Chefchaouen

The bus journey to Chefchaouen was interesting at at times alarming. Well below the road up into the Rif mountains lay the remains of another bus which must have rolled many times. The countryside is surprisingly green and lush below the rocky barren mountains. The first sight of Chefchaoen was enchanting – a mass of white buildings huddled on the hillside.

This town is picture-postcard pretty. Our hotel is in the heart of the medina and from its roof terrace we have gorgeous views both down onto the town and up to the mountains. Its obviously a tourist mecca but not unpleasantly so. Walking around you constantly receive friendly greetings and if you decline an invitation to shop, shopkeepers simply smile and say goodbye, without even trying the hard sell. People offer directions when you're lost – although the medina is small enough that eventually you find yourself back at some place that you recognize.

Everything is blue. Front doors, at least the bottom half of walls and even the surface of some alleyways. Rounding each new corner, I reach for my camera. It's cutesy pretty. And so blue, so blue. Bright fabrics, clothes, leather slippers and a thousand tourist knick-knacks hang outside shops. Powder paint, or possibly dyes, are heaped in sacks, while other stalls boast huge baskets of herbs, beans, chillies and chickpeas. Boys deliver home-made bread to bakeries for baking as people don't have ovens at home. Through open doorways you can see carpenters or weavers at work in their dark front rooms. Old men in ankle length, pointy-hooded robes make their slow way between tourists, children careering down steep cobbles on bikes or scooters and the hundreds of people simply going about their business.

Yesterday, three of us walked out of the medina, across the river where dozens of women hand washed their families' clothes before laying them to dry on the grass. From here we followed a path up the hillside to the remains of a ruined mosque. The views of the town from here were wonderful and we sat in the hot dry sun, enjoying the peace. We climbed the tower of the mosque and looked down on the cemetery a little further down the hill. We returned to the town on the path through the cemetery, where even the graves were painted white and blue, before settling down for more refreshing fresh juices, mint tea and salads.

This place is so calm and friendly and relaxing, it would be easy to stay longer.