Pictures: Lyle Such
Words: Thu Buu
Camera: Canon 5d MkIV
We arrived in Chefchaouen after a short but scenic drive from Fez. We decided to hike up into the surrounding mountains to get a good look at the town from above.
After having settled in at our hotel, Hotel Molino Garden, whose entrance is divinely adorned by blooming vines of perfumed jasmine, Lyle and I climbed up the hillside behind the city to watch the sunset. Once again, it was overcast and not too much color appeared.
We caught students leaving school for the day. A group of girls climbed up the hillside and meandered among the graveyard, using it as a more interesting shortcut to the top of the hill. They spent so much time chasing around the cemetery that it would have been faster just taking the road, but what fun would that have been.
Wandering around this city felt like an endless pastime. As its name implied, the majority of buildings, tunnels and homes in this city are painted some shade of blue. We tried to establish a rationale for the paint color used, but in the end we’ve come to accept that there is no rhyme or reason to what gets painted with which shade of blue. Around one corner, we ran into a long wall that actually had a thought-out design resembling waves of sorts painted along the whole wall. Some walls featured polka-dots while others were accented with a bits of brighter colors, green, yellow and red. We especially appreciated the homes with hanging plants in colorful pots. The unpredictability added so much charm and fun to our time exploring the city.
A sweet memory of Chefchaoeun is definitely the cookies. Oh, I so adored these cookies. They seem to just melt in my mouth. They’re cakey and fluffy and just the right amount of sweet. Plus, they were incredibly cheap. With a handful of coins, I received a whole box full of an assortment of cookies and pasteries.
The size and shapes of the doors in the city didn’t want to take a backseat to the paint. We found so many fun doors of all shapes and sizes. Some of them seem like they’re only there for decoration. I wonder if that’s true.
Another unique feature of Chefchaouen is that the streets are perpetual stair-steps that curve with the angle of the steep hillside on which the city is built. Even so, kids managed to find a way to play soccer on these tricky streets. We got caught in a game of soccer at an intersection of three staircases.
The streets are narrow and some alleys are even more narrow. I guess it’s hard to be too overweight living in a city where climbing stairs is a way of life. I can say for certain that some alleys are definitely too narrow for the average American to comfortably walk down.
On our way down one set of steps, we met this little boy, probably around three years old. He was trying to throw a can of Pringles over the wall in front of him. After numerous unsuccessful tries, he turned to us and gave us the can indicating for us to help him. We gave the can back to him, picked him up to help him get closer to the top of the wall. He finally threw the can over. Half a minute later, he looked at us with searching eyes and outstretched hands as if asking for his can back. We tried to gesture that we didn’t have it. Oh boy, he didn’t quite understand that once it’s over the wall, it was gone. Luckily, his sister who seemed just a few years older came along and ushered him down the alley.
Although Chefchaoeun is such a charming place aesthetically, it’s littered with obnoxious young guys who are out to take advantage of foreigners. When our transfer dropped us off, he told us exactly what to pay the two guys who took our luggage and pulled it haphazardly through the cobblestone streets. Along the way, we suggested that we take one of the rolling suitcases off their hands because it seemed like they were struggling to keep them upright. But the guys kept insisting they were fine. It only took a short three minutes of walking to get to our hotel from the drop-off point. In front of the hotel, I gave them the amount that our driver had negotiated. They asked for double the amount saying we had more luggage than they thought, and it was tough to get it all here. I didn’t want to argue with them, so I gave in, but this transaction left the first of many bitter tastes in my mouth.
On the main plaza, guys would constantly approach Lyle asking him if he wanted to buy drugs. At first, I didn’t notice. Once Lyle pointed it out, I started realizing how often it was happening.
Another incident happened as we were leaving the city. The porter came to take our luggage. The same thing happened as on our arrival. We told him that we were capable of pulling our own luggage and that he could just take care of the largest one. He insisted on carrying more than just one. We walked past a group of teenagers who openly mocked him about being a porter. We could see how such rudeness and contempt was held in high regards and developed among the kids within the city and how they could easily grow up to be one of those obnoxious scammers. We had to walk up a hill to wait for our driver, and in the heat, I knew the porter was struggling. I even gave him my water bottle. At the top, we tipped him all the change we had left, which was more than what we had given the other boys. He asked for more and indicated that the hill was long and hard, but we had no more change left. We waited for a whole twenty uncomfortable minutes because there was a confusion between where the driver was and where the porter had brought us. Unfortunately, our experience in this city was bookended with unease and discontentment.
From the Mid-Atlas Mountains we made our way north to the coast through more undeniably beautiful countryside.
Tangier was the last city on our itinerary in Morocco. I had wanted to see the Strait of Gibraltar and witness the sun setting where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. But with looming darks clouds, raging seas, and tumultuous winds, it was out of the question. We ventured out for dinner and a short windy walk down to the quay the next morning before saying “Au Revoir” to Morocco. Morocco had so much more to offer than we had expected. We’re pretty confident in saying that we will revisit this lovely country again in the future.
