Chefchaouen is a far removed sleepy blue village located up in the Rif Mountains in Morocco. It's a maze of steep, narrow streets that meander up the hill side. Chefchaouen is car free, very quiet, full of lazy cats and really nice people. We love it here, its insanely beautiful and the views of the city and mountains are breathtaking. It was an adventure just to get here and we could have stayed here for weeks. We are not sure if all the blue entering our eyes was putting us in a relaxed haze but time here seemed to float on by without a worry in sight.
We really lucked out with all of our hotels in Morocco but this place was exceptionally special. We had Riad Rifandalus all to ourselves. We were the only guests staying here at the time so this entire living space, two giant balconies and some of the best views around were all ours.
Colorful dyes sold along the streets.
If one picture could sum up how we feel about Morocco this would be it!
The blue hue of the city is inescapable, from the sky to the ground everything is various shades of calming blues. There are various theories on how this came to be but in the 1930s a influx of Jewish refugees believed blue to symbolize heaven. The color stuck and is also believed to act as a repellent for mosquito's, and maybe it works because we didn't see any!
As you will see from these photographs we kind of had this entire town to ourselves with the locals. Morocco being a Muslim country gets radically affected by issues like terrorism, with the recent attacks on Paris people don't travel to Muslim countries, they opt to go other places. This is a very unfortunate reaction that hurts incredible places like Chefchaouen. That being said our experiences here were different, we were the only tourists around, and we had many talks with the locals about these issues. This town is normally very calm in comparison to the busier areas of Morocco, but we really got to have some time with to connect with locals here which always makes for a richer travel experience.
The medina here is a beautiful mix of new and old. The square is lined with olive trees and all of the restaurants claim to sell "the best tagine in town." Certain travel moments will always be in our minds, and one of them is finding a rooftop to enjoy the sunset over Chefchaouen while the call to prayer could be heard echoing up the giant valleys into the Rif Mountains.
We loved all of the Berber rugs lining the medina walls.
Every moment of being here was pure pleasure. Imagine trying to remember how you got somewhere and retracing your steps when everything is blue! It isn't easy! Taking photographs here was a great experience due to the beauty and its uniqueness.
Sunsets, the smell of incense, the utter silence before the call to prayer and the feeling of being completely content.
One of the most colorful and magical places we've ever visited. See you again, Chefchaouen.
