Week 458 · The Blue City · Kasaba · Rif Mountains · Morocco
After finally making it to Fes, we had an all-day tour to Chefchaouen. Started early and it was 4 hours there and 4 hours back, with about 3–4 hours in the town. A friend of my daughter's — a pretty serious person, not an Instafamous type — had recommended going and glad that we did.
Really glad we had someone else drive — it is about 120 miles but was a slow ride. It is actually closer to Tangiers and to Spain than it is to Fes. In Fes and Marrakesh, people are fluent in French and Arabic (and sometimes Berber) but in Chefchaouen people speak Spanish as the third language.
Chefchaouen (also spelled Chaouen) was founded in 1471 as a small fortress in the Rif Mountains by Moorish exiles from Spain. The city's distinctive blue-and-white colour scheme has two origin stories: Jewish refugees who settled here in the 1930s fleeing Nazi persecution painted walls blue to symbolise the sky and heaven; others attribute it to earlier Jewish settlers in the 15th century. The blue was formally mandated and standardised in the 1970s. Chefchaouen sits at approximately 600 metres elevation in the Rif Mountains, making it notably cooler than Marrakesh or Fes. The Rif Mountains are also Morocco's primary cannabis-producing region — hashish (kif) has been cultivated here for centuries and remains a significant local economy despite being illegal. The city receives over 1 million tourists annually and has become one of the most photographed places in Morocco.
Chefchaouen is known as the "Blue City" because it is painted blue — and although the history goes back to the 14th century when the Moors occupied Northern Africa, Portugal, and Spain, the "Blue" wasn't mandated until the 1970s. The blue originated with Jewish settlers who wanted a feeling of heaven — thus houses were painted blue and white.
Chefchaouen is also the centre of the hash trade — our tour guide warned that we may be approached. And we were — several times. One guy promised "it make you so high you will be crazy" — great sales pitch. But it is highly illegal so don't load up for the trip home.
Although a lot of colors go well with blue, I was thinking Orange was the way to go. Sharon wore blue and blended in.
One guy promised "it make you so high you will be crazy" — great sales pitch. We were approached several times. It is highly illegal so don't load up for the trip home.
"It is actually closer to Tangiers and to Spain than it is to Fes. Really glad we had someone else drive."