I'll post the two sections that are the meatiest - Fez and general thoughts. They're a bit stream of consciousness with loose organization, so if that throws you off then I apologize in advance.
Fez
• Old town with a large market • Lots of history and interesting stories • Had one dinner in the medina in a hotel that overlooks much of the market - view was very good and we ate outside - weather was good • Went by one of the King's properties to see the decorative entry way early in the morning - within minutes there were street vendors coming out to sell things - camera batteries, postcards, etc ○ Vendors try to get you to hold the object they want to sell, and if you try to hand it back to them they hesitate to take it back (preferring obviously that you buy it) • Market ○ Market is said to have 12000 alleys or paths through it ○ Very few markings or signs to indicate where you are - would likely be easy to get lost if you didn't have a guide or took to many turns ○ Similar to market in Marrakech - see the same goods repeatedly throughout the market ○ Carpet shop we visited is unassuming, but had many carpets on the inside ○ Visited a tannery - got to the top of the building to look down on all the dye pits, etc ○ Only one dye pit that was colorful - a red one - the rest were whitish or earth tones ○ Smell was bad but not too bad - everyone was given a handful of mint to hold near their nose ○ Our tour was split into two groups (about 18 people each) and our guides hired extra locals to watch over us and keep us all together § We didn't know they were with us at first so I wondered if there was someone following us waiting for an opportunity to steal something ○ One person on our tour did take a picture of an older lady who was not happy to have her picture taken ○ Many people (those dressed up or selling something outside of a shop) would ask for money if their picture was taken ○ Shops with dried fruits or other edibles generally gave free samples ○ Many cats, a few dogs around ○ Market does not allow any motor vehicles - everything transported by human / donkey / cart ○ Many people carrying water around in large jugs by hand ○ Stalls for each shop tended to be akin to deep simple closets - a few electrical outlets and nothing else (no bathrooms or windows or water outlets) • Carpet buying experience ○ Assume our guide informed the sales people that we were interested as we were taken to a side room immediately after receiving our tea (just as the talk was starting) ○ Were extremely pushy, trying to get us to buy two carpets rather than one ○ One of the guides was giving a bit of guidance on what the more realistic cost of the carpet was, but eventually joined in trying to get us to buy two, so assume he gets some cut ○ Repeatedly said how they're a coop where the person creating the carpet gets 80% of the sale ○ Carpet we bought (we were told) took three months to make § Minimum wage, according to our guide, is about 2550DH a month (~$320 or so) § Unsure what the materials to make the rug would have cost (though we were repeatedly told the silk cost more than the carpet, which is clearly a lie) but certainly there's some material cost § But if the creator of the carpet gets 80% of what we buy it for, that's $5600 or 44800DH - equivalent to two year's salary at minimum wage, for only three months of work § Can't thing that carpet makers truly get that. Much in three months of effort, otherwise more people would make carpets § Also can't imagine that if the material costs for the carpet are high and the crafters have to wait for a carpet to sell to get any money that they can make it very long § So something is off (which we know), so again, buyer's remorse on the price paid ○ Told us that they don't know about what the carpet we bought in Turkey was made of, but that they used real cocoon silk (our bill of sale for the Turkish carpet just lists silk, not cocoon or artificial, but they didn't show us harvesting silk from cocoons - not that this indicates anything about the carpet we actually bought) ○ Repeatedly told me that my wife was beautiful and deserved such a nice carpet ○ Told me if the second carpet they wanted us to buy didn't sell in Chicago for at least $15000 that we could have it for free ○ Original list on the carpet we bought was 29800 (currency was unclear, but certainly wasn't DH and more likely Euro or USD) ○ Asked for $15000, then $11000, informed them I wasn't interested in spending more than $2000-$2500 ○ Said $5000 was too low (for them) but $11000 was too high (for us) ○ Told me they had another lady on our tour who was ready to buy the same rug for $15000 if we didn't want it § This was humorous, as it was clear we wouldn't pay that much for it and so if someone else was willing, they should have just sold it to her ○ Said $7500 was the lowest they would go ○ We offered $7000 as our final, they accepted ○ We were asked not to tell the others in our group what we paid - unsure if this is because we actually got a good deal (seems unlikely) or this is just another ruse (more likely) ○ As we walked up to their room above to complete the transaction, they brought the second carpet with trying to get us to buy both for $11000 § Apparently $5500 per carpet would have been acceptable - always buyers remorse in terms of price ○ Always trying to make the human connection - said they had been to Chicago or studied in the US for a few years ○ We talked to one other couple that purchased a carpet and they went through the same spiel (your wife is too beautiful for that carpet, you should look at this one instead)
