From Fes, we headed to Rabat in two steps. First, we joined two ladies from our riad on a trip to Volubilis, Moulay Idriss and Meknes. It was a beautiful drive through landscape views of hills, rivers, lakes, valleys and a cornucopia of shades of green. I’ve had a preoccupation with green in nature since living in brown Khartoum.
Volubilis is a city that consists of Roman ruins from the third century B.C. I’m interested in ruins but not fascinated by them. The one hour exploration of the ruins with a guide was perfect for me. The area that we explored was the rich area; the poor area has not been excavated. There are signs of restoration in the columns, archways and mosaics but the guide said that work is only done for a few weeks in the summer through funding from the UN for world heritage sites.
From Volubilis, the guide pointed out the city of Moulay Idriss shaped as a dromedary. The city shines white in the distance. We drove through it and walked a short distance to look at the entrance to the tomb of Moulay Idriss, an important site reserved for Muslim access. Our driver said that 5 pilgrimages to Moulay Idriss equals one Haj to Mecca.
The drive from Moulay Idriss to Meknes took about 30 minutes. We declined the typical stops along the way and headed straight for the square by the medina to obtain food. After our late lunch, we walked through the medina. We were particularly interested in visiting the spice shops but they were amongst the shops closed for the Friday Islamic holy day.
We caught the train at 5:30 and got to Sale sometime after 8. We’d called ahead to the riad to arrange transportation so there was a taxi to meet us at the train station.
Photos of Volubilis and Moulay Idriss
Photos of Meknes
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