Recently I went on a trip to Chefchaouan and Akshour. I'll start by giving you some background information on these cities and then I will get into my travel shenanigans.
Chefchaouen //
A shot of the (hash) fields surrounding Chefchaouan
Chefchaouan is a little city found in the middle of the Rif mountains in the northwestern region of Morocco, and it's known for being blue. Literally everything is painted blue in the city - all the buildings and houses. For a time it was controlled by Spain as part of Spain in Morocco (the only Spanish Morocco left is the autonomous city of Ceuta, which I have visited, but that's a story for another day), but in '56 it was given back to Morocco with the independence movement. I have been here several times in the past, but this visit was by far the most memorable. The trip was a total surprise - I had been having a long course of bad luck (being robbed, finding a terribly brazen mouse in my apartment, not sleeping, and the terrible heat on top of everything making everyone miserable), and my SO suggested I join him + friends for a weekend getaway to relieve the stress. In short, it worked.
I took the train to Souq al-Arb3a, and I hopped on the bus the rest of the way to Chefchouan. We stayed in an adorable little hostel owned by an equally cute older Spanish woman who lived there with her dog. By day we walked the blue streets and looked at little shops, and by night we sat in cafes to people watch and enjoy the sounds of the waterfall. We stopped into a shop that sold specialty handmade Argan oil and soap products and picked up some soap (orange and mint scents) and some scented Argan oil.
The little Argan shop we went to was magical!
100% Argan oil + soap
Akchour (Akchour) //
The second day we were there we went on a day trip to Akchour for a hike up to Pont de Dieu.
Akchour, near Chefchaouan, is also located in the Rif Mountains and is famous for its beautiful waterfalls and Pont de Dieu (Bridge of God). There are two major waterfalls, as well as a handful of smaller cascades, and most hikers don't trek all the way up to the natural bridge, but we were feeling gutsy that day and did the whole trek. It took us about 4 hours or so and included stopping to swim and have a tajine at a little mountainside "cafe". We filled our water bottles with a natural spring coming out of the side of a mountain at one of these little cafes (which are really just tables and chairs set up and tajines are cooked all day in the sun over an open fire).
I look relaxed but I was freezing from the shins down - mountain water is COLD.
Enjoying the view of the famous Pont de Dieu! I don't know what is going on in this picture but it's hilarious. And yes, those are matching water shoes - necessary for this kind of hike where we waded through knee-high water and hopped across makeshift bridges made of felled trees.
Finished up the day with a selfie :)
After this trip, my life felt a little more zen, but I know that it's temporary, and I will need to get up and go again sometime soon!
xo,
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