The enchanted valley

It is interesting how, depending on the regions we visit, our perception of the country can be very different. If I had to define Morocco in three words, it would be calm, hospitality, and music. But I think that somebody who has only been in Marrakesh would ask me where I found the ‘calm’. Well, not in Marrakesh. But during my trip I did not spend a lot of time in big cities, I mainly stayed in the Atlas and the desert, and there I found calm, hospitality, and music.

Calm, because there is not a lot people and, more important, they live without stress. Quiet, because people can leave their door open without fear of being stolen, because they can leave children playing alone in the streets. Peaceful, for the silence and immensity of the desert.

Hospitality, because you are always welcomed with a mint tea, and they helped us when we needed it.

Music, because Moroccan people have the rithm inside them. They can play several instruments, sing, alone or in group, and they play in coordination without even looking at each other.

 We spent one of the first nights in the Oasis of Fint, where we found all this and more. We were told that Fint means ‘hidden’, and it is called like this because it is hidden in a valley (yes... there are oasis in the mountains!). We saw it first from the hills, and from that point of view, it reminded me of the enchanted valley of ‘Land before time’. It is a small paradise of water and palms, a place where I wouldn’t mind spending a week or a month of holidays. 

Next to the oasis itself there is a small village of 87 houses and around 200 people. We stayed in a Berber hostel, where we were invited to a mint tea when we arrived. We talked with the owner and some guys from the village until dinner time. For dinner, we had a soup, tajine, and fruits. And after the dinner, we enjoyed an improvised concert done by the guys we had met before!

Days start early in the oasis (and, I would say, in all Morocco in general). Women go early to the communitarian ovens to bake the bread. One of them (they make turns) goes even earlier to clean and start the fire. The other women go a bit later with the bread ready to cook. For breakfast we had some bread that just came out from the oven... so good!

  

In the oasis there are crops fields. They can cultivate almost everything: carrots, zucchini, grenade, pepper... in addition to the palm, which produce date. While we were having a walk, we saw some people collecting dates: one of them (a man, generally) goes up to the palm (to the top, without security ropes!), to throw the branches full of dates to the ground. Other people (men, women and children) collected the fruits that would carry later on to the village with the donkeys.