~ Meknès to Chefchaouen ~
We left Meknès this morning 2h 41min (164.5 km) journey to Chefchaouen. Our first stop was a tour of the Roman ruins at Volubilis, the largest ancient site of Morocco, about 33km north of Meknès. UNESCO-listed in 1997, the site dates back to 40AD and once ruled the entire Roman province of Mauritania. We jumped out of the van and it was already a very hot morning – 40 degrees. We all slip-slop-slapped and headed off with our guide to learn about the site where we had just arrived. We almost had the place to ourselves, with just a donkey grazing among the ruins. We started in the shade of the new Visitor Centre & Museum (displaying Volubilis’ most celebrated finds) and could see some of the excavated ruins from where we stood. Only about half of the 40-hectare site has been excavated. Our guide took as around for about an hour, showing as the main sites and telling us little stories about them (which was ideal as there was little in the way of signposting or information on what you’re actually seeing). 
We saw the remains of the capitol, basilica, 1300-sq-metre forum and Galen’s Baths. Although mostly destroyed, the baths clearly showed the underfloor heating, the aqueducts, the steam room and the communal toilets – where citizens could go about their business and have a chat at the same time. An impressive centerpiece was the marble Triumphal Arch was built in 217 in honour of Emperor Caracalla and his mother. The arch, which was originally topped with a bronze chariot, was reconstructed in the 1930s, and the mistakes made then were rectified in the 1960s. 
Perhaps the most amazing features were the many beautiful mosaics preserved in situ. Some of our favorites were:

• The House of Orpheus is the finest and largest home, containing a mosaic of Orpheus charming animals by playing the lute, and a dolphin mosaic in the dining room.
• The House of the Labours of Hercules – recounting the Twelve Labours. Several of Hercules’ heroic feats were reputed to have occurred in Morocco, making him a popular figure at the time. 
• The House of Venus with two particularly fine mosaics, appropriately with semi-romantic themes. The first is the Abduction of Hylas by the Nymphs , an erotic composition showing Hercules’ lover Hylas being lured away from his duty by two beautiful nymphs. The second mosaic is Diana Bathing. The goddess was glimpsed in her bath by the hunter Acteon, whom she turned into a stag as punishment.

It was such a magical place to wander through. Walking through the site, it was not hard to imagine the hustle and bustling city Volubilis once was. 

When we jumped back on the bus we were so thankful for the amazing aircon (it had now reached 47 degrees) that we decided to name our van. The van was quickly becoming our most treasured part of Morocco so we felt it had to have a name! We landed on Stan, Stan the Van. We continued on our journey, stopping for lunch at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Mohammed told us no one really stops there except for people like us – on their way to Chefchaouen. We sat down to enjoy our lunch, when Sideshow Bob walked in! Well not the “real” Simpsons character, but the Moroccan version! It might sound weird but he really did look like Sideshow Bob in person!! Along with him came another tour group. Mohamed and Sideshow Bob started to catch up and chat animatedly when all of a sudden we heard a commotion coming in through the door. The palest man I have ever seen (he turned more grey throughout this process) was being practically dragged through the door by two men and was followed by multiple frantic people. He looked awful! Mohamed quickly told us that he had seen this before – extreme dehydration – and went to help. Max and Rosh went to grab some pillows to elevate his legs as he was laid down on the cold tiles and people tried to give him water (to little effect at this point). The whole event continued on for a while as most of us tried to stay out of the way. It was terrible to see what dehydration can do to you so quickly! Poor chap was in the toilet vomiting when we finally left to get back on the road. Let’s just say we all certainly increased our water intake after that. 

On to Chefchaouen – a haven of peace and tranquility. Beautifully perched beneath the raw peaks of the Rif mountains, Chefchaouen has to be one of the prettiest towns in Morocco. It was originally a Berber post and is now an artsy, blue-door-washed and white-walled mountain village that feels like its own world. After we checked into the hotel (which was so impressive on its own – each room had its own colour scheme and there was mosaic everywhere), Mohamed took us on a little walking tour to orientate us and to help us explore this little place of wonder! He took us goodness knows where! First we walked up along a stream that flattened out into a few large pools of water along the way. Once we made it to the top, there was so many children playing in the water and lots of families enjoying some of the late afternoon. We then started to wander through the winding streets of the medina. The streets went up, down and every which way! We passed a million cute doors of varying style, design and size, more cats than you could count (and so tiny!!), under archways, past red-tiled roofs, a tiny bakery which was just a stall outside with the small kitchen inside, and we even found an ostrich!! Even though it was evident that tourism has started to take hold here, we still felt like some of the only tourists there, as we had in basically every other place so far! Despite the fact that it was because of the weather, it still had made each place so much more special so far on the trip! 

Our guided walk ended in the main square, or more accurately, the heart of Chefchaouen, with the Kasbah, central mosque and abundant cafes. We decided to go to dinner as a group and found a lovely place in the square. Our waiter was super friendly and gave us some great tips on places to go/walks to do for the best views (in his opinion). He loved having a chat, telling us about his life and wanting to know what we had enjoyed about Morocco so far. His only quirk was his photography. Offering to take a photo of “the girls” while we were taking some snaps of the sunset, he decided to stand up on a chair to get a better angle, and then bent down…to AT LEAST his normal height! And the photo was on the biggest angle! Poor chap, we could not stop giggling and I’m fairly sure he had no idea why! Or maybe he just thought it was an arty picture? We will never know… 

After dinner Max and Rosh went back to the hotel and the rest of the group and I decided to walk up to the old Spanish mosque to see the very last part of the sunset, and a view of the city at night! The walk was about 20-30 minutes mostly uphill, and the view was definitely worth the small climb. It was beautiful! We managed to see the sun just as it was dipping below the mountains and the town was a terrific sight all lit up! We sat up there for a while, chatting about our day, wondering if it was a little bit strange that the group of Moroccan boys sitting next to us were smoking pot in front of a mosque…. (Mohamed later told us this was quite a normal – if not odd – thing for the “youth” to do). On our walk back to the hostel we saw Sideshow Bob again! He was taking his tour group on a little stroll (minus the dehydrated chap).