(17) 24 March. Deserted Desert

After yesterday's trial separation Sue agreed to take me back today as long as I behaved myself and bought her chocolate every day...

What a great day it has been. Tata itself is amazing and everything you could imagine a Moroccan town to be. Being far enough south it avoids the tourist trappings and western influence of some of the more northern towns: it is all very traditional with men in jellaba and headscarf, women fully veiled, nobody rushing madly about. And as ever the people are so friendly. I went off this morning to get some fish (more later on why) with Josef, a local whose restaurant the guys had eaten in last night. As we walked along narrow lanes and doorways and through small markets it seemed that everybody knew Josef and he knew everyone. There is a charm and friendliness here that would have me stay longer but sadly we had to leave today.

Our route thus far has taken us to the south of the Anti Atlas Mountains but as a group we would all like to see them - they are meant to be spectacular - so we found a circular route that takes us from Tata north to Igherm and then back again to the nearby town of Akka from where we could head into the desert. The route is billed as 'mostly sealed' and there were various ideas on what this may mean but we reckoned it should be less bone jarring than yesterday.

Before we left there was one thing we had to do: prepare the fish for the ovens. Take a dozen fresh sardines and split into two piles. Sprinkle each with a little olive oil and juice of half a lemon then wrap in silver foil and wire to the engine block of a couple of handy old bangers. Cook at Gas Mark 8 or equivalent (110 miles at 40 mph). Yes, we thought we would try a different style of cooking and the results were delicious. There has to be a tv programme in there somewhere surely... (The downside to this method is that it does seem to leave a rather fishy smell trailing behind the vehicles but as one car pointed out that would remove any need for radios or mobiles to find out where you were: just follow the fish).

The route turned out to be tarmac most of the way and, yes, we know we are meant to be off road but if you saw the views today you too would think it were a reasonable sacrifice. We drove through valleys of rust-red rock with the strata showing clearly and wrapped and eroded into amazing patterns. Neither of us had seen anything quite like it; it was the sort of swirl you see pouring milk into molten chocolate. The mountain views were big enough to impress while still being small enough to allow you to take them all in. And the weather was perfect.

After heading north we looped back and then took a gravel road south towards Akka. As we followed this for a few miles it took us over a pass and then down below we saw two wide rocky ridges pushing out across desert: somewhere down there lay our camp site. We followed the track down and then struck off across the desert for half a mile to find an isolated campsite behind the ridge line. We parked up, dug a fire pit and in went the lamb we had bought two days ago. Two hours later we enjoyed baked lamb, salad and bread around the fire under the stars. Magic. The night passed with a few drinks, plenty of bon homie and each car singing a song for entertainment (Green Fields of France was ours in case you were wondering) then before long it was time to retire.

As I write this I am lying in the absolute stillness of the desert in my sleeping bag under the stars. The moon is lighting up the whole valley and if it were not for the fact I feel sleep beckoning I would go and spend a little more time enjoying the peace and solitude of this magical setting by moonlight before tomorrow's departure.