Day 6 - Chefchaouen

We spent the day in Chefchaouen, with no planned items on the literary.  I decided to go on a 5 hour hike through the countryside and farms above Chefchaouen, while Karen caught up on her sleep, walked around town, and read her book on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

Five of us from the tour group, plus our tour leader and a local guide went on the hike to the south and east of town.  We hiked by a number of small farms, and then continued on above the farms to a ridge above town. Overall it was a 7 miles hike, with 1850 feet of elevation gain, so we got our exercise for the day especially since the trail was rough in places, and the uppermost part was devoid of trails.

The local guide was very good.  He showed us many different herbs growing alongside the trail and explained their uses, and also picked us some peas and beans that were growing wild alongside the trail to eat.  He even picked us some marijuana that was growing just off the trail, but we left that behind.  Despite being illegal to grow, sell, buy, or consume, Morocco is the worlds second largest producer of marijuana, and is estimated to supply 70% of the European market. Most of the marijuana in Morocco is grown in the Rif Mountains, and Chefchaouen is the center of the growing region.  In the upper area of our hike we walked through some freshly plowed fields with small marijuana plants growing.  Our guide said that generally the police look the way and don't report anyone, in exchange for a bribe.

Our hike started by our hotel, past the rounded gate to the former Jewish neighborhood, past the kabash (fortress) that dates to the 15th century, and then climbing above the city.  We passed small farms along the way, including one with a large wheel used to grind up olives to make olive oil, and an interesting fence made out of mattress box springs.

We passed fields of flowers, and various items growing alongside the trail, including beans, marijuana, and peas.

As we got higher there was less vegetation, and we could see Chefchaouen in the distance.  We saw a number of cisterns in the ground, feeding the farms down below.  The trail also slowly faded away and it became more cross country travel rather than following a trail, and we had some steep sections leading up to a ridge.

On the way back our guide continued to show us uses by the locals, including making the clay into pottery, we stopped for tea, and had a try at the olive wheel which we finally succeeded in turning a full revolution.   Ultimately we mad it back to the cool blue buildings in town.

Upon returning I worked on the blog while Karen relaxed and read her book on the hotel terrace.