Our return to Fes included a rest day when we parked the bikes and gave ourselves a respite from the daily routine of riding. Often this would also be a laundry day, however as we did laundry recently in Ait Benhaddou we could spend our time more agreeably.
At dinner we went to a restaurant recommended by our guide Abdellah and (surprise) we met up with folks from another tour he was guiding. We joined a lovely young lady – Clarise – from Singapore and got a preview of the Medina tour we had scheduled for the next day.
The Medina tour was fascinating in terms of the antiquity of the place and the tight narrow streets with its various mercantile districts. Some areas had meat, some breads, some colored wools and others fancy textiles and clothing. The meat section was unusual (you don’t always see Camel Head at the local Safeway)
We also visited the world’s oldest university in the world, the University of al-Qarawiyyin, which was founded in 857. There was also a quick peak at the royal palace and some promontories overlooking the city of Fes.
We visited a ceramics factory and a tanning operation (which seemed to be straight out of Charles Dickens). I was momentarily disposed to purchase a ceramic iron table for my backyard, however as I was on a mission to find a carpet instead I let it pass.
Our Medina guide – Said – was very knowledgeable about the history of Fes and Morocco in general. He was also an American citizen and had served in the US Army overseas in Afghanistan, which, as a native to Morocco, seemed a bit unusual. But a super guy who did a great job showing us around.
We returned to the hotel and later that evening contacted our BMW Motorrad dealership about the sporadic problems with my bike’s starter. A google search showed that the starter button had been a problem with my model and that there had been an earlier recall (although I had never been notified). At any rate, a replacement was around $600 and may be hard to acquire so we decided to carry on and hope for the best.