Stormy Days, New Friends & the Thrill of Thrifting at Fes's Local Sunday Market

Heavy storms have been coming down from the mountains, keeping me in Fes longer than I had expected. For three days, the storms would follow the same pattern. Each day, just after sunset, a cold wind would blow in and torrential rain would follow, not letting up until noon the next day. I am staying in a traditional Moroccan guesthouse called a riad, which has an open roof in the center of the building. See below for an example from one of the riads I visited.

This design provides ventilation and allows sunlight to come into the home on nice days, the drawback being that it provides no insulation during cold, wet nights. They had a makeshift roof covering the opening, but it was not sealed, so the cold air could still pass through. In addition, there were a few leaky bits, which meant buckets had to be put around the main area to collect the falling water.

Needless to say, going to sleep in the cold and wet and then waking up to more cold and wet takes a toll on morale. I have seen just about all of the places I wanted to visit while I was here, but still didn’t find a leather jacket, which the city is historically famous for. Even if I wanted to leave, which I mostly did at this point, the storms made it completely impractical. As my next destination was nearly 10 hours by bus, I needed to take an overnight bus to get there, which only had departures scheduled during the thick of the storm. Being that Fes is an ancient city that doesn’t allow cars or motorbikes, I would have also had to walk much of the way to the bus station, only to wait in an uncovered parking lot. In a way, it felt like I was stuck in Fes, trapped in this cold, wet riad with a handful of other travelers.

Like this cuddly castaway…

To pass the time, we huddled together on a dry corner of the roof, played cards, drank hot Moroccan tea, and swapped travel stories.

Another new friend…

One of my new friends was a local who worked at the guesthouse, and when I told them about my search for a leather jacket, they told me about a local market where I might find something. The market is only open one day of the week, Sundays, which luckily for us, is tomorrow. I don’t get my hopes up though, as this is now the fourth night of rain, and I know that if it keeps up the way it's been, then we weren’t going anywhere tomorrow.

I woke up the next day to the distant sound of birds and the sunlight through my window, the sight of which was nearly forgotten after days of morning darkness. The storm had finally broken, and going up to the roof confirmed there wasn’t a cloud left in the sky.

Together with my new friends and trusty local guide, we set out into the medina on our way to the Blue Gate. Once we left through the medina, we walk a few minutes up the road and look for transportation to the market. As I am with a couple of young backpackers, we opted for the cheapest and most fun option …The Moroccan Batmobile! Which is essentially a covered tuk tuk with a little bench to sit on, and pulled by a modified motorcycle.

The market is about 2 kilometers from the Blue Gate, and of course, Batman treated this ride as if it were an audition for the latest Fast & Furious movie. It was a thrilling ride, holding on for dear life while Batman weaved through the local traffic of trucks, bikes, and donkey carts.

We arrived at the market in one piece and made our way down the muddy road towards the clusters of pitched tents. There are long tables, each with huge piles of different types of items. There are tables for spices, fruits, vegetables, shoes, bags, pants, sweaters …and jackets.

I walk down the table of jackets, finding some really good quality options to choose from. One of my friends calls to me and tosses a coat over for me to try on. It fits well, but it is too heavy to travel with, and I am still set on getting leather, so I hand it back. She tells me she worked in the fashion industry back in New York, and that this jacket had a resale value of $700.

Even though I knew it wasn’t practical, I gave a second thought to keeping it, until a patch of brown suede caught my eye. I brush off the top layers of a nearby pile and uncover a beautiful brown suede leather jacket. It has hardly a mark on it, practically brand new. I try it on, and although a bit big by itself, it has just enough extra room to easily add layers underneath. It is exactly what I was looking for, and I feel a sense of relief wash over me. I ask my local friend to check the price for me, and learn that everything on the table is $5.50. My mind is blown, and I quickly hand over the money, afraid she might change her mind and increase the price. To put the cheap price in perspective, the other shops I visited in the medina wanted between $250-$400 for similar suede jackets. Here is a picture of me wearing the jacket in my next destination, the Sahara Desert!

I had finally found the leather jacket I had been searching for, and with the sun shining, it seemed I was finally ready to leave Fes.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my experiences traveling in Fes. All photos were taken by me.