This is my third visit to Morocco….with my first back in 1978, when I hitchhiked from uk to Fes (& back!). And during that trip Chefchauen stood out as my favourite place by a long way. Dittowise on a brief cycling trip with Andrew…what?….five years ago? How time flies!
And so I was excited to be revisiting the blue city!
We skirted around Tetouan before our first coffee stop! When we had paid…the guy ran out with his camera. Special guests…I thought! But no…he just wanted pictures of the bikes!
……and then started the long climb.
On a new road!! They are currently dual-carriageway-ing the length of the road from Tetouan to Chefchauen. It makes it great for cyclists for there really is not a lot of traffic…so heaps of room!
We climbed up to 650m…
then dropped down about 500m…..searching for a coffee….and….round the corner…. a coffee cart…in the middle of nowhere!
Great coffee too! There a few things which the French colonists left behind in Morocco: good bread and great coffee!
Then the kick in the tail and a final long steep ascent to the town itself.
But always worth it! What a gem! Mint tea upon arrival…and this view from our terrace!
Lovely apartment…thankfully on the ground floor…for we had to push up stepped streets to get there! Great…except for the wet-room bathroom! Who ever thinks they are a good idea! I went first and just about flooded the whole flat before I discovered that the shower outlet had been plugged up! Once I released that most of the water gurgled away in no time. It was only when we returned from our evening out…and the whole place stank like a sewer….did we realise what the plug was for!! Traps are great invention, eh!
Chefchauen has become so much more touristy in recent years…but not surprising at all really…so…I will let the pictures tell the story of why!
And so to beers: there used to be a choice of three places…but now down to two. We chose the classic Oum Rabie! Not a bad place at all!!
Except for the brief company of an Australian and older Welshman who were so excited by the marijuana here…they just could not stop talking about it! And left regularly for a joint…because…
Been there done that in ‘78…and moved on….I was minded to say, but didn’t!
Folk were just gathering up at the hilltop mosque at dusk…as the invitations to prayer from multiple mosques echoed around the mountains.
But for us…it was time for bed!
looks an amazing place
you guys are athletes now so need to keep to the straight and narrow
GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!
Love the blue!