NanBug

Hello ~

I'm familiar with Chefchaouen, but I'm curious to know if there are other towns in Morocco that have blue paint on their building exteriors (on a large scale, like Chefchaouen).

Does anyone know of any? I'd love to see them.

Thanks so much!

qwovadis

Essaouria...
Another coastal town where the motif is certainly blue pretty. www.flickr.com/photos/tir_na_nog/847669370

NanBug

Thanks, Q ~

I'll take a peek a more pics of Essaouria.

Appreciate it!

tower

nan...Essaouira (proper spelling)is ignored by many Maroc travelers. We found it to be a great place for a few days stay (at Villa Maroc). If you look over my Maroc pix, Essauoira has a prominent place. The Orson Welles memorial is one of them. The cannon emplacements on the sea wall another. Simply click on magnifying glass icon to enlarge and move around with mouse. The people of the town evidently appreciated Orson's filming of Othello there. I can scan several additional Essaouira shots if you wish (the collection you've seen has just a selected few).
I do hope you take in this pleasant coastal town which also gained a modicum of fame when folk star Cat Stevens decided to live there (also known as Yusaf Islam).
http://www.villa-maroc.com/index-en.html

Stu Tower rozstu1 at aol dot com

NanBug

Thanks again, Stu!

Essaouira does look beautiful -- I've seen pictures and heard the stories of Cat Stevens and Jimi Hendrix, plus lots of other traveler comments about the place. Sounds lovely.

I'm still on a quest to find other blue towns in Morocco. I know Rabat has a few blue streets, but other than that, Chefchaouen seems to be the only one folks know about (besides some blue trim details for Essaouira, like Q mentioned above).

It's tough trying to figure out what to squeeze into our trip without feeling rushed. But I have some time to figure it all out, we won't be traveling there for another year!

tower

Just a few words on our itinerary in 1997

Came n on ferry from Algeciras (near Gibraltar). Hassled at dock for a ride to Fes(z), worked out well. We had arady missed the bus. First stop.
Fes: Stayed at Palais Jamai..excellent, with commanding views of the adjacent medina, Hired a medina guuide from the frnt of the hotel and he was terific...
the second day, we ventured to do the medina and the rest of the city on our own. Tough but doable.
Picked up a car at the hotel after a four day stay, anddrove south through magnificent scenery to Erfoud and on to Erg Chebbi. Drove all about the region, atending markets, sights, hiked in the dunes following sunrise. After about three days we left for Ouarzazate, visiting the beautiful Todra and Dades gorges. Spend the next three days touring around Ouarzazate and fascinating Ait Benadhou and remote Fintt. (see pix). Drove to the Algerian border in Zagora, stayed in the town. Drove back to Marrakech,and stsyed near town at the Borj Hotel. Did all of the sites therein and went on to Essaouira. Caught Csablanca and Rabat befor flying to Madrid and home. In a nutshell! Total time about three weeks, not including prior time in Spain and Gibratltar.
stu

thursdaysd

For more pix of Essaouira go here:
http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/L...2008/Essaouria

I stayed at the recommendable Lalla Mira: http://www.lallamira.ma/en/index.html

TR,including where NOT to stay in Marrakesh here: http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...can-medley.cfm

NanBug

Thank you again, Stu and Thursday.

Thursday, I've had your trip report bookmarked for a couple of years -- it's been very helpful!

thursdaysd

NanBug - thanks, that's nice to know!

BTW, I remembered that there was a fair amount of blue paint in Rabat's kasbah. I thought Rabat a better intro to Morocco than Casablanca.

NanBug

Thanks again, Thursday!

Yes -- I've seen pictures of the blue kasbah paint in Rabat... and also some in Sale, across the river. Rabat/Sale are definitely on the itinerary. Looks lovely!

NanBug

Thanks, Emily!

Bamian

Beware of this guy! Abdul El Kholtei of Chez Abdul Carpets appeared to be a friendly carpet merchant with an amusingly effective sales technique. I happily bought two small carpets from him because I liked this clever family-oriented man. He invited my friend and I to his home for lunch where we met his family. When we told him we were off to Fes in a couple of days, he told us he had business there so we arranged to go all together.

Abdul took the time to learn about our interests. He introduced us to his friends in Fes who could help us. They all used the guise of friendship and hospitality to operate a very clever scam in which we naively bought more carpets, paying way too much. They made arrangements for us so that we were busy and under their watch the entire time we were in Fes. It was only once we were leaving Morocco that we realised we had been scammed. (The carpet merchant involved is Dar Zarbia, Fes.) BIG TIME!

Have a wonderful time in this beautiful town, just keep your eyes open and wits about you.

Paula

NanBug

Whoa, Paula, that's crazy. Thanks for the head's up. I won't let Abdul take us on a magic carpet ride.