This afternoon we had the priviledge to meet Ayesha and to be invited into her home in the village of Bhalil outside. Her age is estimated at anything from 70 to 90, but no one really knows because no records were kept.

Ayesha is known as the lady who lives in a cave. In truth the whole population of Bhalil are cave dwellers. Generations of families live there and never stray far from home. Ayesha has never been further from home than Fes.

She told us all the story of her life from the time she came to the cave at the age of twelve. She told us of the circumstances of her arranged marriage at 15 to a man she did not speak to until after the birth of their first child. We learned about sharing the cave with generations of the same family and all their animals. We met one of her eight children and saw her giving a greatgrandson a serious talking to.

Her life is a curious mix of anachronisms. She still carries water from the well in a bucket balanced on her head, but she is wearing a pair of orange crocs on her feet. Her cave has a lightbulb (powered by car battery) but she only turns it on when tourists call.

Her attitude to life is amazing.