I wasn’t too happy about being taken for granted that we wanted rooms to stay in but seeing that the last time Alison had a good shower was in Algeciras, I didn’t make an issue of it. The charges of 600 Dhs, half board per day seemed excessive though.

Maison Merzouga had a nice terrace where we dined – candle lit as well!! After a hearty breakfast we decided to head for the sand dunes and what a sight it was – very intimidating indeed.

Touts came from all corners to lead us into the dunes but no way was I going anywhere without assessing things myself. Looking at how unstable the dunes were and with temperatures in the high 30s C, we decided against proceeding too far in, for fear of getting bogged in the sand with Adrian in Tuah.

We made our way to Merzouga village where we were hassle by more touts and decided to head out beyond Merzouga. We ended up at the end of the tarmac road in Taouz where we met Asmaa, a teacher at the primary school.

She confirmed that the school had computers and gladly received the Tourism Malaysia promotional materials. We were then introduced to the rest of the teachers……Mouna!!! who had 2 classes going simultaneously and I decided to give her a hand.

Soon it was time to say au revoir to the kids, but at Mouna’s suggestion Asmaa hosted us to lunch at their home. Apparently the girls were the first 2 female teachers to be posted in the wilds. Luch was pasta, stuffed roti and avocado custard and Adrian made himself at home while we ate. We left Taouz with fond memories of the kids and two young teachers.

On the way back to Merzouga we did the off road circuit that tourist are normally taken on by the local 4x4s. Back at the village we came across ITV film crew filming a documentary and tried to get Tuah in it but without success, while Adrian joined the local youth touts.