The week I fell in love with Morocco-Part 5-Driving around Morocco

After the Saharan trip we were exhausted due to the lack of sleep, the heat and the camel trek...it was fun but it was already halfway through the trip and we had been travelling to a different place every day.

But we were all still smiling....

The itinerary was to drive to visit the fossil factory and then have lunch at Minalt. But we were running late since we had spent longer than anticipated chatting and taking pics with our dear friends at the Auberge D'Nord.

So we visited the fossil factory and was given a tour by the Tribolite guy...he showed us the craftmanship that went into transforming the fossils found in the mountains into furniture pieces for homes and hotels...The fossils pieces varied in sizes and form

The products from these fossil pieces ranged from tables, fountains to chess pieces ..a certain type of skill is required to extract the fossils into these beautiful pieces...

If I owned a mansion I may have been tempted to purchase the pieces but fortunately I do not so didn't have to spend unnecessarily.

The guy mentioned the factory exported to places like Canada, America, UK and Asia....so if anyone is interested and has a huge mansion or hotel development definitely worth checking this out.

Since we were running late we didn't visit Minalt and set of for our three hour journey towards Fes. We were knackered so slept most of the way but we did stop for a few restbreaks visiting some street stalls and enjoying the scenery of the High Atlas mountains. The scenery was greener and even cooler...

Along the way we stopped at the stalls located beside the roads. The set up was similar to what you'd see if you were driving along the roads in Malaysia. Families set up these stalls with the collection of fresh produce picked from the farms that day.

I tried the sweet grapes and fresh figs...before this I had only tried dried figs but the fresh figs were delicious...

After feeling refreshed from the figs and grapes we continued our journey to Ifrane. As Khalid called it-it is the Moroccan version of Switzerland. The scenery is a change from the sand dunes and rocky mountains we were used to previously in Morocco. The scenery on the way to Ifrane were of pine trees, horses and green luscious mountains. At this point my camera battery had run low since we didn't have time to charge our cameras since we had spent the night in the desert the night before. So I couldnt'take many pics.

Khalid took us to one of the ski resorts and we passed one of King Morocco's holiday residences. In Morocco due to security reasons, you're not able to take pictures of the buildings or its surroundings. The Royal residency was HUGE....from the outside we could see a golf course, vast garden and not to mention the huge mansion...that was just from the outside..so you can imagine what other treasures you would find once you get inside the royal quarters...

In the winter, Northern Morocco can get very cold and snow. There is a ski resort which local or people abroad can come to ski....

It was a very long day---so by the end of the day we were looking forward to reach Fes for a comfortable bed and a shower ---life's little comforts which we take for granted....

Our hotel was in the centre of the Fes square near the Blue Gate. People had warned us that Fes is known to be the hotspot for getting your goods stolen and there are many professional beggars around. So I was a bit apprehensive walking in the square that night as we went to get some dinner.

Its a bit of a culture shock when you walk in the old Fes medina for the first time. The alleyways are narrow and people are constantly coming and going running various errands...riding the donkey, carrying shopping goods for the market or just looking for a place to eat. Some of the local people were rough--there were some old women and young kids who would just push you to get you of their way... Imagine if that happened in the tubes during rush hour in London---there would be a riot starting but over in Fes--it seems to be a normal way of life...

In the souk , there were loads of restaurants/cafes which sold pretty similar food around the same prices. Since we were going to meet our Fes guide the next day we just settled for a cafe nearby our hotel.

After dinner, we headed straight back to the hotel and got some rest before our next adventure day continued the next day...