Day 11 Meknes

Today we explored Meknes, on foot of course. The medina (old walled city) is very similar to the one in Marrakech but tidier and cleaner. They use more paint on their buildings here too which makes it a friendlier-looking place. We hadn't gone more than 75 metres from our lodgings before we were lost. This is quite normal and not a big problem - you just keep walking till you get somewhere else. It is now a little clearer why Google Maps/Earth did not show the names of "streets", as they are only tiny little lanes. By good fortune we encountered our host just as we were lost. He was able to direct us to the main orientation place - Elhadim Square. Half an hour or so later we encountered him again at the place where we parked the car the night before. We had gone to retrieve the GPS data logger which I left dangling temptingly from the mirror.

We visited some of the main sights before having lunch on the square. We also did what we swore we wouldn't do - let ourselves be tempted to enter a carpet shop. We were looking for something for my cousin in Brussels. We got that and couldn't resist the shopkeeper's prodding of another larger one for us. Our main concern is the bulk and weight, as our bags were already full and near the weight limit. Damn it's difficult.

After lunch we took a caleche (horse carriage) around the city gates but particularly to the old imperial stables - a fabulous building with huge ceilings and vast space - it could accommodate 12,000 !!! horses and feed in its day. Unbelievable. I had been against these horse rides as I was wary of the smell etc. My fears were justified - after we dismounted at the end, I stepped forward to pay the driver. At that moment the horse swished its tail through the droppings in the bag under its bum and flicked it at my face, as if to punish me for forcing it to work so hard on our behalf.

I am sitting in the courtyard of our riad listening to two canaries singing away at each other to the entertainment of other guests seated around me.