilffo, it is very easy to find, although it is a little way into the medina, it is just off the main street and is clearly labelled. After having experienced trying to find my previous accommodation in Venice and Marrakech I wanted something I wouldn’t get lost trying to get to!

Most of the courtyards in riads are not used as gardens anymore but are tiled, often with a water feature or small pool. My room is on the ground floor next to the courtyard. The first photo here shows the amazing doors to my room.

It is clear why this traditional style of house was built as it is wonderfully cool inside. As in Spain, where we need our houses to protect us from up to 50 degrees in the summer, the emphasis is on shade and cool tiles. I really appreciated this yesterday as it was 24 degrees and I went for a long walk up to the nearby hill fort which I will show you in the next post.

Inside these houses are what looks like a small palace, my own version of the Alhambra or Real Alcazar in Seville. As you know from my post about the hotel in Casablanca I love staying in such amazingly built and decorated places. This is a small riad, just six bedrooms over three floors, and it is gorgeous, with so much beautiful decoration everywhere. There are smaller seating areas on the upper floors as well.

Many of the riads in this area have been restored as tourist accommodation, but it is still very much a working medina. Unlike the one in Tangier, where the majority of shops were aimed at tourists, this is a real market with butchers, spice stalls and so many massive piles of sweets and dates for sale. I will post more about the medina next time, but it is lovely to walk through and see everything for sale. I’m still being good though and not been tempted by any lamps 😉

Every morning I have my breakfast on the upper terrace, with views over to the ruins of the city walls and tombs. It is a stunning view, with the hills in the background, and I love it.

There is a small covered area to sit in up on the roof as well, and the top of the courtyard area has a cover that can be used in case of rain, which is clearly a modern addition.

The breakfast is equally amazing here, all this just for me every morning!

The staff here are so lovely as well, and as a bonus it has very good wifi, not very traditional but essential for all my updates!

I have been reading two autobiographies by Freya Stark, while I have been on my travels in Morocco. She was an explorer in the 1930s who travelled extensively in the Middle East, learning Arabic and Persian while she did so.

She arrived in Baghdad not long after the death of Gertrude Bell, another fascinating woman traveller. Freya writes brilliantly about constantly being told how ‘brave’ and ‘foolish’ she is to want to go on all these adventures on her own, as an English woman as well, in a very imperialist Persia. I think she’s someone I would loved to have been able to meet 😉

It seems highly appropriate to be looking at the sorts of ruins that she would have loved, while reading about her travels. I came across her last summer, when I read a number of fictionalised accounts of archaeological digs, as she was one of the author’s sources.

There are so many of these beautiful riads here in Fes. Just this morning Facebook showed me an advert from Booking.com, who I use for all my accommodation now, with some of these equally lovely places to stay. From the left they are Riad Dar Diwan, Riad Khouloud and below, Rian Maison Adam.

It really does make me feel as if I am having a very exotic adventure, to be here in my lovely tiled room, with its amazing corniche, and then to step out into the bustling medina.

I am so glad that I chose Fes as one of my destinations, it is an amazing place and I look forward to showing you more in the next post. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.