L'autocar enfila els últims metres abans de coronar el coll. Passat l'últim revolt, els passatgers deixen anar una exclamació, barreja de satisfacció i alleujament. Satisfacció per contemplar al fons el poble de les cases blanc-i-blaves, i alleujament perquè després de cinc hores de viatge en autocar des de Fes, la visió de la població és alliberadora. Però no tot serà tan senzill, ja que abans d'entrar-hi, el vehicle agafa una desviació de baixada que ens portarà directament a l'estació de busos, situada a la part baixa de la localitat. Hom diria que Chefchaouen sap resistir-se. Caldrà baixar de l'autocar i agafar un taxi per arribar fins a la medina.
Resguardada per les imponents muntanyes del Rift, el visitant es troba a Chefchaouen una població que no és la típica marroquina. No hi trobarà el turista una medina destartalada, ni brutícia als carrers, sinó més aviat carrerons tranquils que conviden a descobrir tots els seus racons a peu. Els seus habitants sembla que volen cuidar el seus carrers per oferir la seva millor versió al turista estranger i local. Aquí no només es viu del turista forani, ja que en els últims any, hi ha un incipient turisme marroquí, format, en un nombre molt elevat per joves hippies, que han trobat el seu lloc per passar uns dies. Alguna cosa s'està movent al Marroc quan els nois joves es deixen atrapar per l'esperit hippie, segurament això serà sinònim de modernitat i progrés.
A més, sobten els seus tranquils socs, on probablement el comprador podrà aconseguir records a preus molt més interesants que a d'altres llocs del Marroc.
The bus went on climbing till we reached the summit. Once the bus left us behind the last loop, the passangers got really excited as a result of a mix feeling between both relief and self-satisfaction. The last one has to do with the view that there is from this nice village; its background is white and blue due to the colour of almost all the houses there are in. The former makes reference to the exclamation that most ofypassangers utter as a result of feeling that after the 5 hours travel by bus really, the effort really worth to do! The first view of the village is quite liberating.
However, not everything will be so easy at all. Before reaching Chefchaouen is necessary to take a detour downwards where we will find the bus station, located in the lowerpart of the city. Everybody would say that Chefchaouen keeps resisting to the easy tourism, it is not easily reachable. After getting off the bus,a taxi is necessary to go to the Medina.
Sheltered by the imposing mountains of Rift, the visitors notice that Chefchaouen is not a typical moroccan village. They will not find either a cramped medina or dirty streets but rather peaceful alleys that invite people to discover this lovely small town. Its citizens seem to take care of the streets in order to offer to the visitors the best image just to appeal them and , by doing so, retain them. People who live in Chefchaouen make their living from both local and foreign tourism. Currently, this sort of tourism , which is quite young and " hippie" , is increasing over the years. Probably it means that Morocco is becoming more trendy and modern, so an indicator that the country is making good progress.
Besides it is a surprise to find such quite souks where probably the tourists will buy souvenirs at a good price, even cheaper than insome other cities in Morocco.
The bus went on climbing till we reached the summit. Once the bus left us behind the last loop, the passangers got really excited as a result of a mix feeling between both relief and self-satisfaction. The last one has to do with the view that there is from this nice village; its background is white and blue due to the colour of almost all the houses there are in. The former makes reference to the exclamation that most ofypassangers utter as a result of feeling that after the 5 hours travel by bus really, the effort really worth to do! The first view of the village is quite liberating.
However, not everything will be so easy at all. Before reaching Chefchaouen is necessary to take a detour downwards where we will find the bus station, located in the lowerpart of the city. Everybody would say that Chefchaouen keeps resisting to the easy tourism, it is not easily reachable. After getting off the bus,a taxi is necessary to go to the Medina.
Sheltered by the imposing mountains of Rift, the visitors notice that Chefchaouen is not a typical moroccan village. They will not find either a cramped medina or dirty streets but rather peaceful alleys that invite people to discover this lovely small town. Its citizens seem to take care of the streets in order to offer to the visitors the best image just to appeal them and , by doing so, retain them. People who live in Chefchaouen make their living from both local and foreign tourism. Currently, this sort of tourism , which is quite young and " hippie" , is increasing over the years. Probably it means that Morocco is becoming more trendy and modern, so an indicator that the country is making good progress.
