Our day trekking alongside the river at the base of the Dades Valley, saw us once again under the guidance of Nasri. He took us from a viewing spot on the cliffs, where he pointed out that the rock formations looked like monkey paws, down into the lush valley below, where we tried to keep out of the way of the man ploughing with his donkey & the women picking corn!
The dry rocky cliffs contrast strongly with the lush vegetation alongside the river bed. This is where walnuts, figs, & many vegetable crops grow. It is also where we saw women washing clothes in the river water & toiling away in the fields cutting alfalfa & other crops, which were then strapped onto donkeys, taken to the river to be washed, laid out on the hot pebbles to dry & then re-strapped onto the donkey to take home.
In one of the garden beds, where crops had clearly been harvested & the land was lying fallow, boys had obviously not hesitated to erect a couple of soccer goals with which to practise their favourite sport!!
Along the way we saw the elegant remains of this Kasbah, with the moon looking down from above.
Our picnic was to be on one side of the river, but we were on the other side! It doesn't look too difficult to cross in this photo, but I can assure you, that after refusing to be taken across by a donkey or carried by Nasri & taking off shoes & socks...this short distance from one side to the other was EXTREMELY slippery, not to mention iceberg freezing! I GREATLY appreciated having a man on either side of me preventing me from making the crossing on my backside!!!!!
It was worth the effort for the picnic on the other side, which not only included a tranquil setting with the lulling sound of running water nearby....but more fresh pomegranate.
After our repast & a pleasant soaking-in of the atmosphere, we hit the road again for a journey further up the gorge.
The sides were steep & the road relatively close to water level. If there was much of a rain, the road would definitely be flooded!
The day finished with Nasri taking us to his sister's house for mint tea & walnuts. She wasn't there however, as she is the local junior primary school teacher. So after having our fill, we just wandered down to the small classroom & said "hello" to about 10 children between 3 & 6. They were GORGEOUS little children. I'm sorry there's no photo, but generally speaking the people don't like having their photos taken here & it wasn't appropriate in this situation anyway.
It was another day, where we felt we'd seen a bit more of the less touristy side of Morocco.
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