Meknes & Volubilis: Wednesday 10th - Saturday 13th January 2007

30 miles west of Fes on the ledge of a plateau lies the other imperial city of Meknes. With a population akin to Norwich, this was my 'kinda' city. The city, like most in Morocco, is split into 2 sections. Here in Meknes, it is most apparent with a thin valley with the city's river separating the 'Ville Nouvelle' to the east & the 'Medina' with the Imperial City to the west of it.

I stayed here 4 nights only to kill time from having left Fes so quickly and having a big think about which route I should take to Marrakech for next Friday's flight.

Stayed in the quiet youth hostel. The first night I was there, I met 3 Aussie girls; Farah, Katy & Liz (?). Their next stop was Fes, so I told them all about how to see the Tanneries and to be careful with the shadowy people there. We all went for a drink at next door's Hotel Transatlantique, which has a bar and a 2-4-1 happy hour between 7.30 & 8.30pm. The keyboard player played some cheesy supermarket melodies, but the place was luxury compared to all the other places I've stayed in!

Being nearer to the Ville Novelle than the Medina, I spent more time with the friendlier, less-frenzied habitants of the Ville Nouvelle. When you compare it to Fes, I think it's a better place to stay. True it doesn't have much for non-muslims to see, but just to be away from the hassles and smog of Fes was bliss!

It's also nearer to the fabled Roman ruins of Volubilis. On the Friday morning I walked to the nearest Grand Taxi rank which was only 5-10 mins walk away. Asked to go to Moulay Idriss, which is the nearest place to Volubuilis and where the former Arab leader Moulay Idriss I is buried. He was responsible in making Meknes the capital of his Moroccan empire back in the 15th century. His son, Moulay Idriss II, did the same for Fes. The first Moulay Idriss though was a bit of an Ivan the Terrible kind of leader. Pretty ruthless and barbaric, but also successful in ridding alot of the foreign powers from their respective enclaves, e.g. the Portuguese from El Jadida.

From the Moulay Idriss road junction to the N13 road we drove on, I asked to be dropped off, and for the next half an hour walked the rest of the way between the acres of Olive tree orchards than dominate the area. This part of Morocco, around Meknes & Fes esp. is very ferile and where alot of the agriculture in Morocco is cultivated. It was one of the reasons, the French wanted this part of Morocco when they carved it up between themselves & Spain back in 1912.

500 metres from the road down into the wide, fertile valley stands Volubilis. For what basically are 2000 year old ruins of a former Roman town; this place rocks! It's alot bigger than I expected, and although Moulay Idriss I ransacked the place for its marble, which is now apparently in his town's namesake; there are still mosaics to be adored and some of the buildings are in good nick viz: the Basilica, Forum & Triumphant Archway which denotes the beginning of the main street and points directly in a straight line (of course) to the 'Tangier' Gate.

It was probably the best thing so far I've seen in Morocco; certainly my favourite. The best thing was I spent only a total of 41Dhs for transport & admission. Most foreigners spend 200/300Dh for a Grand taxi to Volubilis and back. The next Roman ruins on my list is Leptis Magna in modern-day Libya. That's gonna cost more for sure as the Libyans don't allow foreigners to travel independently. You have to hire a guide whilst in Libya. I'm not deterred though. I'll do it for Rome!