We may run into villians

We caught up with Louwrens and Marianne after a couple of nights in the Riad in Marrakech. It was great to see them again after so long. They were equally impressed with the sights and sounds of the city. We decided to rent a car for the next part of the journey, there are hundreds of tour companies offering well packed trips to the areas that we wanted to go, but as we had a month, we wanted the flexibility of a car. In the end, contrary to what all the guide books say about renting cars in Morocco - it proved to be the cheapest and by far the most convenient way to see the country.

After a quick familiarisation session navigating our way out of the city, we were soon on the road headed South to a great spot called Ait Ben Hadou the site made famous by Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and other big budget films. On the way we crossed the High Atlas mountains - and they were... really high.

We stayed a night in both the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorge, both within easy reach if you have a car and well worth the visit.

Camping proved to be really cheap in Morocco and we felt safe in most of the places we stayed.

We camped up on the roof. It was great, we watched the sunset over the desert and really started feeling that we were in the heart of the country and at the beginning of a true adventure.