Besides it is a surprise to find such quite souks where probably the tourists will buy souvenirs at a good price, even cheaper than insome other cities in Morocco.
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| Posta de sol des de la mesquita espanyola |
Una de les coses imprescindibles és pujar fins a l'anomenada mesquita espanyola. Per accedir-hi s'ha d'agafar el camí que comença darrera els safarejos que es troben fora de les muralles, just a sota d'un salt d'aigua. Després d'una pujada de poc més de vint minuts, s'arriba a aquest mirador des d'on es pot contemplar Chefchaouen. Sens dubte, una de les imatges més idíl.liques de la població es pot aconseguir des d'aquest indret al capvespre, veient com el sol s'amaga darrera les muntanyes del Rift i el blau de les cases es fusiona amb el blanc. És una posta de sol realment espectacular que quedarà gravada a la nostra retina.
One of the essential places to visit is the well-known spanish medina. To access to this very recomendable place will be mandatory to walk through the right path starting just behind the sinks that are located out of the village walls, right down the cascade. After climbing for 20 minuts, the scenary is just brilliant. This is one of the most idylic images from the village and it really woths to admire the sunset, a unique picture that can be taken from the top of the hill. For sure this image will be etched in our minds eye for everlasting.
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| En primer terme la mesquita amb el seu minaret ortogonal. A la dreta la Plaça Uta-al Man i al fons el Rift |
Pot semblar que després d'haver arribat a la mesquita i haver fet un vol pels socs, no hi ha massa més a fer aquí, però seria un error marxar sense visitar la seva interessant Kasbah, a la qual s'accedeix des de la plaça Uta-al Man, el seu centre neuràlgic. Com a curiositat, en aquesta plaça es troba la mesquita amb el seu minaret ortogonal, una raresa constructiva al Marroc. Entrant a la Kasbah, comprovem que ha valgut la pena pagar els 10 dirhams de l'entrada. Aquests ens permeten visitar una exposició sobre armes i fotos d'època. A més, podem passejar pel jardí central i pujar a la torre, no sense abans entrar a una cel.la que en el seu dia va servir com a presó. Un calfred recorre el cos quan s'entra a la petita estança i es veuen els grillets a les parets, com a testimoni de la lenta agonia que deurien patir els presos. Això fa que la visita acabi amb un regust agredolç, perquè malgrat ser un lloc que amaga molta història, aquesta és bàsicament una història de drames. Reflexionant però s'arriba a la conclusió que segurament cada història de cada indret porta associada molts drames al darrera, perquè com un professor de facultat em va dir ja fa uns quants anys: "La història és una història de drames".
I must say, It would be a serious mistake to leave the city without visiting the Kasbah. Once found the Uta al Man square where there is the hub of the activity, is easy to access to the Kasbah. There is inside an octagonal minaret which is quite original because of its weird form. Inside the Kasbah and after paying the entrance (10 dirhams) we see lots of classic pictures and an exhibition of weapons. From the top of the tower we can see the pretty and careful gardens and an amazing view from the square. Downstarts there is a cell which was used as a jail in ancient times. The walls of the cell are full of shackles as an evidence of the agony that prisoners suffered. After this visit a shiver runs through my body, my senses and my heart. It makes me finish the visit with a bittersweet taste because although it is a place that hides lots of history, this is a very dramatic story.
By thinking over this story after my visit in the Kasbah, I realize that it is all about a real drama story that is part of the history, and this fact makes this story even more dramatic. But such as a professor in the University told us: "history is a sequence of drama stories"
Sortint de la Kasbah, es poden recuperar energies a qualsevol de les nombroses terrasses de la Plaça Uta-al-Man. Aquí no hi ha massa temps per pensar on anar, els propis cambrers dels establiments ja s'encarregen d'atreure als turistes cap als seus restaurants.
En definitiva, una població amb molt d'encant. Pensan-t'ho bé , val la pena passar cinc hores d'autocar per venir i cinc hores més per tornar a Fes. Probablement l'encant d'allò que és més inaccesible rau en fet que té encant perquè és inaccesible, encara que ben mirat, la propera vegada millor anar-hi des de Tànger,tres hores en autocar a tot estirar.
