maknes

moulay idris

olive road

sound of architecture

fes

Fes was remarkable! It is said to be the world's best intact medieval Arabic city, and interestingly, the world's largest continuous urban car-free zone. Rightfully, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While there, I befriended two Moroccan architects who worked on preserving Fes for UNESCO. They gave a much appreciated, local perspective.

I was fascinated to learn that UNESCO's strategy for preserving the Madina (Old City), was to employ all the skilled craftspeople (for which Fes is renowned) in a co-op which guarantees them an income, and house them all within the Madina, therefore serving a dual purpose of preserving the craft and cultural heritage on the one hand, and the architecture on the other.

mosque hassan ii

casablanca

I didn't find the Hollywood version of Casablanca during my visit. With a few exceptions, I felt that a kind of modern banality turned it into a dirty, commercial city... It was a little disappointing, having carried around a notion of it in my mind as a romantic Arabic city... Still, I found some gems among the dirt.

goodbye, again

baboons of taif

Just before my final departure, I got my fill of baboons!

Who would have guessed that the mountains in this region are home to large numbers of these menaces... Where exactly do they live? That's yet another mystery of the land to me.

They've been known to come down from the mountains in troops and attack the local towns in search of food and water. Apparently local residents live in fear of random attacks causing considerable damage.

I got out of there before this guy's expression turned any more grim.

Daily offerings to the angry mob.