Scammed, Stranded, and Almost Lost Forever in Fes’s Darkest Streets

I believe this room was cursed as I woke up in the middle of the night freezing. I ended up moving into Austin’s bed as he had several more blankets than my napkin of a sheet. We had a small breakfast in the interior courtyard of the riad that consisted of multiple different types of bread and hot tea.

Now with a sore jaw from chewing, we left the riad behind and found ourselves in the wet slippery streets. Facing a large downpour, we braced ourselves for the brisk wind and cold rain while continuing to navigate the maze of tight streets.

Constantly finding ourselves lost due to the forever confusing and familiar turns and corners, we had to ask for help in locating the famous tanneries. This slightly backfired as a gentleman took us on a winding course to a large leather shop before darting away. We were greeted by the shop owner and he initially seemed rather friendly and whisked us up several flights of stairs until we were standing on the rooftop overlooking the various pools of dye below.

We spent several months taking in the sights before the wind and rain forced us to retreat back inside. Once back inside, we were surrounded by walls of leather goods (purses, belts, bags, ottomans) and we began to listen to countless sales pitches. His attitude grew darker and more serious with each passing minute and Austin and I decided we had enough and managed to slip back into the street outside. Unfortunately Matt was not as lucky and he was sucked into the void as he ended up purchasing two wallets and a belt for a staggering price of $130. Yet even after that hefty sum,the shop owner demanded a tip and Matt proceeded to give him another donation. As we began to leave the shop behind us, the owner was not satisfied and even followed us into the street and tried to get us back for another tip.

This encounter rather soured all of us and we decided it was time to escape this twisting turning maze. Unfortunately that was easier said than done and we found ourselves completely and totally lost.

In what felt like an eternity later, we finally came across a large stone staircase that seemed to jut up to the sky. Climbing up these stone slabs felt so satisfying as we were leaving the dark dirty medina behind us with each passing step.

Unfortunately, as is the common theme of this trip, our satisfaction was rather short lived as even though we had left the medina behind us, we had somehow stumbled into a place much worse. It’s truly hard to describe the area we had just arrived to. Now out of the dark maze of the medina, we found ourselves now facing a street with a row of buildings on either side. However this area was not for the faint of heart. Many of the buildings were in a crumbling state, with piles of rubble at every turn. Trash littered the street and the area felt quiet, something that just didn’t make sense. Broken glass and stray dogs were not the welcoming sight we were expecting. It truly felt like a place devastated by war or conflict. The whole area gave off an energy that demanded attention. This was the kind of place you did not want to linger. It was strange because this wasn’t just a feeling reserved for me as we all felt and expressed the exact same. Realizing that if we stayed in this area for just a moment longer, there might be consequences, we quickly set off down the road. We only made it a few steps before a local began to angrily spout that this way was closed and we had to go the other way. Now we have heard of this type of interaction below. Individuals saying a certain way is closed just to send you down another path for possible nefarious intentions. However we were so ready to be rid of this place, we set off in a sprint down the opposite direction.

Our walk was silent but brisk as we were determined to leave this area behind us. It’s such a strange concept. I have traveled much of the globe and have encountered my fair share of dangerous destinations such as being offered cocaine at 6 AM in Hannover, to pitch black streets filled of wandering eyes of London, to homeless filled back alleys of Munich; yet no place has ever given me the feeling of dread as this section of Fes did. Fortunately the street began to widen and we found ourselves now emerging out onto a busy motorway. We saw a large group of taxis in the distance and set off to attempt to get out of this place. Unfortunately our walk to the bustle of taxis took us directly in front of multiple gnarling stray dogs and past a group of grown men hunched over a park bench; all the while feeling their sharp gaze upon us. Once again, our salvation at the taxis was short lived as after I pleaded our case, they shooed us off saying they were not heading in that direction and that we would have to walk. We began to walk along the busy and hectic motorway, lamenting our faith and grumbling at our dissatisfaction at the rude encounter we just experienced.

This walk was not a joyous one as rain began to fall and we were constantly keeping one eye to our left for speeding cars and yet also trying to look ahead to skirt the constant parade of  mangy stray dogs. This walk had no end in sight and we frantically tried to order taxis/ride-shares from our phone, constantly raising our fare to no avail.

Eventually we gave up and set our sights on a large stone arch in the horizon. Miles later, we found ourselves under the shadow of this arch, watching cars just speed right on past. We walked for a few minutes later and took along a stone wall, just accepting our fate. A short while later, a large dark SUV pulled up and the dark window slowly rolled down. A man asked where we were going and I quickly pulled up the map on my phone and pointed near the city center. He told us to hop in and before we knew it, we were speeding through the polluted streets although not in the direction we had intended.

