An unusually quiet street scene in Fes, Morocco
Shops in the medina of Fes in Morocco
The streets of Morocco are usually filled with milling crowds of people, especially in the medina like the one in Fes.
The sounds, smells and constant movement adds to this confusion for the visitor like me.
It was therefore a pleasant surprise to come across a brief hiatus in the bustling crowds as shown in today’s photos. It enabled me to had a good look at some of the items for sale. It also afforded an unusually good photographic opportunity, clear of the crowds.
Shops in the medina of Fes in Morocco
Mosaics in Fes, Morocco
Cottage industries in Addis Ababa
Clothing repairs and manufacturing in the streets of Addis Ababa
On the final evening of our stay in Addis Ababa we went for walk in a nearby street. This was a typical suburban street with active markets on the footpaths and many shops open with their wares spilling out onto the footpath.
I actually use the term “footpath” loosely; there was no real path, or smooth walking surface. I am referring only to the space between the shop frontages and the road. Because these “footpaths” were often rocky, uneven, rutted, muddy and unsuitable for easy walking, so most people walked on the road. The constant hooting of car and truck horns resulted from waves of pedestrians clogging up the road’s surface.
One of businesses which intrigued my wife is shown in the above photo. It shows a man sewing on an old treadle sewing machine. On an earlier trip in Nepal I saw this activity in many places.
Another cottage industry we saw in a number of areas of Addis Ababa was furniture making, shown in the photo below.
Street scene, Addis Ababa – furniture making
Street scenes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Street vendor, Addis Ababa
By way of contrast with the photos I posted yesterday, today I have shown some scenes of the shops and buildings of some of the ordinary people living in the bustling city of Addis Ababa. There are thousands of street vendors like the one shown above, selling everything from fruit and vegetables to clothing to shoes to whatever you want.
Shops in suburban Addis Ababa
Many of the shops are tiny – perhaps only a few square metres in the front room of a house. Bakeries, butcher shops, furniture shops, car repair garages, cafes, clothing shops, sheep and goats for sale, shoe shops – the list could go on and on. In any one street you can find thousands of different items for sale. It’s all very colourful and diverse with pedestrians moving along the street – or on the road – all the time.
One interesting thing we observed in moving through the streets and looking into shops; they are generally very clean. The street may be rough with potholes, drains, animal excrement and the like, but most shopkeepers take a pride in their shops and the wares they are selling. Even in the poorest areas they attempt to give good service and a good product.
Shops in suburban Addis Ababa
Shops in suburban Addis Ababa
Shops in suburban Addis Ababa