In cave towns in Africa, residents refused to return to life on the ground. Why?

Balil is not far from Fez, an ancient Moroccan city in Africa, but 40 kilometers away are two different worlds. Compared with the tourists in Fez, this small town scattered at the foot of Atlas Mountain is very quiet. Balearic Ali is built on a mountain, which is rarely known to the outside world and there are not many tourists. Perhaps it is because there is little external interference here. Compared with the impression of local residents in Fez, the Balearic people give us the impression that they are simpler and warmer, and the underground caves attract the most tourists.

Hundreds of years ago, people who immigrated here dug caves in the mountains, just like people on the Yellow River Plateau in China. There used to be many caves on this mountain. Underground space is warm in winter and cool in summer, providing a warm habitat for countless families. However, due to the increase of population, underground space has been damaged to varying degrees. With the change of modern living space concept, people have been far away from underground space. As time went on, many caves collapsed.

When this kind of underground house began to highlight its cultural relics and tourism value, there was little underground space left, and only a few families survived because they insisted on living in underground caves and refused to return to life on the ground. However, due to the limited number of preserved caves, this rare cave has not spread all over the world, and even few people in Morocco know about it. So most of the time, the town is very quiet, except for local residents, few outsiders walk in the old streets and alleys.

Some residents have left the towns where they have lived for generations, while others choose to go to Memphis or other distant countries to look for job opportunities. Therefore, there are not many young people in this town. Most of them are women, children and some left-behind elderly people. Walking quietly in the street makes people feel lonely. Life in small towns may not be as rich as that in developed countries, and transportation, living environment and education are far behind. However, people who have lived in this town for generations seem to be very satisfied with their present life.