Fez, Hotel Palais Jamais

                                                           Fez

   We started from Valencia fairly early and took an 8 hour bus trip to Almeria. The trip was uneventful, except for the drunken singing of a Moroccan in the back.

   Almeria is a pleasant Andalusian city, with broad avenues leading down to the port.

   The next day we took the ferry (5 hours) to Melilla. It was a peaceful trip, since there were very few other passengers.

   Melilla is an old city, still a part of Spanish soil. It is dominated by the Old City, near the port. The place is faded, but is quite pleasant. The main drawback is that it’s outrageously expensive. We got a very shabby hotel for 10,000 pesetas.

   We woke up early and had breakfast at the Nuevo California. Then we took a taxi to the border at Beni Enzar, 10 minutes away. We walked right through Spanish control without anybody making a peep, and entered the Moroccan side and a completely different, chaotic world. We waited in line with throngs of Moroccans at passport control. There was one guy working a computer, while another was sitting beside a huge antique filing case, the drawers marked with labels like “Foreigners, A-C.” We finally got stamped and passed through the Moroccan post.

   The first guy I asked about a taxi to Nador wanted 300 dirhams, about 20 times the worth of the ride. We took a local bus for 2 dirhams.

   In Nador, we were lucky enough to get to the station just as a bus was leaving for Fez. The ride was pleasant, though hot. The fun part was passing through the customs roadblocks; there were four of them during the trip. The drill was always the same. A Moroccan policeman gets on the bus, walks down the aisle searching for contraband. All the Moroccans on the bus—we were the only Europeans—were smuggling in something. The policeman would find a package, sometimes hidden under the seats, take its owner outside, and administer the appropriate response. We saw one customs official breaking bottles of contraband whisky against a nearby stone, while their owners looked on sadly.

   We arrived in Fez at the imposing Bab Bou Jeloud, the main gate into the old city (Fez el Bali). From there we got a local bus to Bab Guissa.

   The Hotel Palais Jamai is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever been in. It was the home, in the 19th century, of a very powerful pal of the Sultan. The whole place is covered with exquisite tile work. It is set in an Andalusian garden, with tinkling fountains, trilling birds. Our room looked out over the Medina, and was an incredible sight. The balcony also looked out of the swimming pool and garden below. The whole effect is one of deep peace, broken only occasionally by the wailing of the muezzin from the tower of the Kerouine Mosque, the largest mosque in North Africa.

   We plunged right into the medina, just outside the hotel through Bab Guissa. It is a genuinely medieval world, with a labyrinth of small streets, lanes, alleys, and cul-de-sacs. I pride myself on my sense of direction, but was lost in about two minutes. The best trick is simply to walk either consistently uphill or downhill, and you’ll usually eventually come to a larger street. The streets are so narrow, and many of them are covered, so landmarks a hard to make out. I made a sort of game of making a mental map, which I gradually reproduced on paper, of the innards of the medieval anthill that is Fez.

   For three wonderful days we explored the medina. The highlights were the tanneries, the little workshops and souks, the pitiful donkeys loading almost to the breaking point. When they pass, you must often press yourself against the walls to avoid getting crushed. The driver yells “Belek, belek!” By the time we left, I could get in and out of the labyrinth without much difficulty.

   We went by train to Tangiers, where we spent the night. The next day we took the ferry to Gibraltar. After exploring this quaint bastion of Britannia, we walked over La Linea through an unguarded gate, and into Spain. A bus from Algeciras took us back to Valencia. It was a fine excursion.