Morocco Part 2: Chefchaouen
Ready to put the rather underwhelming time in Casablanca and Tangier behind us, our small group piled into the van with our guide Mohammed and headed for the mountain town of Chefchaouen (pronounced: chef-chow-en). This is known as the “Blue Pearl” of Morocco, which will become crystal clear when you see the photos below. It is arguably the most beautiful and most iconic city in Morocco. I mean, just look at the brilliant colors in the place we stayed, Hotel Madrid:
THIS is what we expected Morocco to look like!!
Once we were settled into the hotel, Mohammed took us through the first half of the blue-washed medina. True to its name, the Blue Pearl, nearly every wall and door within the medina are painted in various shades of blue. This technique was started by the Jewish families who lived in Chefchaouen and spread throughout the entire city over the centuries.
We spent hours over the course of two days just wandering through the side streets, taking in every new incredible pop of color that was waiting around every corner. We mostly “window” shopped, but there were a few shop that we couldn’t resist. My personal favorite specialized in soaps and essential oils. The smells were intoxicating!
This medina is also famous for its distinct and unique doors, which either pop against or blend perfectly with the colors of the walls.
As you can imagine, most of our time here was spent absorbing the joyful colors, new smells, and unfamiliar languages within the medina walls. We did take a short hike with the group up the mountain to see the Spanish mosque — this was a gift from Spanish invaders to initiate peace with the Moroccans. Unfortunately, it’s too far from the town to be used at this time, but when the town grows they will start to use it.
The other exception was when Raquel, Jackie, Maddie, and I visited a local hammam. Unfortunately (and fortunately), I don’t have any photos of this experience. So, you’ll have to take it on faith that this was the most humbling experience of my life. Mohammed walked the four of us into the medina to buy soap and exfoliating mitts, then we made our way to a tiny, nondescript building on a side street just a few minutes walk from our hotel. He gave us the basic rundown of the process and sent us in with the hammam attendant. Despite Mohammed’s best attempt at telling us what we needed to do, we were not prepared for what was ahead! (I had also read several blog posts about other travelers’ hammam experiences, and they were all so different from each other and so different from our experience.)
We walked into a long, dimly lit, steam-filled building that was broken up into three sections that progressively got hotter as you walked toward the back. The main entrance had benches and a few shelves to hold backpacks, and the rooms beyond that point were just flowing with water and buzzing with busy chatter. There were local women everywhere — and not another tourist in sight! So, we followed the cues of everyone around us, undressed down to our undergarments, and walked to the farthest room, which was the hottest and contained the large fountain from which all the water in the building came. After standing around and trying to figure out what to do for about 10 minutes, an older lady directed us to sit in a corner and a teenage girl demonstrated (via miming) that we were to lather the soap everywhere and wait. Then two other ladies pulled up tiny stools next to our group, took our exfoliating mitts, and scrubbed all the soap and a few layers of skin off. Admittedly, I was extremely worried that it was going to hurt — I had read and heard some horror stories! Honestly, though, I found it to be a meditative experience. It was the most intense exfoliation I’ve ever had, but it didn’t hurt and it wasn’t uncomfortable in any way. When each girl in our group had been exfoliated, we were directed to sit in one of the cooler rooms and the same two ladies took turns washing and brushing our hair. When they had finished, they sent us back to the entrance to get dressed and we headed back to the hotel now feeling the cleanest we’ve ever been! Mohammed had said it would take about 45 minutes…we were there for 1.5 hours.
The whole experience left me feeling humbled, vulnerable, exhilarated, and grateful. During our time in the medina, in restaurants and cafes, and just walking around the streets, we never got to interact with the women. Then we stepped into the middle of an important, intimate part of their world, and they served us like they served each other. We had no idea what they were saying, but you could tell from their tones and body language and laughter that this was their time to catch up, gossip, and connect. We all felt so honored to witness that firsthand and to see those women in a light that not many others get to see.
We couldn’t believe how quickly those two days flew by. Alas, it was time to say goodbye to this little gem and head to another iconic Moroccan city: Fes. Stay tuned!
Big hugs,
Juliette