Planning travel in Japan? Here's how to bridge the cultural gap and connect with locals

 

Sunamachi Ginza market in Tokyo‘s Koto City

When my husband and I first visited Japan 35 years ago, we searched for ways to bridge the cultural gap  by setting up a two-day home stay with a family living in a Tokyo suburb.

Our hosts took us out to dinner the first night, and on the second, they hosted an "American-style" dinner party, meaning they invited friends over to dine with us in their home, rare in Japan due to   small living spaces and a desire for privacy.

Over the sukiyaki we helped prepare in their kitchen, we cracked open cans of Stroh's beer and enjoyed after-dinner musical entertainment performed by their daughters. They complimented us on our chopstick skills as we poked at cubes of steamed tofu. We kept in touch for many years by exchanging cards at Christmas.

Fast forward to 2026. With three airlines flying non-stop to Toyko from Seattle in nine hours and the dollar strong against the yen, we decided to return this fall and visit places we missed on the first trip.

Tokyo itself has changed and grown enormously, so we will spend five or six days there on either end of our trip, plus travel to Kanazawa, a historical town known for its art and culture; Nagano, the site of the 1998 winter Olympics; and a hike on the Nakasendo trail walked by the Samurai soldiers on their way from Tokyo to Kyoto in the 1600s-1800s.

I wondered if we could still find ways to connect with locals the way we did on our first trip, and the way we do when we visit places in Europe where cultural traditions and languages are more familiar. 

The answer came the other day in an e-mail came from Akira, a volunteer guide for the Koto English-speaking Volunteer Guide Association.

Koto City waterfront

Anxious to show off their waterfront city east of downtown Tokyo, the Koto City guides offer to meet visitors for  half-day walking tours exploring daily life, historical sites or a wholesale seafood market.

Akira told me he and his wife visited Seattle a few years back, and were in Colorado for two weeks last month. We set up a time and date to meet and explore Sunamachi Ginza, Koto City's traditional shopping street filled with the types of family-owned food stalls and shops that are rapidly disappearing in Tokyo. As an added bonus, Akira offered to show us some traditional Izakaya (neighborhood bars) close to our Airbnb where he happens to live.

His note left me with the comforting feeling of having a friend in Tokyo even before we arrive.

All over Japan it seems, the Japanese are working hard to welcome English-speaking visitors.

We won't do a homestay this time, but we may take advantage of a program called Nagomi Visit that offers opportunities to have lunch or dinner with an English-speaking Japanese family in Tokyo and other cities throughout Japan. Since 2011, the organization has hosted 8,000 visitors from around the world.

We are waiting now to hear from hosts in Tokyo and Kanazawa. Once accepted, we will forward 5,500 yen ($37) to defray food costs etc. and make arrangements to meet our hosts at a designated subway or train station for either an afternoon or evening get-together of around 2-3 hours. Depending the host, we might help prepare the meal or stop at a local grocery store to do the shopping. 

Keying off the idea that having local experiences are more memorable than seeking out famous restaurants or tourist sites, Tokyo Localized offers free two-to-three hour walking tours around various parts of Tokyo with local guides who volunteer their time. 

Tokyo Localized offers a free nighttime walking tour through Shinjuku

Walks can be booked in other parts of Japan as well through Kyoto Localized, Hiroshima Localized and Osaka Localized. Japan has no tipping culture, but in this case, guides accept and appreciate tips.

Walks with local volunteer can also be arranged through Tokyo Greeters which works with Tokyo Free Guide. The Greeters offer free strolls of two or three hours, while Tokyo Free Guides offer half-day or full-day tours. There is no charge for the longer tours, but guests pay for the cost of transportation, entrance fees and meals.  

Kanazawa

In Kanazawa, a historical town with a castle, gardens and neighborhoods dating to the Edo period ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1868), the Kanazawa Goodwill Guide Network offers personalized walking tours with a local volunteer. Applications are accepted from two months to two weeks in advance of a visit.  Volunteers guide visitors through historic areas and introduce them to traditional arts such as pottery, gold leaf and silk dying.

