Wilaya de Fes Tourist Traps

  Me , plus "friend" & kids
by dabuwan
 
  • Me , plus
      Me , plus "friend" & kids
    by dabuwan
  • Breathe in that sweet mint :-)
      Breathe in that sweet mint :-)
    by grets
  •   Tourist Traps
    by grets
  •   Tourist Traps
    by ttishbite
  •   Tourist Traps
    by grets
 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Very special traffic lights!

by JLBG

On the road, midway between Rabat and Meknès, stands a small city that stretches along the road. Many restaurants are scattered on both sides of the main street with charcoal burning to cook tajines and brochettes.However, this is not why I am writing a tip. A few years ago (it might well have been in 2002), I was driving from Rabat to Meknès. The entrance into the city is a straight road lined with fields and orchards. No houses, no cross road. However, right in the middle of this strait line, there was a large traffic light.When I arrived close to the traffic light, it turned red. Of course, I braked and stopped. From behind a bush, there came a traffic policeman that ordered me very politely to park on the side of the road. He said "You drove too fast and I must give you a ticket" He had several counterfoils books hung at his belt. They looked rather worn out, as if they have been...

Warning about guides in Fes Medina

by midnight_mike

I have been to several bazaars and medinas in Muslim countries. Some travel books advise hiring a guide, but I do not think that this is always a good idea. When I was in Fes I hired a guide. A guide will keep beggars and others away. And you will not get lost. But that guide will take you to shops where he will get a commission from the shop owner for everything you buy. My guide first showed me many historical things throughout Fes. But then he started taking me to carpet shops, leather shops, clothing shops, etc. FInally, I got sick of it and told him I had a train to catch. If you do hire a guide, tell them EXACTLY what you want to see and/or do. If you do want to go shopping, tell them what you want to buy. If you do not want to buy a carpet, them tell that. Repeat it more than once, making sure they understand this. The guides just want to earn a living. I cannot fault them for...

Tip Photo
The official photographer

by grets

At the traditional Moroccan Evening, there was an offcial photographer who took lots of photographs of us dressed up.From my journal:'He is outside the hotel the next morning with his prints spread out on the pavement. 20Drh each, and he won't come down, which is his loss - we offer him 100Drh for six, but in the end we only buy two. So now he's stuck with all those other pictures which are no good to him at all. But I would not buy on principle!'

Tip Photo
The mint doesn't work!

by grets

From my journal:'Before going in to the tanneries, we are given a pice of mint each to hold in front of our noses. I don't find it makes any difference whatsoever, but some people swear by it'. If you are bothered by strong, unpleasant smells, maybe you should invest in a mask, or rub some Tiger Balm under your nose.

Tip Photo
Unofficial guides

by grets

From my journal:'A couple of "unofficial guides" follow us around, looking after us, making sure we take the right turning etc; and one of them gets well and truly "ballacked" (see Warning and Danger tip) by a particularly wide donkey load.

Tip Photo
Dar Batha Museum - a couple pots and not much else

by ttishbite

Maybe we were missing something but.. this museum featured a few rooms of pottery and that's it! Maybe the other works were on tour somewhere because there were plenty of empty cases. The ornamentation of the building itself was beautiful and I'm sure the garden is pretty in the summer. If you do go and the cases are full of precious artifacts, you got lucky.

Tip Photo
Carpet artisans - Don't be fooled!

by LuisGuimaraes

If you (it's probable) hire a guide (he will find you, don't worry) to lead your way through the whole Medina (and he will do it well), he'll take you at least once to a "Berbere House" of a "friend of his", which is nothing else than a big carpet or handcrafts store.These stores he takes travellers into are usually at some particularly narrow and messy or dark point of the town, where he presents you to people who are working and - without you noticing it - leaves! So the situation is: you are inside a store, surrounded by gazing workers (leaded by a seller who insists on showing every model he has to sell with inquisitory eyes), where you don't want to buy anything (you didn't even choose to go in!) and without your guide, who is the only person you supposedly trust in, and who doesn't appear for at least 20 minutes. All this in the middle of a dark street in the center of the...

Visiting somebody

by dabuwan

Just to avoid the continuous and persistent offers of every possible service from local people, I decided to let a man play as "guide", being very clear I did not want to go to any shop. Well, with the excuse to visit an ancient house he brought me to what he pretended to be his home, where a dozen of kids started to play the role of being his poor children, with the final aim to get some money from me...

Tip Photo
I'm not sure it is a trap, but...

by lichinga

I'm not sure it is a trap, but it is something which I felt as being completely out of place, something which did not fit the atmosphere. Beside the main entrance of the Central Market there are five/six food stalls offering unusual products: lots of them are imported foods, which are not commonly consumed in Morocco, but they are in high demand by part of the tourists. Well, you may find those shops alleviating some basic instinct, but they gave me an unpleasant feeling. More than that, they are a point of concentration of poor people and beggars, who are attracted by neon lights and fancy people buyingstrange items.

Beware of the sales ploy.

by grets

From my journal:'You might think this is a traditional market mainly for the locals, but right in the heart of the medina the shops have a PDQ credit card machine! Always eager to take your money!'

Tip Photo
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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hi, Just seen a TV programme on C4 about Sufi music, which featured Fes Sacred Music Festival. Is this an annual event? If so What... 

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A: Yes its an annual event. it's from 2nd to 10th of June www.fesfestival.com for more info about Essaouira festival check this website www.festival-gnaoua.co.ma/ Good... 

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