Miscellaneous thoughts
• Comfort stops have separate areas for drivers and tour guides - they get free bathrooms / drinks ○ The tourists pay for toilets, mixture of traditional and modern - typically 1-2DH • Souvenir shops everywhere - mostly filled with the same cheap trinkets ○ Even in the Atlas mountains there are stops everywhere that advertise having tea or juice, bathrooms and offer souvenirs ○ Even at stopping points in the mountains where we took pictures, where there were no buildings, there were still people waiting along the road or in caves (not deep, not living in them) waiting for tour buses to come by - would bring out small items created from palm leaves for 10-20DH • Construction everywhere - larger buildings near some of the more major cities, houses in smaller ones ○ According to our guide, expats will return to Morocco during their vacation and build houses over the course of multiple years - no taxes on these structures until they're complete • Many backhoe loaders ○ Saw one case where construction crew digging a foundation with a BHL - drive down into the hole to grab a bucketful, and then drive back out to dump it • Majority of the Cat equipment we saw was old, assume current owners aren't the original • Major highways or cross country roads we took were in good condition • ATMs spit out 100-200DH notes, but people generally won't take those and instead want coins or smaller denominations • Random villages we encountered in the country would have many abandoned buildings - residents would tend to just build a new house when needed rather than leveling and building anew in the original spot • Clothing ○ Despite the heat, we saw many people in long sleeve shirts, even sweaters and sometimes coats ○ Also saw people wearing western suits ○ Seems very odd to us to wear these clothes in the heat ○ We had been concerned about what my wife would wear to avoid causing any issue - but our guide let us know that as foreigners we're free to wear anything (and he would tell us in case we were going anywhere that required a specific dress code) • Traffic ○ A lot of mopeds / motorcycles - many times people either aren't going too fast or their vehicles may not be capable ○ When turning left at intersections, people don't wait in single file lines, the pull up next to each other in a straight line through the intersection ○ People walk out into the street even though vehicles are coming (have videos of this) and many times don't even turn their heads to observe the oncoming traffic ○ For the most part, appear to observe lanes, but do hover between them especially when trying to get someone to pull over and let them pass ○ Have seen numerous times where people pull into oncoming traffic to pass cars ○ Haven't seen anyone driving on sidewalks as I saw in Russia ○ Our tour bus passed multiple vehicles (including trucks) while going uphill and downhill through the Atlas mountains ○ Not many traffic lights, instead use many roundabouts ○ Assume this (and a lack of cross walks / lights) leads to people pulling out in front of cars or crossing streets expecting drivers to slow down to avoid them ○ With our big vehicle, sometimes our driver would just pull out into oncoming traffic to turn around or pull onto side roads - never did anyone honk (and people here do use their horns) but we did get a few hand gestures and angry stares ○ We saw many children race after trucks or larger vehicles to grab onto the back and hitch rides • Out in the countryside ○ Still see some nomadic people - our guide told us that where you see tents or shelters with sheets of plastic for roofs that these are temporary and people continually move around ○ Saw many herds of sheep (fewer herds of cows) in the countryside ○ Can't imagine trying to keep a group of sheep or goats together as some of the herders were - they were very spread out ○ We did end up stopping a number of times for cows and sheep to cross the road ○ Certain areas (nearer cities or towns?) had a substantial amount of trash blowing around § Many times we'd be driving around and see miscellaneous blue plastic bags stuck in trees flapping in the wind ○ Between Casablanca and Fez we saw many pedestrian walkways over the highway - very often no roads or paths that appeared to directly connect to them - just free standing seemingly in the middle of no where ○ Probably hundreds of people we drove past in our circle of the country that lived on the countryside and would wait along the road for a public bus to be taken to a town (maybe hitchhiking is common? Don't know) • Air is dry - after a week my nose starting bleeding out of no where while walking down the street