Nagano's Zenkoji temple

In Nagano, site of the 1998 winter Olympics, guides from the Nagano City Guide Association organize walking tours in English (5000 yen donation - about $3.50) which began at the tourist information office at the train station and proceed to the  Zenkoji temple built 1,400 years ago. Two people from the tourism information office answered me personally when I inquired. One said she spent several years in Seattle and Olympia while in college. They arranged for a guide to meet us for a two-hour walk the day we arrive.

 Other tips for Japan visitors:

 *Airbnbs can offer more room than standard hotels where space is always at a premium , no matter in what price range. We rented a one-bedroom (Western style beds) with a small kitchen and private bath for around $140 in a newish apartment building near the Tokyo Skytree, a broadcasting tower and major tourist attraction in the Sumida neighborhood with easy connections to subway lines and direct access to Hanida Airport. 

Tokyo Skytree

* Don't be surprised if hotels don't ask for a deposit or credit card to hold a room. I booked directly with two hotels, one part of the Super chain in the Asakusa neighborhood and the other a small, family hotel in Kanazawa. Neither asked for payment beforehand. Nor did the traditional Japanese-style ryokan we booked in the oldest town of  Narai after our hike in the Kiso Valley. The family-run inn is usually fully booked, but the owner asked only that we let her know if we have to cancel.

Kiso Valley

Book a ryokan or less-expensive minshuku if you want to experience a traditional Japanese inn with futons and tatami mats for sleeping and Japanese baths, breakfasts and dinners. Book a Western-style hotel or Airbnb if you want a regular bed and Western-style bathroom. 

* Almost any form of train or bus transport can be booked on Klook.com. Reservations are required for the Shinkansen (bullet) trains. Booking online can be less stress than going to a machine or ticket window in a crowded station.

* Embrace cultural quirks. One attraction noted that it requires the original bar code you receive when booking as opposed to a screen shot.  

In an effort to drum up early-morning business, coffee shops will often offer "morning sets" which include a small breakfast for the price of coffee other times during the day.

Morning set: Breakfast for the price of coffee

Hotels often throw in free snacks. Our hotel in Nagano offers ice cream in the lobby 24-7. The Super hotel in Asakusa advertises free drinks from 5 -8 p.m. Other hotels offer a free late-snack of ramen after 9 p.m.

*Learn a little Japanese. Words are pronounced exactly as they look, with no accent on any syllable. I like the SpeakEasy app for usefull phrases and audio pronunciation.

Travelers looking for value, new experiences should pivot to Asia

 

Taipei  night market

Remember when the phrase "Pivot to Asia" stood for a U.S. foreign policy strategy of shifting our focus away from Europe and the Middle East?

Politically that never happened. Instead, we became involved in a war in Europe and two wars in the Middle East. But with overcrowding and anti-tourism sentiment rising in some parts of Europe. and the euro rising in value against the dollar, adapting the "pivot to Asia" concept to travel makes sense

Experienced travelers know that nearly every Asian country offers great value, safe travel and unique experiences, but for whatever reason- most likely perceived language and cultural unfamiliarity - Americans are more apt to focus on Europe, Mexico or the Caribbean.

Maybe it's time for a change.

While attending a celebration in Seattle recently for the opening of the Taiwan Tourism Administration's first  U.S. information center, I was reminded of the delightful week my husband and I spent a few years ago in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, the independent island off the coast of mainland China. 

Unused to seeing many Western visitors, people gave us the thumbs up sign on the subway, offered us extra free samples at the markets, chased us down the street asking if we need directions, and always asked where we are from and how long we plan to stay.

This amazing city is popular with other Asians, but Taiwan remains off-the-radar for most Americans - the reason for the recent West Coast tourism push.

Four airlines now fly non-stop between Seattle and Taipei. There are also non-stops to Tokyo, Singapore, Mainland China, Manilla and Seoul and South Korea, with connections onto Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and other Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

Why go? Competitive airfares, Inexpensive hotels and transportation; great food and friendly people are a few reasons. 

