TREKKING ALONG THE VALLEY OF ROSES

Today we were bound for El-Kelaa M'Gouna, the long & spread out town at the centre of Rose oil & rose water production. In Spring there is a Rose Festival here, when even driving down the road, one can smell the fragrance of Rosa Damascena on the air.  Here we turned off & headed up the Valley Of The Roses!

Also being part of the 'Valley of the Kasbahs, it went without saying that we would see many a fortified home along the way!  There were so many in fact that we thought it should be called 'The Valley Of A Million Kasbahs'!  Sadly, many of them are crumbling in disintegration. Recent rains meant that there was water flowing in the river, which we were to walk along for part of our trek.

With our local  Imazighan (we are trying not to use the title 'Berber' as it was bestowed by the Romans & means Barbarian!) guide, Nasri, we alternated walking along the rocky dry part of the river bed & the irrigation ridges of the vegetable beds.  Very aware of the value of water these people have constructed clever channels & methods of preparing the land to get the most production from it.

Not all the water channels had water gushing out like this one did! The vegetation was lush all around, with a lot of figs grown here.  There are 11 varieties of fig grown in this valley, 70 varieties all over Morocco!  A unique aspect to the vegetable plots here, is that they are fenced by rose bushes!  This keeps thieves & animals out, provides an extra income in Spring, as well as looking pretty when in flower!

It was extraordinary to still see snow on the distant mountains...

....as it was VERY warm whilst walking & we definitely needed our sunhats!

Along the way we saw donkeys disguised as maize stalks, women bent double with the loads they were carrying & in the river, many women with the household washing they were doing in the sunshine, before spreading it over bamboo canes to dry.

We also saw the ultimate storks nest!!!!!

We finished our walk with a wonderful picnic, of the best olives, fruit & bread.  the setting was serene, quiet & beautiful!  Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, just absorbing it all in!