Maghreb Pic #1 of ...?

Okay, so a new attempt at something I should have done long ago. I'm going to do my best to post at least one Morocco pic a day and write a blurb about it...each day until I depart for Egypt. Seeing as there are approximately 90 days until I leave, that is *hopefully* 90 Morocco tidbits I probably would not have posted otherwise. I've got to write these things down before I forget them!

So, here goes:

Welcome to Fes el-Bali, the old walled city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and believed to be the largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world. It is also home to the University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 A.D. and the oldest continuous operating university in the world. Specifically, this picture was taken in the medina a labyrinth of markets on narrow "streets" and alleys, some less than a meter wide.

In the numerous souks, vendors sell anything you could possibly want/need, from underwear and toiletries, to produce, to a djellaba or caftan to wear to a Moroccan wedding, to a freshly slaughtered goat's head (I nearly tripped on one). The nearly 156,000 residents of the medina never have to leave its' confines. You, however, are a tourist; expect to be harassed by vendors and hustlers selling every manner of good or service. And because you are a tourist, they will charge you an "arm and a leg"...which is why you bargain! It is a game to them.

As you are walking about, it is common to hear the shout from drivers of donkey carts "Balak!" (Beware!) In other words, GET OUT OF THE WAY because they will not stop for YOU! If you are claustrophobic, you may suffer a heart attack. Aside from the aforementioned narrow streets, with the aforementioned donkeys and carts, the swarms of people would be unbearable for some. The concept of personal space? Not in the medina. Due to the intricate maze of streets and alleys the Fes medina has been described as, perhaps, the world's most confusing medina. Many a tourist has become pitifully lost in the medina. (I found the medina in Marrakech much easier to navigate) Hire a guide to take you to the tanneries, a medersa, a "pharmacy", and whatever else you wish.