2 January 1993
Changed 200 francs T/C at a four-star hotel. It’s 320DH. Finished the payment to the hotel, bought water, two hard-boiled eggs, and two yogurts, then I took a bus to Fez leaving at 11. The next destination is Fez. I didn’t ask what time to arrive at Fez. I didn’t care about it. Inshallah. Eventually, I would arrive at Fez.
To Fez, the bus across the Atlas Mountains. Going across the Atlas is very attractive because changing the scenery quickly. But I met terrible weather. The bus leaving the Erfoud was going up the hill a little. The terrain of this area is very interesting. A fog came out, then It snowed. passing the town named Midelt, I found local passengers talking about something. The guy next to me said the road to Fez was blocked and we had to take another way. It became more and more snow. It was heavy snow, piled up about 10 centimeters. It was snowing. The bus was driving slowly. What time we would arrive? The guy said it would be at 9:00. It would take more than 10 hours. The show didn’t stop at all. The outside was dark, I couldn’t see anything. The bus slipped in a curve. Wow… Eventually, the snow changed to rain, then the rain stopped, and we arrived at Fez. It was 10 PM. The bus stopped at the terminal near the Medina at Old City. I wanted to stay good hotel in Fez, so I decided to go to New City. It was the beginning of failure. I was tired. So I took a taxi. I said “Hotel Splendid”, which hotel was listed on “Arukikata”. A driver said it was 30DH. It was expensive, but I said OK. Hotel Splendid was full. I was a little upset. Leaving the hotel, a guide came to me and said he could show me a hotel. He said he was an official guide, but I didn’t care about such a thing. He took me to a cheap hotel named ”Joan of Arc”. The guide said only one room was available and it was 100DH for four people. It was unpleasant, but I said OK at that time because I was too tired to see other hotels. I decided to be taken to the restaurant. The guide said “It’s OK. It’s cheap”, but took me to good restaurants. They all had no food because it was too late. I decided to leave the guide. I said I had no money, then the guide said he could exchange it. I exchanged US$15 with 110DH. He said he had only 110DH and showed me an empty wallet. I had a doubt about it, but I did. When I went to the bed, I became very angry. Fez is notorious for persistent guides.3 January
Leaving the hotel at 8 AM, I looked for a good hotel. I could find a three-star hotel named “MOUNIA”. It was 202DH. You can stay good hotel if you pay around 200DH. The room had a heater, bathtub, and flush toilet with toilet paper. I could use hot water. I took a shower and refreshed, washed my shirts, then relaxed until 11 o’clock. Well, let’s go walk the Medina which is said the world’s most complicated. I tore a map page of “Arukikata” and put it in my pocket, leaving the hotel. Just after leaving the hotel, guides came to me. Fez and Tanju are notorious for being persistent guides. I said “Non!”, then I kept walking. I became a little tough after going through the desert in the past week. I also learned how to negotiate with the Taiwanese and Greece. I was Japanese and angry. Fez was a city for the first time in Morocco. It’s like Paris. A very beautiful girl was walking in jeans and a sweater. I also saw a few couples walking hand in hand. I found a post office on the way to Medina. I stopped walking, I wonder if I wanted to send a postcard but today was a holiday, then some guy came to me and said “This way, this way”. “What?”. It was a telephone. I said “Not telephone, but stamps”. “OK, here’s stamps”, he said and took me to a shop nearby. He said, “I was working for the post office!”. Lier. I said, “give me stamps for two postcards”. He said 8DH. Oh! I knew 2.7DH was enough. I said “It’s wrong!”, then “Sorry 6DH”. I said, “No, give me four 1.35DH stamps, there, yeah, yeah”. The guy in the shop couldn’t help at all. Leaving the shop, the same guide came to me. he was very insistent. I ignored him then he disappeared. I was Japanese and angry. Closing to the Media, another guide came to me, very insistent. “Guide, Guide, You can see everything of Medina with me” “Ah, So” “$20, OK?” “No” “Where do you want to go? $10 is OK” “…” He began to guide me. “This is a OOO, That is a XXX”. “Ah, so” “Hey, $10! OK?” “No” This guy was very insistent and unpleasant. I walked around slowly for about 20 minutes. While I was walking, he clung to me and guide me. I repeated “Hmm”, “Yeah”, and “No!”. Eventually, he disappeared. I was Japanese and angry. I met another persistent guy. He said “I’m a student.”, “Come to my shop”, and “10DH is OK”, and guide me without permission. I met him near the tannery, he took me to the leather shop and said: “Look, look”. I went out from the back door of the shop, it was a place to tan the skin. I woke without permission. He said, “Come here, ah, no, not that way…”. I ignored him. I was walking around and took a picture. When I went out of the shop, Another guy said to me, “give me 10DH for the visit fee”. There is no such thing! I said “I can’t understand what you say”, and ran away.
There were more guys who were forced to be guided. They took me to a textile factory. In the factory, there were several machines for weaving the textiles of Djellaba. The craftsman had been weaving. One guide said that I should take a picture. I wanted to take a picture, so ignored the guide and ask the craftsman, “Photo?”. He wanted money. I ask another guide. He said “OK”. Then one of the guides took the place of the craftsman and began to weave. Oh… Next, he must charge a fee for the photo. I put my camera into the pocket and saw another place. There was a machine that was not used. The guide said that he would take a picture of me while weaving at the machine. He showed me pictures of Japanese who were weaving. Guides here made a fool of the Japanese. They forced tourists to be guided. OK. Let them guide, but no pay. They said, “Without me, you would be lost”. Yes, I know. They didn’t understand if they prey on tourists, then eventually they made a loss. Why? What made them like this? Or, they were doing well? Even they’re so notorious. Because why Japanese tourists visiting Fez should not pay unnecessary money? If you don’t want to be lost, you should hire an official guide. But… If Fez would be the first town in Morocco, if I would not learn from Europeans, I would pay the money. Because 10DH equals only 140yen, 50DH equals only 700yen. It was very cheap. From their standpoint of view, they would not be able to accept visiting their place without guides. In the evening, I stayed at a cafe. Some young guy came to me and said they could guide the Medina. He showed me descriptions that Japanese tourists wrote about the guy in Japanese. It said, “He is a good guy. Different from other guides, he doesn’t want money.”, “This person is really good. I gave him 10DH as gratitude. It’s just my gratitude, it’s not mandatory.”, and “I gave him a pen”. Yes. It’s gratitude. Japanese pay around 10DH as gratitude, like tips. But, I couldn’t believe they guide tourists as a volunteer. 10DH is pretty good money. You can eat two sandwiches, and eat five times if Harira and Bread are enough. This problem is very difficult. Europeans I met in Morocco were living in Paris, London, or Madrid, and they should have a life such costly. But they didn’t pay unnecessary money in Morocco. I know some European tourists spread money here. The price is cheap in Morocco. It’s OK to pay more money for helping Moroccan life. You pay money as gratitude, as tips. I’m Japanese and thinking about it.
