Day 149: Chefchaouen

Andrew led us back to the train station to see if we could get any information about the bus station. We couldn’t. He called the bus company and handed the phone over to me to see if I could decipher the French on the other end. I could, at first, but when she began responding to my question, homegirl spoke in rapid fire French that it was difficult to hear over the noisy traffic on the street outside of the station. We decided to take the train to Tétouan and then the bus to Chefchaouen. This might not have been the best idea, but we were able to leave Fes earlier… with hopes we could arrive in the small, pretty, blue town in the mountains earlier! By the time we got there it was nearing dusk… but it still made for a lovely, yet not tout-free walk around the medina until it was dark, and I was cold.

I was a bit excited to visit Chefchaouen. I thought it would be relaxing and atmospheric and a brief respite from the tourist heavy areas we were about to hit in Fes and Marrakech. But, not so much. Chefchaouen was atmospheric and perfect for pictures… But (and I realize, you might find this hard to believe) but I don’t need, nor do I want to go into every shop that I walk past. I brushed one man off rather early, cutting him off with a smile and a polite, “No Thanks!”

Some shopkeepers are persistent. Some will follow you and/or walk and talk with you as you walk farther and farther away. Some smile back and let you go. This one asked where I was from. Which- is also not new to me. We have become rather used to this tactic as well. We holler where we are from as we walk away, even as kindly as possible, shouting out “Nice to meet you too! Good luck tonight!” not wanting to stop. The minute you stop… you’re done for.

“American?” The same shopkeeper asked. I nodded.

“Why are you walking so fast? You are here to learn from me, and I am here to learn from you…” He was right. And in a way, he was calling me out.

“We’re just walking around tonight, not shopping.” I replied. He smiled. He did seem genuinely nice. He asked where we were from in America. He said he was friends with those who worked in the American embassy. He pulled two business cards out of his wallet for me to see. We talked for a few minutes outside of his shop before I made a move to catch up with Andrew.

“Come, have some whiskey with me and my wife!” He said, inviting me in for some mint tea. And I got a little frustrated inside. I AM here (in Morocco at the moment) to learn from the people and the culture here. But not when it involves a false invitation- drinking tea in his shop while he lays out everything he is trying to sell. I wanted to grumble at him a bit about it. If he’s going to call me out on not stopping to learn from him I wanted to call him out on not being able to leave his sales pitch out of teaching me.

Instead, I smiled, thanked him, and insisted I needed to find my ‘husband.’

Day 99: Meherangarh Fort and Jaswant Thanda

Meherangarh (pronounced Meh-ren-gey. usually.) Fort is pretty unavoidable if you reach Jodhpur. It towers over the city and makes for a beautiful view in both the day and at night with it all lit up. We read that the 2+ hour audio tour was worth it, so we climbed up to the entrance from the city below and spent an entire afternoon at the fort. There were cannon marks on the walls still visible from battles with the army of Jaipur. There was a magnificent view of the blue houses of the Brahmin Caste. A huge museum. And then there was a short walk over to Jaswant Thanda; a memorial to the ruler Jaswant Singh II, who protected Jodhpur and introduced programs to keep its inhabitants employed.

Walking up to the fort was one thing, as it towers 400 feet above the rest of the city. Walking through the gates into the fort was another. Seven had been constructed to celebrate victories over other armies attacking the fort. It proved to be rather indestructable. Pretty incredible for a fort that was built starting in 1459! Although this construction was began by Rao Jodha (founder of Jodhpur) most of the fort’s completion was supervised within the period of Jaswant Singh from 1638 to 1678.

The audio tour was incredibly interesting. I’m not usually one to do a tour like that, but not only did it feature the history of the fort, but also details about life inside, and of the court (royalty) themselves. Gaj Singh was the last living Maharajah of Jodhpur – until 1952 until these powers were abolished by India in 1971. He spoke on the audio tour of what he remembered of being enthroned at only four years old, and his childhood inside the court. If you go to Meherangarh, pay the (slightly outrageous) fee for the tour! It’s worth it!

A lot of the rooms were preserved and if you couldn’t walk through them, you could stand at a window or a door to peek in and see what life was like. Some were more grand than others. I liked this chamber, Gaj Singh’s father (Maharaja Takhat Singh) was the last ruler to reside in the fort. This room, Takhat Vilas, was noted to be a blend of the traditional India with the modern British style. I quite liked the Christmas-like ornaments that hung from the ceiling!

Ok, so maybe I was a little obsessed with the blue houses. Can you blame me? They are beautiful, no?

If you’re curious why there are so many dotting the city, the blue is a result of the Brahmin caste in the Hindu Religion differentiating themselves and cooling their houses under the hot desert sun. I’ve become really intrigued by the caste system here in India. While I think there is something of an underlying system in America, the clear-cut system and the rules and observances behind the caste system in India is interesting to someone like myself who was raised to hear that I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up… I digress. I also learned that certain colors are associated with certain castes. Brahmin’s is blue. They are intellectuals. The word Brahma directly refers to a creative aspect of the universal consciousness.

After the lengthly audio tour and afternoon inside the fort, we walked over the little ridge to check out Jaswant Thanda. It was a nice memorial to walk around, but there wasn’t as much information at the site. Not that there necessarily needs to be more information on a burial grounds… but I suppose my curiosity always gets the best of me and it would have been nice to know which members of the family were represented by the cenotaphs that had been constructed. We ran into our new German friend from the bus into the city, Bastian, and walked around the grounds while chatting of our mornings and admiring more of the view of Jodhpur.

After, Andrew and I were going to go across town to the palace/hotel but gave up when the rickshaw driver demanded an exorbitant fee and by the time we got him down to our ideal fee, we lost interest in the trip altogether. We walked back down to the city below, past children demanding “One photo!” and goats in sweaters before having a rooftop dinner and view of Meherangarh Fort and Jaswant Thanda at night.