Pure Bliss in Volubilis: A day visiting Moulay Idriss, Volubilis, and Meknes

Having traveled by bus, train, ferry, taxi, and foot across Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, the intercontinental travel was beginning to exact its toll. Yet we knew that we still wanted to see the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis outside of Fez. To accomplish that would require an intercity train from Fez to Meknes and then an expensive private taxi, or an unreliable (and crammed) shared grand taxi, to Volubilis. Not to mention several hours more than we had to spare. But we also didn't want to join a commercial tour group, with their throngs of people, pre-set agendas for each site, and exorbitant prices. We needed a solution, and sure enough, one was handed to us by fate in that little cafe outside of Place Rcif in the Fez Medina.

We had made the acquaintance of Nour, a charming Moroccan guide, the previous day, and he was kind enough to offer up the services of his company, babafrica.com. Meaning "Gateway to Africa," we would find BabAfrica to be the perfect solution to our dilemna, balancing our interest in seeing as much as possible with our disinterest in joining a tour group.

Nour picked us up from our hotel right at 9 am. He was accompanied by BabAfrica's driver, who was just as nice as the 4x4 SUV. The day's agenda was ambitious- a visit to Moulay Idriss via the "Old Road to Meknes," then the world's coolest photo-op at Volubilis, and finally the fast highway back to Meknes to see that beautiful city's famous sites.

The Old Road to Meknes

With Berber music playing in the jeep, we drove past New Fez (a large suburb that has sprung up in the past 15 years), and out towards Moulay Idriss. Rows and rows of olive trees rolled by, kept company by numerous shepherds and their flocks of sheep. Kendra and I kept calling out "sheep!" like five year olds. As the rolling green hills kept coming, I started thinking that even an Italian would be impressed by the absolutely gorgeous countryside. The music was a great compliment to the view, with berber and arabic artists covering the full spectrum from mournful to fun.  We kept asking about the agriculture as well and Nour filled us in, jokingly and truthfully saying that, though Morocco is an Islamic country forbidding alcohol, 80% of the wine produced here doesn't leave its borders!

Our first rest stop at the Shahed Lake overview, replete with wildflowers, mountain vistas, and quietly grazing cows, only hinted at the scenescapes to come. We learned that nearby, local villages make Moroccan whiskey from figs and dates.

After the lake, other tour groups head along the highway to Meknes, but Nour had the inside scoop and took us up into the mountain massif that stands between the two cities. This was the 'Old Road to Meknes,' now abandoned to local use given the cushy new highway linking Fez and Meknes. Here we were awed by the view out over the plains, red rock cliffs and hawks circling above, with children playing, men herding sheep, and women accompanying donkeys carrying firewood.

The views were ridiculous. We stopped a couple of times (the benefits of a private guide! Nour went out of his way to impress upon us that our set itinerary was open to adjustment), and lingered at this beautiful spot. While we were waiting, a young man walked by and happened to have olive oil, so Nour bought two liters. Can't get fresher than that! 

Moulay Idriss
All of a sudden we found ourself pulling into a small parking lot, alongside some parked donkeys, in  Morocco's holiest city, Moulay Idriss. The city is uniquely laid out to comprise the entirety of a single hill, which contrasts sharply with the lush green of the countryside. It's said that 5 trips to the city is equivalent to one to Mecca for a Muslim, so the city had even earned the nickname of 'Poor Man's Mecca.' Back further in history it was legal to kill Christians here (like Kendra and I), so it was a fascinating place to visit. We soon found ourselves following Nour to the Mosque. Non-muslims aren't allowed in Mosques, of course, but Nour cleverly took our camera and was able to capture some beautiful images of the interior.

After Nour returned from the mosque, we headed up the hill towards an overlook of the city. It was a spontaneous lesson in Islamic society as well. On the way up, Kendra and I learned about the 5 essential components of an Islamic society: a public fountain (water source for the poor), a pharmacy, a school, a Mosque, and a bakery. We even visited the latter on our way back down and got to learn about the surprising variety of breads, as well as the "underground economy" for stale bread. It's frowned upon to throw it out, so leftover bread is either given to the poor, or collected by networks of the poor who sell it back to suppliers so that dessert cakes can be made (not unlike how in the States the homeless recycle cans). 

The highlight of this little trek was, of course, the viewpoint overlooking the beautiful city:  

Now back down off the hill, we walked over to the entry gate. A peeved off donkey told off the world as he walked by with his entourage, and we settled into a mint tea cafe. Old men were playing a spirited card game, as is customary among older males in Morocco, and we enjoyed some mint tea in the shade with two of the elder gentlemen, while Nour filled us in on Berber magic. Apparently, if you ever want mint tea in Morocco and are in need of mint, this is what you need to do: take a tissue and drizzle on some olive oil, then rub a fig on it, then hang it in a tree. Flies will be attracted and poop on it (I sh*t you not). Bury the tissue and then presto Mint will grow! Another trick, to get a scorpion (that's right, should you ever randomly need a scorpion we've got you covered), is to bury an eggplant. Dig it back up in a couple days and where there was once eggplant, there will now be scorpion. Berber magic.