It was now midday and we were starving as our breakfast of bread hours earlier had left a bit to be desired. He began to spout off recommendations for lunch and we eventually found ourselves in front of a small cafe that was starting to open up. As we began to exit the car, we turned around and asked if we had wanted alcohol. Now alcohol is extremely taboo in Morocco and up until this point, I had only had a NA beer. So foolishly I replied sure. This would turn out to be another mistake in a long list of them on this trip. He began to change course and we found ourselves now pulling into a dark back alley with seedy individuals resting up against the wall. He jumped out the car and began to pull on the nondescript door. We began to rapidly speak to each other in hushed tones about the situation. “This is sketchy. We shouldn’t be here. What should we do?” I personally thought about grabbing our bags and making a run for it. Eventually our driver slunk back to the car and told us it was closed and apologized profusely. We had a short drive (while almost missing getting into a car accident by mere inches) before ultimately finding ourselves back at the very first cafe. He dropped us off, demanded payment, and told us that we would be back here in an hour to take us to the airport. He said he would give us the best price and to text him when we were ready. We entered the small bistro and found ourselves completely alone save for a single employee.

We ordered small sandwiches and freshly squeezed orange juice and tried to relax and forget about the stresses of the morning.

It was also during this time in which I pulled up an app and tried to gauge the price to the airport, realizing he was overcharging us by a significant amount. Realizing this, once we had finished our meager lunch, we set back off into the world and into a small grocery store across the street. Stocking up on some crucial supplies (candy) and water as our supply continued to deplete, we set off in a sprint away from the restaurant. The reason for our haste was we didn’t want the driver to show back up and just wanted to avoid the confrontation. Eventually we began to catch our breath a few blocks away. I again pulled up my rideshare app and just kept increasing the fare until a driver eventually agreed to pick us up. Unbeknownst to us, the pick up location reverted and was back in front of the restaurant we had just ran from. Now feeling foolish, we eventually located our new driver and jumped in; ready to head to the airport and leave this city behind us. As we began to all climb into the back seat, the driver demanded that I instead sit up front with him.

Other than the constant blast of eighties romance songs from the radio, the drive was silent. The only time the driver spoke was when he said I looked Moroccan (something I would hear far too often on this trip). I spend the rest of the ride looking out the window to the city flying past. Eventually we found ourselves pulling off to the side of the road, still a ways from the airport. Using Google Translate on his phone, the driver told us he was not allowed to drop us off at the airport and we would have to walk the remainder of the way. Thus we began our journey to the airport on foot, still just trying to make sense of the laws and customs of this alien world.

Surprisingly enough, things went rather smooth at the airport other than a few hiccups. Immediately after going through security, we were stopped in a large hallway for ten to fifteen minutes to allow some construction to commence. Finally passing through, we found ourselves in a small lobby destined to wait three hours for our departing flight. Unfortunately, other than a small restroom, the lobby was completely empty and lacking any amenities.

We used this time to call our significant others back home, watch videos, listen to music, and glance out the large bay windows to the tarmac outside. For a while, the passing presence of the armed Moroccan soldiers outside was my only entertainment. We would eventually find out our plane was delayed and our wait grew another hour.

Eventually it came time to board and we found ourselves leaving Fes as a distant memory. We unfortunately found ourselves separated on the plane and I spent the entire flight fighting over my armrest with the ancient woman next to me. A short time later, we had landed in Marrakesh and sprinting through the airport, we were soon in a taxi heading to our hotel. Now under the cover of darkness, the journey to our hotel was one of mixed emotions. Looking out the window, we sped through areas that left us feeling shaken and ultimately glad to be in the safety of a moving vehicle. With each passing moment, our fear and discomfort continued to grow as our surroundings seemed to descend into hostile territory with each passing street.

Soon we found our taxi pulling in front of a small desolate tire shop and telling us this was as close as he could make it. Unfortunately Apple and Google maps both failed us and we spent the next fifteen to twenty minutes mindlessly popping down dark alleys and forgotten back side streets. By a stroke of blind luck, we eventually were able to locate the small wooden door to our riad and slipped in, glad to finally have some shelter. We checked in and were given tea by our host and proceeded to fill out the necessary paperwork. Our host seemed like the nicest guy in the world and we spent close to an hour engaging him in conversation over soccer, the United States, Morocco, and our travels. Even with the late hour, he gave us some recommendations on nearby restaurants for dinner. Unfortunately our hotel/riad was rather far from almost everything and he had a long commute down the dark streets, narrowly avoiding the passing by motorists.

Midway through our walk, the skies unloaded and proceeded to greet us with a torrential downpour. As we had left our bags and umbrellas back in our room, we huddled under a small arch and attempted to wait it out. Eventually the rain subsided and we continued forward down the now slippery cobblestones. Emerging out onto a large open plaza flanked with shops and restaurants, we found a small table outside and ordered something to fill our appetites.

The food was blistering hot and it was energizing on this otherwise cold and wet evening. We enjoyed our dinner and spent the evening talking about the trip, our first impressions of the city, and most importantly, all the cats that called this place home.

Once dinner was over, we made the long walk back to our hotel, looking forward to putting this day behind us.

To see the previous day’s adventure, click here.

To move onwards with us along our journey, click here.