Casablanca to Rabat and Chefchaouen
A 7.30 start this morning to go to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. The Government is elected every 5 years and the President chosen by the king from the majority party. Unemployment is high and it’s hard to get a job but health, education, security are excellent.
As we arrive in Rabat (military camp) we find most shops are shut since it’s the second day of the Eid holiday. Rabat is known as the city of culture and light.
It’s time to visit the grounds of the Royal Palace. They contain a residence and office for the king, the government offices as well as a school and housing for workers.
We visit the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, three generations are interred here and are guarded by the Royal horse guard. The mosque tower was never finished. Photos are fine, but no, you can’t ride their horses.
There’s a 12th century casbah, a Roman fortress that’s now a residential area. The soldiers would embark from here for Spain. A modern bridge now crosses the river instead of the boats that used to ply their trade as taxis.
The blue city of Chefchaouan Is 4 hours down the road The countryside is agricultural with sheep, goats, cattle, beans, wheat, olives and sugarcane all grown on small individual farms.
We pass through Oazzune, a city of olives with a green and white colour scheme, then the Rif mountains until we arrive at Chefchaouan, the blue city. Originally built to separate a 4th younger wife from three jealous older wives it is now a mix of berbers and arabs.
There’s some stunning goat cheese and they produce olive oil, figs and recently legalised medicinal marijuana. The standard variety is available as well. Abdul warns us against anyone offering us some in the street. Everything is painted blue.
The narrow labyrinth of streets is packed with holidaymakers and its shoulder to shoulder as we make our way up through the main square to a small waterfall. Abdul leaves us on our own and we climb to the Spanish mosque on top of the hill.
Coming back down is easy but our search for Abdul's favourite street ends up in a dead end and we rely on a local 10 year old to guide us back through the maze to the main square. A young Moroccan is doing a great job touting for customers and he reels us in. Once in we find that Bilmos is currently no 1 on TripAdvisor. The food is tasty and it deserves its rating. We manage to find our own way to the exit, a quick gelato, the first this tour and then back on the coach.
Tetouen has better hotels so it’s another hour before dinner and bed. We’ll be back in Chefchaouan tomorrow.
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