Tree of Life

Hi Bloggers,

Following our tour of the souks and a fantastic lunch at a local Thai restaurant, we proceeded to the highlight of the day - the Tree of Life. Basically, it's a solitary tree in the middle of the desert. No-one's fully sure where it gets its water from, but presumeably there's an underground table or resevoir there. Anyway, this tree is reputed to be hundreds of years old. To be quite honest, I was expecting to be disappointed, but actually was pleasantly surprised, as, in fact, the place is quite atmospheric and there's a great view around.

The biggest problem was actually finding the place! You would have thought the authorities would have gone to the trouble of making sure there were decent signposts for what is, after all, one of the country's main attractions. Anyway, after several circular detours and requests for directions, we did finally get there - just before sunset. As it turned out, that was probably the best time as the setting sun gives the place a distinctly reddish hue.

A lot of the tree had graffitti on it, which some people say spoils it. But actually I thought it rather enhanced the experience, giving it an extra historical dimension. Many of the signatures have even changed shape over time and are now really an integral part of the tree.

I'll let you judge for yourselves from the pictures.

Cheers,
Robert