Dishing out a lemon jelly drink 

In Taipei, we spent the week walking an average 8 miles a day while eating our way through the night markets, exploring tea plantations, dipping our toes in thermal hot springs and just soaking up life in a high-energy city where street vendors dishing out 30-cent dumplings do business next door to New York and Tokyo-style shopping malls. The suburb of Beitou, a town known for its thermal hot springs, is just 20 minutes out on Taipei's efficient metro. 

If safety is one of your concerns, add that to the list of reasons to visit Asia. Syndicated travel consumer columnist Christopher Elliott loves to yammer about "travel fears," mainly it seems to generate a good headline or scary cartoon. Not that anyone should feel over-confident about not being pick-pocketed, ripped-off or harassed, but the chances of having to worry about these things is minimal compared to big cities in Europe. 

Steam rises from Beitou's thermal valley 

Last year, we visited Cambodia and Hanoi for the second time. This  year we are planning a return trip to Japan. Our first was more than 20 years ago. Given the 9-hour flight from Seattle is no longer than it takes us to get to Amsterdam or Paris, why not return? 

Japan is one of the few countries where the value of the dollar remains strong (Canada is another), meaning that what was once an expensive country for Americans now represents good value.

I rented a full apartment in Tokyo on Airbnb for about $140 a night, booked a $115-a-night hotel in Nagano that includes breakfast and free ice cream 24-7, and am now sorting through offers from free volunteer guide services to meet locals and see what's new.

I'll use klook.com, an easy-to-use booking site, to find time tables and book tickets for bullet trains online. ChatGPT helped me research the many coffee shops that offer breakfast in the morning (called "morning sets") for the price of coffee in the afternoon.

The two Western-style hotels I booked outside of Tokyo required no credit card deposit or advance payments. Neither did the ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) I booked in the charming Kiso Valley, an ancient trade route mapped during the Edo Period (1603-1868) when Samuri soldiers walked from Tokyo to Kyoto.  Accommodations there are often booked a year ahead, but the family-owned Echigoya-Ryokan in old post town of Narai simply took my name and dates, and asked that I let them know if plans change. 

English is not as widely spoken in Japan as in some other Asian countries, but learning to pronounce key words and phrases is easy. This is because Japanese words are pronounced exactly the way they look, with no accents on any syllables. Language apps can help.

While Europeans protest over-tourism due to suffocating crowds ruining their cities and Airbnbs driving up rents,  Asian countries are hungry for more American visitors.

Taiwan's new Seattle headquarters will serve as a central resource for travelers, media, and tourism professionals throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond — including cities such as Portland, Salt Lake City, and Denver. 

While American companies are pulling their support for DEI initiatives and PRIDE events, Taiwan (the first country in Asia to leagalize same-sex marriage) plans to be a sponsor of Seattle's PRIDE parade in 2026.

And while U.S. airlines oppose new rules making it easier for those with special needs to travel with wheelchairs, Taiwan has taken steps to welcome older adults and travelers with mobility needs.

Taiwan and other Asian countries are clearly pivoting to the U.S. It's time for us to return the favor.

Fraser Country: City life gives way to rural adventures 30 miles from Vancouver B.C.

 

A winery and vineyard on the Langley self-guided farm tour

With spring flowers in bloom and summer approaching, those crossing the Canadian border towards Vancouver B.C. might want to bypass the usual urban adventures for a rural getaway.

Think visits to wineries and breweries; farm stores; and walks or bike rides along scenic river paths.

They call it Fraser Country, a fertile valley formed by the Lower Fraser River, running 90 miles between Vancouver and Hope B.C.

Build along a floodplain just 30 miles east of Vancouver are berry and dairy farms, dikes for biking or walking and outdoor tasting rooms surrounded by soaring mountains in an area commonly called the Lower Fraser Valley. 

Agriculture is the main focus, but visitors will also find golf courses, opportunities for sturgeon and salmon fishing; kyaking and mountain hikes, all within a short drive of the historic town of Fort Langley on south side of the river, and the suburban towns of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge to the north.

