![\"Streets](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/Q1f614E.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Streets of Meknes Medina<\/br>I particularly liked the color and composition of this shot, it’s got those old movie feeling.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n There weren’t many buses between Meknes and Chefchaouen, usually tourists link Chefchaouen with the more famous royal city of Fes in their itinerary where buses were more frequent. There was a CTM daily service between Rabat and Chefchaouen, one of few bus serives in Morocco with a timetable published online, but it didn’t fit into our plan really well.<\/span> <\/br>Rainy Streets of Meknes<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Meknes Bus Station Exterior<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Luckily, our riad wasn’t far from Gare Routi\u00e8re (bus station) that’s West of Medina. But after nearly lost our way in Meknes Medina (OpenStreetMap wasn’t nearly as detailed in Meknes Medina as in other medina’s) and walking in bitter morning rain for 15 minutes, we were hit with a disasterous news from the ticket counter that the 5-am bus to Chefchaouen didn’t exist. They told us there was a 7-am (indirect) bus, which was very much our only option.<\/p>\n So we joined the local nannies at the bus station and killed those two hours with episodes of Legal High.<\/p>\n As for the bus, well, it was by no means modern but at least it’s clean and tidy and it’s got cushion seats. <\/br> <\/br>North Morocco Countryside<\/br>I particularly liked the feeling of light penetrating through morning mist in this shot.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n When buying this ticket I particularly asked whether this was a direct bus and I got the answer yes. But the fact was that, my friend and I (together with two Moroccan people) were dropped of in the city of Ouezzane where we waited on the side of the road for 25 minutes to change onto another bus. I guessed either whoever I brought ticket from didn’t speak proper English, or that “direct” actually accounted for a bus conductor that was with us in Ouezzane waiting (well, he got the money).<\/p>\n So we left Meknes at 7am and arrived at Chefchaouen at 1140, which was 203 kilometers away. From there it was another 2km (and 80 meters up in elevation) to our hotel in Chefchaouen Medina, which took us 20 dirhams.<\/p>\n After that, we settled our bags in our hotel room. We just wanted to experience this blue city and didn’t have any planned route in mind, so after that we began our “random walk” in the town of Chefchaouen.<\/p>\n There are several theories as to why the walls were painted blue. One popular theory is that the blue keeps mosquitos away, another is that Jews introduced the blue when they took refuge from Hitler in the 1930s. The blue is said to symbolize the sky and heaven, and serve as a reminder to lead a spiritual life. (Reference: “Chefchaouen: Walking the blue streets of Morocco”<\/a>. Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2016-04-10.)<\/span> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Shops on Chefchaouen Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Chefchaouen Mosque Exterior<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Soon we wandered into the main town plaza, with Chefchaouen Kasbah (that my friend wasn’t interested in), and Chefchaouen Mosque (that wasn’t open to non-Muslims). It was past 1pm, and it seemed that the only restaurants in Chefchaouen Medina was in that plaza, so we had our lunch first.<\/p>\n It seemed that the local Moroccan people did take their time in preparing meals, we waited for 20 minutes for our dishes to be served. Meanwhile, our only entertainment was watching cats running around us.<\/p>\n <\/br>Pink Cat<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pizza, My Lunch<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Cat under Lunch Table<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n After lunch, our random walk continued. The lower (southern) and more populated part of Chefchaouen Medina were mostly shops selling clothes and tourist souvenirs. <\/p>\n <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Paints by House<\/br>Ok, I know they got to keep the city blue and attract tourists.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Cat Guarding House<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Brick Building<\/br>Finally, something that’s neither blue nor white.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Wall Decoration of Chefchaouen Streets<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Street Mural with Chefchaouen Theme<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Door<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Creek outside Chefchaouen Village<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Mosaic Decoration of Hotel<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n It was 1448 when I took this photo, and the “clock” on the wall read 1455. It would be really amazing if that “clock” on the wall was an actual clock that went with the time (Well, I didn’t have the patience to wait there and see.).<\/p>\n <\/br>Hill by Chefchaouen Town<\/p><\/div>\n After that, we went back to our hotel and took some rest to recover from today’s early rise. We went out again at 4pm to take another random walk in the town of Chefchaouen, before heading to Spanish Mosque on a nearby hill, which was a great viewing point of the blue town of Chefchaouen and sunset.<\/p>\n <\/br>Walls of Chefchaouen Kasbah<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Minaret of Chefchaouen Mosque behind Market Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Tree and Circular Ground in Chefchaouen Medina Center<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gate of Chefchaouen Mosque<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Archway<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Nearby Houses<\/br>With main road in and out of Chefchaouen in the center.