The Moroccan voyage was sadly coming to an end.
We had awoken at a most unearthly hour to catch the 7am train from Marrakech to Fes. It was a journey of temperature extremes. To begin with we were frozen solid but come 8.52am I was rudely awoken by the heat throbbing through the windows forcing me to remove hat and jacket.
5 hours and 18 minutes later, the train stopped for the very last time at the Gare de Fes. We had approximately 2 hours to see as much of the city as we could and drain our pockets of any remaining dirhams.
Following on from my final Moroccan cuisine adventure – a lamb Kefta, we winded our way through the souks in attempts to rid ourselves of the coins. For me, this wasn’t too difficult as I had very little left, and, what was left fitted very neatly into a coin pouch I purchased with 8 dirhams.
It was Rob who had a grand need to trade and he spent much of his time investigating the fake clothing stands. However, it was a particular carpet seller that grabbed his eye, and his wallet.
We entered into the world of naturally dyed sheep’s wool and cactus silk with stories of the traditions and significance of the carpet woven into the smart suited Abdul’s sales technique. They were all set to sell one rug to each of us failing to believe my cries suggesting that I only had 33 dirham (roughly £3) left in my pocket. Eventually they gave in and sold Rob a cactus silk carpet.
But this was only the beginning of our time with the carpet sellers. We were treated to some delicious mint tea. Seriously, I’ve gotta try this out more when back in the motherland – Boiling water, mint leaves and 4 spoons of sugar and hey presto, a delightful little afternoon beverage.
It was during the photo session with ‘Couscous’ that he suggested trading stuff from England. My eyes lit up as I watched the box for #29 become swiftly ticked behind my eyes.
But what could I trade? Something from my land? Don’t think he would have fancied my boxers or a toothbrush and I was certainly not going to offer any of the technology I had with me. So I decided to offer my sunglasses. I was leaving Morocco for the UK, a place I knew would not be seeing sunshine for at least many months.
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By the looks of things, ‘Couscous’ quite fancied these items of eyeware. In return he was offering me a variety of different potteries. I opted for both a pottery mug (a gift for my brother who was kindly accommodating me on my return to the UK later that day) and a pair of mini tagine pots (perfect for salt and pepper pots). He was rather reluctant to give me both but when I told him that I had paid £40 for these sunnies he was most quick to ‘make me happy’.
Okay, so my haggling skills may have succeeded but I dare say he got a far far better deal on retail value. However, I may have neglected to point out the repair I had maid to the cracked frame and the scratch on one of the lenses. Their actual worth was pretty low and I doubt he’d manage to resell them. Plus they didn’t exactly fit me very well
So, with these conditions and a quick look at the British weather forecast considered, I think the deal was pretty good.
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