Downtown Fort Langley

Quaint Fort Langley brims with locally-owned cafes, restaurants, antique shops and bakeries.  It’s best-known as the home to the Fort Langley National Historic Site,  the former Hudson Bay Company's fur trading post declared by the British as the birthplace of British Columbia in 1858.   

Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, at first glance mostly  housing developments and strip malls, are hidden corners of tranquility nestled between the Pitt, Alouette and Fraser Rivers in the foothills of the Golden Ears mountains.

 Both sides, connected by the Golden Ears Bridge in what's known as the Lower Fraser River Valley, have their advantages. Fort Langley has more lodging. Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge have fewer tourists.

Farm tours

Wherever you base, start your explorations by following the Langely Self-Guided Circle Farm tour, a roadmap to 16 farm stores, U-pick farms, wineries, breweries and more.      

Milner Valley Cheese

Among the many worthy stops is Milner Valley Cheese, a producer of farmstead cheeses made with pasteurized goat milk from the family’s herd of long-eared Nubian and Alpine goats. Visitors can pick up cheeses and ice cream in the farm store, then picnic in the garden while the goats are in the pasture, or peak into the milking parlor.

U-pick berry farms welcome visitors

The biggest farm store and U-pick farm in the area is Krause Berry Farms.  A tent set up next to a huge blue barn fills year-round with regulars who line up for freshly-made waffles pilled with strawberries or seasonal berries. Visit in the summer for U-pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. 

Krause Berry Farms' strawberry waffle

Set in a wooded area overlooking a pond is Locality Brewing, a farm-to-glass brewery that grows its hops and barley in fields next to its rural taproom. Chairs and picnic tables are strewn around a  dog-friendly outdoor tasting room where a food truck with bison burgers pulls up in the afternoons.

Locality Brewing

Views of the Golden Ears mountains set the scene for relaxing  with a cocktail on a shaded patio at Roots & Wings Distillery, the first craft distillery in Langley Township. 

The tasting room is a single-wide trailer resembling a cabin in the hills of Kentucky. Inside are shelves filled with vodka, gin and whiskey bottles decorated with colorful labels picturing the mountains and a vintage tractor the owners once used to plow their fields. 

Partners Rebekah Crowley and Rob Rindt do  everything on Rob's family farm, from planting, growing and harvesting the potatoes and botanicals used in their spirits, to fermenting and distilling. 

Biking the dikes

With about 40 miles of interconnected trails, the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows dike system, seven miles across the Fraser from Fort Langley,  offers bikers many choices for rides along flat, mostly hard-packed gravel paths. 

Bike and walking path along the Pitt River

Built by Dutch settlers in the 1950s as a method of flood control, the dikes form an interconnected system of walking and bicycling trails along the Pitt, Alouette CQ and Fraser Rivers.

Let's go Biking, a website dedicated to easy rides around metro Vancouver, outlines a variety of rides of varying lengths with access points, directions and sights marked on printable maps. 

Doable in a half-day is the Ridge Meadows Circle route, a 20-mile ride along all three rivers, mostly on dikes and and a few roads with dedicated bike lanes.  

Starting at the planned community of Osprey Village in Pitt Meadows, cyclists pedal first along the banks of the Fraser, then along a narrow path in the forested Pitt River Greenway. The trail widens as it leaves the woods, and continues past a small airport, a cedar mill, blueberry farms and cranberry bogs along the Fraser and Pitt Rivers. 

Most scenic is at leg of the trail along the south side of the Alouette, the most peaceful of the three rivers, with views of Golden Ears in the late afternoon light. 

Cycling the dikes

Before or after a ride, take time to stop in Osprey Village for coffee and a snack at the Stomping Grounds Cafe & Bistro, or a gelato at Sweet Tooth Creamery. Stop in at the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery, a free community gallery supporting the work of local and regional artists.

Osprey Village 

 Hiking in Grant Narrows Provincial Park

Twelve miles from Osprey Village is Grant Narrows Provincial  Park, a dog-friendly wilderness area and wildlife habitat where the Pitt River meets the 16-mile-long Pitt Lake. 

