Likened in Egyptian tradition to a bud on the stem of the Nile and an "earthly paradise" in the desert, the Fayoum depends on river water - not springs or wells, like a true oasis. The water is distributed around the depression by a system of canals going back to ancient times, creating a lush rural enclave of palm trees dividing cotton and clover fields, orchards, and carefully tended crops of tomatoes and medicinal plants in the sandier outlying regions. Pigeons nest in mud-brick coops shaped like giant Victorian trifles, blindfolded cattle turn threshing machines and water buffalo plod home for milking. Along one shore of Lake Qaroun are fishing communities, while on the periphery are encampments of semi-nomadic Bedouin. About two million people live here, in half a dozen towns and 158 villages.