Fotos

GRAVEYARD in DRAA VALLEY

We arranged for a car & driver to take us from Ouarzazate through the Draa Valley to Zagora. On the way back in the late afternoon, when the light is amazing, we stopped for some pictures of the Atlas mountains. Our driver informed me that the arid plot of land in the foreground was a graveyard and he graves were simply marked by a stone or rock.

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The Draa valley is a more than 100 kilometres long belt of date palms. Plus some few people, some mountains, and a river disappearing gradually while you make the journey -- even in winter time.

When travelling down the Draa you start off in Ouarzazate, and I hope you have your own vehicle. Speed, comfort, and the freedom to stop where ever you want, is more important than the nice people you could meet in a crowded bus.

You follow the river, which is like one big plantation, normally some 20 metres wide on both sides of the river bank, before the desert takes control. All the way, small irrigation systems secures the survival of the palms, and more important, the people living of the crops.

Every now and then, you pass a small village, where the modern ages haven't had any impact. In these places, all women are veiled and dressed in clothes with patterns changing from village to village. Even the men are somewhat suspicious towards you. Once I tried to make a photo of a large group of women washing clothes in a small canal running close Zagora (nobody's face would have been visible), but in few seconds half of them had cleared off.

excerpt from LookLex.com