A four-mile walk along the Katzie Marsh Loop starts in the Pitt-Addington Marsh Wildlife Management Area which supports more than 200 bird and 29 mammal species.

Along the Katzie Marsh Loop

The walk incorporates a hike along the Pitt River dike trail, a flat, wide trail of packed gravel, flanked on one side by the Pitt River, and the other by a marsh filled with watershields, rooted plants that float on the surface similar to water lilies, but smaller. 

To make the most of the scenery, be sure to take climb the wooden lookout towers to spot ducks, geese, herons and osprey.

Lookout tower for spotting wildlife

On the way to or from the park, plan a stop for breakfast, lunch or picnic supplies at Golden Ears Cheescrafters https://cheesecrafters.ca CQ where two Maple Ridge sisters make cheeses, curds and butter using milk from their dairy next door.

If this trip wets your appetite for more, consider exploring further east to Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.'s  resort community on the shore of Harrison Lake. 

From there, the Fraser River narrows at the town of Hope, the gateway to B.C.’s interior. Once a fur trade and gold rush town, it is known as the “Chainsaw Carving Capital” with 20 giant wooden sculptures scattered around town.

If you go:

Expect good value:  Fewer Canadians are coming to the U.S.  due to political concerns, but American visitors are being welcomed as usual.

Travel in Canada is an especially good value right now. Something priced at $1 Canadian costs just 71 cents U.S. based on current exchange rates.

Getting there: If Vancouver isn't on your itinerary, bypass the  Blaine/Peach Arch border crossing, and detour from Interstate- 5 to the Lynden / Aldergrove crossing. Fort Langley is 15 miles from the border. Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge are a few miles north of Fort Langley, across the Fraser River via the Golden Ears Bridge.  

For general tourism and lodging information: See https://www.thefraservalley.ca  

Tourism Langley has info at https://www.tourism-langley.ca 

For Maple Ridge and Pitt meadows info, see https://www.travel-british-columbia.com/vancouver-coast-mountains/vancouver-area/maple-ridge-pitt-meadows/ CQ

Farm tours: Download a map for the Langley Self-Guided Farm Tour at https://www.thefraservalley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Langley-Circle-Farm-Tour-2025-Guide.pdf CQ Seasonal hours vary so check websites before venturing out.

Trail maps: Let's Go Biking has suggested routes along the dike trails, along with maps and trail descriptions. See also http://www.alltrails.com  

Park info: The City of Pitt Meadows has information on Grant Narrows Regional Park at https://www.pittmeadows.ca/parks-recreation/parks-fields-facilities/parks-list/pitt-addington-marshgrant-narrows CQ

Rabat: Morocco's out-of-the way modern capital rewards visitors

 

Landmarks such as this mural help visitors navigate the Rabat medina

A sleek electric tram runs parallel to a mile-long wall dating to the 17th century in Morocco's capital city of Rabat. 

The sand-colored wall -called the Andalusian Wall for the muslims who were expelled from Spain by Christian conquerers-  tells the story of a time when Rabat was established as a military base for launching campaigns into Spain. Defense was crucial to daily life.  

The Andalusian wall in Rabat

On one side of the wall is the modern city with wide streets lined with government buildings, parks and French cafes. On the other side is the medina, the historic old town where muslims expelled from Spain settled in the1600s. Today souks (shops) for locals and visitors as well as markets, hotels and homes are tucked into a maze of alleyways barely wide enough for pedestrians and bicycles.

Among the grand gates or arched passageways separating 21st century Rabat from life on the other side is the Bab el- Had, one of the original five fortified gates to the old city, set on massive square with elaborate wooden doors opening into the medina.

It's here my husband, Tom, and I meet Soufiane, a surfing instructor who moonlights as a walking tour guide for Freetour.com, a website that connects visitors with locals who work for tips.

