菲斯、梅克尼斯：在古城裡玩「馬力歐」和「威利在哪裡」
Fes & Meknes: playing Mario and Where's Wally in old cities
(This post is in both Mandarin and English)
菲斯是撒哈拉三日遊的終點站，我們到達的時間大約是下午六點，正值車水馬龍、交通混亂之際。在老城入口下了車，和兩個團裡認識的日本朋友開始尋找藏在古城深處小巷內的旅店。老城（Medina）是摩洛哥旅遊的最大特色之一，錯綜複雜、左彎右拐如迷宮般的街道，每轉一個彎都可能有個新的驚喜，在裡面迷路是旅遊指南推薦的樂趣之一。
我們三人剛走進古城的時候還有說有笑，但不到五分鐘之後就一點也笑不出來了——一整天的車程令人疲憊，還得帶著幾個大的硬殼行李箱在石板路面上上下下，三個人簡直成了電腦遊戲裡的馬力歐；谷歌地圖顯示直線距離600公尺，我們卻得在迷宮般的城裡移動超過1公里；天色越來越黑，城裡到處都是不懷好意的當地青少年，不斷的跟我們說「這條路是錯的！」、「那裡什麼都沒有！」，但我非常清楚他們的目的——故意讓我們覺得自己迷路，以便藉帶路為由向我們伸手要錢。印象最深刻的是，即使到了地圖的顯示目的地前20公尺，身邊的小屁孩仍然在試圖錯亂我們；由於谷歌地圖在這裡也不準確，我對於是否走對路也沒有十分把握。
直到20公尺後，我們鑽入一條僅容一人的小巷裡，在一個斑駁的木門旁看到了不起眼的旅店標示，當下三人感覺有如絕處逢生，終於得救了！那一刻我也理解到，在摩洛哥的老城裡，寧可跟著不準確的谷歌地圖走錯路再繞回來，也不要相信任何一個小屁孩的話！
We ended the 3-day Sahara tour in Fes, another popular tourist destination. It was around 6pm, and our goal was to find our hotels in the maze-like old city, or "medina". Medina refers to the oldest part of a city encircled by walls. It's usually full of narrow, crooked streets and very hard to navigate. "Getting lost in medinas" has been promoted by travel websites as one of the top funs in Morocco.
I entered the old city with two friends I met in the tour group. We took it easy in the beginning, but soon realized it's not as simple as we thought. While Google Maps said the direct distance is 600 meters, we had to navigate through more than 1-km of poorly mapped streets in the medina. It was getting dark, and we had to carry luggages up and down as the streets ascended and descended. It was just like playing the Mario game. What's even worse is, deep in the medina, many local teenagers tried to bewilder us. All the way we heard shouts like "it's closed!" "Nothing is there!" "Wrong way!" I knew what was on their minds -- they wanted to make us feel lost and then pay them money for showing us the right way. Particularly, when we were just 20 meters from the destination shown on the map, the kids were still interfering us. To be honest, at that moment I wasn't 100% sure either, as Google Maps are not very accurate in medinas.
The anxiety continued until we turned into a <1 meter wide side alley and found the hotel name by an aged and rugged wooden door. It was a triumph for us! And we also learned an important lesson: it's better to follow your maps and get lost, than to trust in any kid in the medina. All they want is your money.
我對菲斯的第一印象應該是來自小學時候讀的某份兒童刊物，上面介紹了一個如魔幻世界的地方，一座古城裡有數十個比人還大的大染缸，裡面裝著各種不同顏色的染料，無數工人們穿梭其間，把處理好的皮革拿進來染色、染好的再送去加工，整個壯觀的畫面非常有《威利在哪裡》的感覺。在菲斯的第二天，我竟然有幸成為威利本人，親自走入小時候讀到的畫面之中。
皮革廠附近的許多住家都把屋頂改成觀景台兼賣店，每天讓數以千計的遊客進來眺望皮革廠順便貢獻當地經濟。我因為不想被強索高額費用，刻意先向路邊雜貨店的阿伯打聽行情，意外得知其實是可以走到染缸旁邊近距離觀看的（或者你想要整個人跳進去染應該也不會有人去阻止啦），我馬上決定不能放過這個大好的機會，於是就成為現場唯一一個不懼皮革臭味直接走到染缸旁邊的遊客（強烈懷疑在觀景台上拍照的遊客都想著：你這死觀光客，快還給我乾淨的畫面啊XD）。
走在大染缸旁邊是什麼感覺？氣味不像我想像的那麼難以忍受，但那種長時間直接暴露在各種染料、染劑、鳥糞（除毛用），比台灣的傳統魚市場更加紊亂的惡劣工作環境讓人印象深刻，那是站在觀景台上很難體會到的。
My first impression on Fes came from a children magazine, where I saw a photo in which numerous leather workers were over dozens of connected dying tanks. The tanks were full of different colors, and the workers were busy bringing in leathers to dye and taking out semi products. The scene made me think of the children book series Where's Wally. I'd never imagine that one day I'd become Wally and walk into the photo myself!
Residents around the tannery have converted their roofs into overlooks and gift shops, where thousands of visitors would take pictures from. To avoid unnecessary expenses, I made friend with a nearby vendor and asked him the best way to get in. He told me that if I won't mind the smell, I can actually go into the tannery and walk by the tanks, and so I did. I was the only tourist there who did that (which means I may have intrude some other visitors' photos, haha).
How was it like to look at the tanks and the workers closely? The smell doesn't bother me much. Exposure to all the materials, liquids and even pigeon poop (used to remove hairs from animal skin), however, made me realize how deleterious the work environment could be. That's something I'd never experienced by watching from the overlooks.
同日下午離開菲斯，搭摩洛哥國鐵（ONCF）前往下一個城市梅克尼斯。在火車站意外結識了一位當地大學生，他是摩洛哥境內第一位找我主動攀談而且不是為了要錢的在地人，英文相當流利。由於他家就住在梅克尼斯，熟門熟路的他就成了我的地陪，甚至收留了因為預定的旅店客滿而必須另覓地方過夜的我。他的出現，成功扭轉了我之前幾天「摩洛哥人就只想騙錢」的刻板印象。
旅行有時候很有趣，你對一個地方的印象，有時會因為一件不順心的事情而不堪回首，有時又會因為遇到一個好人而回味再三。這位摩洛哥大學生的出現真的是為他的國家神救援啊XD
As I left Fes and headed toward the next city Meknes, I met a local college student at the station. He is the first Moroccan who talked to me not for money. Since he is from Meknes, he became my local guide there. Not only that, he was hospitable enough to provide me accommodation when I realized my hotel reservation that night was cancelled without notice. His hospitality successfully overwrote the negative impression I got about Morocco, and made me Iike this country a lot more.
Here's something I realized after many travels: even one negative experience can make you hate a place a lot and never want to go back, while a good experience (often some nice people you meet on the way) can make you remember a place for a long time.
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