The offended party, back left

Volubilis
Refreshed by our mint tea, we drove the 5km out to Volubilis. Now every resource I read, from our guidebook to Wikitravel, mentioned the direct sun of Volubilis, to such an extent you would think the Romans built the thing on the surface of the sun. So I was expecting a barren landscape. You can imagine my surprise when we were greeted on entry with yet another beautiful landscape of wildflowers (purple, red, blue, yellow) in bright green countryside. The museum they're building onsite to house the artifacts that are currently in Rabbat is nearing completion, and there was a great display of tombstones and column heads upon entry.

We then headed out onto the grounds and were blown away by the stark beauty of the ruins. It was like being able to explore the ruins in Greece but without throngs of tourists! Columns, archways, and mosaics all stood in silent testimony to what was once Ancient Rome's thriving North African capital. Built up on the back of the olive oil industry, a donkey-powered olive press is even still standing! The city was first created around 100 AD, and was overtaken by local tribes around 285 AD, becoming a Christian and then an Islamic city over the next 600 years. Eventually it fell to ruin when Islam relocated to nearby Moulay Idriss. This was perhaps the coolest part- no rennovation, no excavation, just the stillness of a ruin giving quiet testimony to an ancient society.

 One moment you could see the Seal of Rome on the giant arch, and the next you're studying the mini-aquifer system between the basin and baths within a bathhouse. We found it curious that, among all of this stunning architecture, a majority of the tourists were standing and gawking at a stork's nest... Kendra was in seventh heaven, and took a picture of everything, her images describing the stunning setting better than I ever could.

Volubilis was easily a highlight of our two week trip, and far from 'a daytrip if you have time during a visit to Fez,' we would consider it mandatory for any trip to Northern Morocco. Or for life. It was too cool. 

Meknes
Having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Volubilis, we would've been happy to have even called it a day, but Nour had even more in store with a quick hit of the highlights of Meknes. We stopped by the beautiful Bab Monsour, and adjacent marketplace which is trying to make itself into something of a Jemaa el-fna a la  Marakesh. The Bab Monsour is the most famous of its kind in Morocco, comissioned by Moulay Ismail as the capstone for his architectural vision, it even has columns appropriated from Volubilis.

 We then had lunch at a lovely, if overly-expensive, Moroccan restaurant in a private terrace overlooking the city. Sharing one of the multi-course meals allowed us to keep the price down, and we greatly enjoyed satiating our appetite with a classic Moroccan meal: bread, olives, Harira soup, lentils, tajine-cooked chicken, and surprisingly refreshing orange slices with cinnamon for dessert.

No longer hungry, we were able to satisfy our cultural appetite at the adjacent Tomb of Moulay Ismail, one of Morocco's holiest sites. It was beautiful in the late afternoon light, and we removed our shoes before exploring the peaceful ante-chamber (Muslim visitors may walk inside the tomb proper). Lavishly decorated, apparently the grandfather clocks even have a fascinating backstory, as they were given to the sultan by the French King Louis XIV after he rejected the sultan's offer of marriage to his daughter. 

Now sleepy after our jam-packed day visiting Moulay Idriss, Volubilis, and Meknes, we took the fast highway back to Fez and were dropped off by our guide-turned-friend Nour, very grateful for an amazing day in the countryside of Northern Morocco. 

Life and Death - Palace and Tombs

This time around, both Derek and I opted for the fried stuffed crepe from the short old woman who creates them for the US equivalent of 50 cents for breakfast. We had some time before our train to Fez, so we headed in the direction of the Saadian Tombs, which you can enter for 20 dh. 

We found the tombs once again flooded with people, and a line quickly formed (it seemed to me, with my impatience, half a mile long if it was a foot), and we got in it to wait for what we assumed was the fancy central chamber that held the remains of Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour, who commissioned the building of the grand cemetery, and his family. But we were able to peek into other less elaborate chambers and take pictures of the tombs in the gardens while we waited.

A stray cat resting on a tomb in the first chamber.

 The graves contain the remains of 166 Saadians from the 16th century and are decorated with blue, green, gold and white zellij (tiles). 

The Hall of Twelve Columns contain the remains of the Sultan (The "Golden One") and his family. It is dark and very lavishly decorated.

Outside of the tombs you can see the iconic Koutoubia Minaret, which indicates the presence of one of the largest mosques in the world, and with its 300 feet of carved stone and green tile is the work of the Almohad dynasty.

We came back to the Djmaa el-Fna center and had Tajine and couscous at Toubkal (with sweet mint tea, naturally...just assume we always have the tea with meals, because we'd be crazy not to). Then, it was a quick 5 minute walk to the Royal Palace.

The sandstone ruins of the 16th century El Badi ("the marvel") palace is a shadow of its former self. Built by Saadian sultans for entertaining, only tiny hints remain of what used to be tiled floors, walkways rooms. 

Now, nesting storks are the reigning inhabitants. Inside one of the chambers was a really cool art exhibit with the war and travel pictures of a British photographer that helped to pass the time as the rain poured outside.

At the market, we picked up water, bread and mystery jam for dinner (turned out to be fig), and haggled over a few more scarves and spices. Then we camped out at our hotel in an outdoor alcove and read while the rain fell until the time came to grab a taxi to the train station. 

This time, settled in our first class cabin, we enjoyed our jam and bread until I had an allergic reaction (guessing it had almond flour or something), so I watched the pretty landscape while waiting to see if Derek would need to stab me with my epi pen...it subsided, thank goodness.