We are in luck. Soulfiane tells us that six people have  signed up for his walking tour the next morning, but this afternoon, we are his only clients. He becomes our private tour guide for the next few hours as we follow him into the medina, and eventually outside the walls again, then inside another portal leading to the Kasbah. Once a 12th century former military fortress, it's  an exclusive neighborhood filled with gardens and homes overlooking the Bou Regreg River that feeds into the Atlantic ocean.  Soulfiane and his mother own a small store in the Kasbah. They are among just 200 or so Moroccans still living in the neighborhood, now mostly populated by wealthy diplomats. The doors or "gates" close at 11:30 p.m., and only residents  can get inside.

Surfer and tour guide Soufiane

 "There's no reason to go to Rabat,'' a seasoned English traveler whom we had met in Spain told us. He favored nearby Casablanca, Morocco's largest city with a population of about 3.7 million. But I had read blogs written by people who loved Rabat, finding it more organized, let hectic and less tainted by tourism than other parts of Morocco.  Now, walking with Soufiane through the medina, stopping to take pictures of an aging vendor who sets up shop every afternoon, making and frying "Moroccan donuts,"  we were glad we came. As the capital as well as Morocco's fifth-largest city (population 1.7 million), Rabat exists for Moroccans. Tourists who come here after spending time in Marrakesh will feel the difference. 

Donuts made from unsweetened yeast dough and fried

Vendors in the larger cities often cover their faces to avoid being photographed, but here people seemed more open. Soulfiane assured us it wasn't necessary to to buy anything, but of course, we did. 

Muslims in Rabat observe traditional Friday prayers at the mosques, with the faithful sometimes setting up prayer rugs on the sidewalks outside to accommodate the overflow. Couscous is traditionally cooked or served on Fridays, but unlike in other parts of the Muslim world, Moroccans' work on Fridays and take Saturdays and Sundays off. Women can choose to wear whatever they want, but both men and women tend to dress in traditional garb for Friday prayers.

Tucked into alleys are riads - traditionally-styled Moroccan hotels - and fine restaurants such as Dar Ziki, a charming restaurant tucked inside an old house with an open  courtyard. We went back twice for the vegetable and lamb tagines, Friday couscous and the date and nut pie. Our guesthouse was Dar Zouhour where suites with private baths surround a flowered courtyard. Breakfast was a mix of French and Moroccan treats, eggs, coffee and mint tea. Like most riads, it also served dinner on request.  

Breakfast at Dar Zouhour

Almost every city in Morocco has a Kasbah but the beautifully-restored Kasbah of the Oudayas in Rabat is unique. A UNESCO site named for the Udaya tribe, a group of soldiers settled here in the 17th century by Sultan Moulay Ismail. it's  now a peaceful neighborhood with gardens and white-and-blue houses, traditional Andalusian architecture—a legacy of Muslim refugees from Spain - and gardens created when Rabat was a French protectorate.

Its Moorish-style cafe is popular in the late afternoons for its sunset views and what Soulfiane called "Moroccan whiskey," cold tea served in tall glasses stuffed with fresh mint.

Entrance to the Kashah of the Oudayas

Fishing in the river below the Kashah

Rabat's other main sights are few, but impressive. At the recommendation of our riad, we hired a Velo (bicycle) taxi to take us to Chellah, a recently restored archeological site where nest atop ancient minarets set among Phoenician, Roman and Islamic-era ruins.

Ancient ruins in Chellah with the rocket-shaped Mohammed VI Tower in the distance. At 55 stories, it is the tallest building in Morocco

A stork sits atop an ancient minaret in Chellah

Our Velo taxi 

Our next stop was Hassan Tower. Commissioned by the sultan in 1195, it was intended to be the tallest minaret in the world, part of a grand mosque complex that was never completed. Construction halted in 1199 following the sultan's death, leaving the tower incomplete at 144 feet—about half of its intended 282-foot  height. Next to it is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. housing the tombs of King Mohammed V and his sons, King Hassan II and Prince Moulay Abdallah. Both are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a major draw for Moroccan pilgrims.