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Just around El Haouta Plaza my friend and I bumped into the greatest desert shop we ever seen in Morocco. Well, I had zero resistance to the temptation of cream and sweets, and I was in such a fairytale town all painted in peaceful blue, why not sweeten this day dream a little bit more? <\/br>El Haouta Plaza<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Fountain in El Haouta Plaza<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Decorated House Entrance<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Decorated Gate<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hotel Sign<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Staris Decorated with Plants<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n This time, we reached even further uphill into the North border of the town, where tourists shops along the street were replaced with local households. There were local boys and girls in the hands of their grandparents coming home from a walk, there were teenage boys turning Chefchaouen streets into soccer fields, typical relaxing town life.<\/p>\n <\/br>Gateway in Blue<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bricks in Blue<\/br>Well, this is the “blue town”, so one shouldn’t be surprised.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Chefchaouen??<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Decorated Gateway<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Cats at Threshold<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Building Painted in White and Blue<\/br>Someone even bothered to decorate his balcony with plants.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Although we knew the Northern part of Chefchaouen town would be more residential, we didn’t expect to smell of cows and sheep and saw people raising them on the ground floors of their buildings.<\/p>\n <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen and nearby Villages<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gateway Painted in Blue<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Overlooking Riverside Restaurant<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hill by Chefchaouen Town<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n After that it was 1720, about half an hour till sunset time, and we decided to climb up nearby hill to reach Spanish Mosque, a great viewing point for the town of Chefchaouen and sunset. <\/br>Trail up Spanish Mosque<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rock Formation of Nearby Hill<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Flowers Blossoming on Nearby Hill<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hill by Chefchaouen Town<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Flowers Blossoming on Nearby Hill<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hill by Chefchaouen Town<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n As for the Spanish Mosque, the town of Chefchaouen had long been under Spanish reign until last century when Spain returned the town to Morocco after its independence, that’s presumably when this church was turned into a mosque.<\/p>\n <\/br>Spanish Mosque<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Nearby Houses<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Kasbah of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div> <\/br> <\/br>Nearby Houses<\/p><\/div> <\/br> <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen at Night<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n We stayed up the hilll till 1830, when the freezing rain became too cold for us to bear. The trail downhill wasn’t very well illuminated after dark, and it was a rainy night that made everything slippery. <\/p>\n <\/br>Town of Chefchaouen at Night<\/p><\/div> <\/br> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen at Night<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen at Night<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Minaret of Sebannin Mosque<\/p><\/div> END<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eighth day in Morocco as we woke up to a rainy morning in Meknes. The plan of the day was to reach the town of Chefchaouen in Northern Morocco. Nicknamed “blue city”, its building painted in matching blue… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2900,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383\/revisions\/2900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSo after some research online(wikitravel.org\/en\/Meknes<\/a>), we decided to take the 5-am bus to Chefchaouen, and that we sort of had to get up this morning miserably early.
\nWell, it was a cold rainy morning, and water<\/del> seemed to be pouring down from every household inside the Medina (I was hit by some, so I was sure they weren’t simply rain water), and it was by no means pleasant. <\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nAnd unlike Moroccan trains, it departed on time.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>North Morocco Countryside<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\nAlso, the town was famous for its (presumably illegal) recreational weed, which I despised.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\nIt was my friend who first spotted this unusually pink cat. Guess that was some rare genetic mutation.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\nAs we wandered up the hill and into the Northern part of Chefchaouen, it was more and more residential, less commercial.
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/a><\/br>Streets of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nSo the cakes and sweets I bought ended up becoming my dinner that day.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nOnly that the clouds were thick that afternoon (and it began to drizzle later on), so, no luck for sunset.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Town of Chefchaouen<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Cats on Chefchaouen Street<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nAfter that, we arrived at our hotel and called it a day.<\/p>\n