One of the things we enjoyed most about our three days in Rabat was becoming morning regulars at a cafe Soufiane recommended across from the Kasbah. We would walk from our hotel each morning, through the medina, using landmarks and a GPS as our guides, then exit through an archway across from the Kasbah. "Come once, and you're a stranger," the saying goes. "Come twice and you are a friend"

A young waitress who recognized us on our second morning approached Tom with a message translated from Arabic into English on her mobile phone. 

It read “You remind me of my grandfather, bless his soul. Could I take my photo with you?” Of course, he agreed.  It's moments like this that make the best travel memories.

Fes: Morocco's oldest city where tourism takes second place to daily life

 

Parking a donkey in the Fes medina

The last time we were in Morocco was 15 years ago on a short hop from Madrid to Marrakech. It‘s a beautiful city filled with history, but we were hassled to the point that I didn‘t think we would ever return.

The souks overflowed with cheap reproductions of traditional Moroccan handicrafts, some made in China and almost all priced in euros for the convenience of French and Italian sunseekers. Haggling is a way of life as it is in many parts of the world. Sadly, it wasn;t always good-natured.

“You are Jewish, I can tell,” one shopkeeper called out to my husband, Tom, when we left his jewelry shop without buying (Tom is Italian-American). Another accused us of being from Texas.

The Fes medina

Yet, here we are again, this time deep inside what some consider the best-preserved old city in the Arab world, the sprawling, labyrinthine medina of Fes el Bali. On a walk with our friend Jamal, a freelance guide whom we met on Airbnb, we encounter a donkey and its owner along one of the 9,000 “streets” - maze-like alleys really - in the 13th century walled  old city. 

Vendors use push carts to deliver fresh mint to tea shops 

With traffic limited to animals, pedestrians and push carts, we walk with Jamal through lanes once measured by the width of camels to souks filled with vendors working in closet-like niches. They stir vats of soup, brew tea, bake bread and shatter slabs of peanut nougat into bite-sized pieces. One section is devoted to wedding dresses. Others to metal crafts, weaving and woodcarving. Stalls overflow with tiny bottles of orange blossom oil, shiny tea pots and brightly-colored leather cushions. Bargaining is expected, but no one pressures us to buy. 

Tanning and dying leather is one of the major industries in Fes

Tea shop in the medina

Walking through an unmarked opening in a wall, and up several steep flights of narrow stairs, we meet Abdullah, 71, and drink our first of many glasses of tea brewed with piles of fresh herbs delivered daily to the stand he has operated in the Medina for 50 years. We sit in stools while he boils the water in copper cups on a tiny stove, then pours it into tall glasses stuffed with mint, lemon verbena and orange blossoms.

Abdullah has been brewing tea in the medina for 50 years

Boiling hot water for fresh mint tea

Sorting through fresh mint and other herbs delivered daily

Lesson learned:  Morocco's imperial cities of Marrakech, Fes, Meknes and Rabat- the homes of sultans and kings over the centuries - are as different from each other as Seattle, New York, Houston or Los Angeles.

Marrakech, the most well-known, is a logical first choice for most visitors, but on our second visit, we were determined to delve deeper. Several days spent in Fes, Morocco's oldest city and considered the Islamic country's spiritual capital, and then Rabat, the current capital, left us feeling immersed in an exotic culture more focused on daily life than tourism.

One of our best decisions was to forgo stays in modern hotels in the newer parts of each town in favor of staying in riads tucked inside the walled medinas. Riads are traditionally-styled multi-level guest houses with rooms facing an inner courtyard. They were formerly the homes of wealthy families and  merchants until they moved to the new towns (Villes Nouvelles) built by the French. After that time, many of the  riads became rooming houses for poor residents who lived in the medina. As tourism advanced in Morocco, many were turned into hotels, offering a peaceful retreat from the chaos outside.

Deliveries are made by pushcarts or donkeys in the Fes medina

In Fes, the five-story Riad Layla became our home for the next five nights. A taxi dropped us at the nearest “gate,” or portal to the medina. Men with pushcarts wait to help people with their luggage, but since we had only roller bags, and Riad Layla wasn’t far, we walked in on our own and rang the buzzer next to a heavy wooden door. 

Riad Layla's inner courtyard

Our bedroom

Windows open to the courtyard rather than the outside

Overlooking the courtyard garden was our third-floor room, reached by climbing 30 narrow, winding steps with no handrails. Getting to breakfast each morning required going down those steps again, crossing the courtyard, and climbing another 72 steps to the fifth floor rooftop terrace. There a traditional Moroccan breakfast awaited - fresh-squeezed orange juice, coffee, tea, eggs, and assortment of savory pancakes, corn cakes and some French touches (Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912-1956) such as fresh baguette and warm croissants. Like most everything in Morocco, our riad was a bargain at around $125 per night including breakfast. 

Touring the medina with Jamal

Our second-best decision was to ignore advice to not try to navigate the Medina on our own without joining either a group tour or hiring a private guide for the entire time. Using our introductory two-hour walk with Jamal to orient ourselves, we then relied on a GPS to map and track where we were going and where we had been.  Landmarks helped (turn left at the stall where the guy cuts chicken with a scissors) and hints from Jamal such recognizing the shape of street signs indicating a dead-end.

Scattered throughout the medina are mosques, museums, the world's first and still-operating university, and a massive leather tannery where visitors are given bouquets of mint to hold to their noses to mask the smell.

Making chicken sandwiches in the Fes medina 

Street food vendors, woodworkers, metal craftsmen and bakers carry on family-owned businesses that go back generations. Moroccans generally shy away from having their pictures taken, so to create some opportunities to photograph and gain a better insight into culinary traditions, we spent several hours on a street food tour one morning with Mostafa Laachaci, a guide for a local travel agency whom we found on the website Get Your Guide.

Our first stop was to a stall where the fifth-generation owners cook a high-protein breakfast soup of fava beans, olive oil and garlic on a wood-burning stove. Mostafa picked up a few rounds of barley bread to go with the soup which we ate standing while he went off to buy a few eggs, some black olives and a plastic bucket of khlea, a confit of Moroccan preserved meat. 

Making fave bean soup 

Next stop was a carpet shop where Mostafa had arranged with the owners to set up a little table for us to enjoy the meal. While we talked with the owners, he went off to have the meat and eggs cooked in a traditional tagine, a cone-shaped clay pot which Moroccans use to slow-cook meat and vegetable casserole dishes.

Our street food lunch served in a carpet shop

Street cooks start early preparing special dishes, using techniques handed down by generations of family members. Old photos in this woman's stall showed her parents or grandparents making a type of pastry dough called warqa in the exact say way she makes it today. The dough is used in a savory pie called pastilla. She rolls a ball of dough flat, then stretches it over an upturned jar that looks like a bald head that is heated underneath. The result is a thin and crispy pastry which is wrapped around the ingredients - usually chicken or vegetables - in the pastilla.

We love finding ways to connect with locals when we travel. Booking a dinner in a family home through Eatwith.com, the Airbnb of dining, is one of the best ways. A search on the website connected us with Fadila Eddaoui and Driss Mikdar who live in the Ville Nouveau, the modern town filled with high-rises, swank cafes, gardens and wide boulevards.

Avenue Hassan II in the Ville Nouveau is lined with palm trees and gardens

A short taxi ride from the Medina took us to their flat, a spacious upper-floor apartment where Fadila teaches cooking classes when she is not teaching French at the local middle school. Driss is a tour guide, and together, they have been working on a cookbook called A Feast in Fes available on Amazon.

Fadila uncovers her special lamb tagine 

There were too many dishes on the table to count, starting with homemade dates, honey cakes and Harira soup, and moving onto to chicken Pastilla – A savory and sweet delicacy made with layers of crispy pastry, shredded chicken, almonds, cinnamon, and saffron - followed by a slow-cooked lamb tagine accompanied by a half-dozen side dishes plus tea and homemade cookies. 

It was meal to remember but more importantly, people to never forget.

Next: On to Rabat

Our favorite pastime: Stopping for fresh mint tea available everywhere for $1.50 per glass