It was obviously not in the least comfortable sleeping in Tuah with the seat upright as I couldn’t recline it. In the early hours of the morning I heard voices outside and thought to myself that this was going to be a drug bust. To my disappointment it turned out to be an illegal sale of breakfast in the airport car park. As I was up I inspected Tuah for any sign of damage after the piste crossing and found the electrical connection for the towing bar bent.

It was a cheap night, 5 Dhs for the parking and we left the airport early. We decided to have a quick drive round Marakesh before moving on and was pointed in the direction of Ourika by a parking attendant we met.

That was where we headed for after stocking up on ration and McDonalds nuggets for Adrian. Adrian was given an opportunity to ride a camel but he gave that a pass. We made a quick getaway then as the hassling by touts was a bit overwhelming. Fossils with snails inscription ….genuine! (are there fakes???) offered at €40 was down to €5 by the time we bulldozed Tuah out of the area.

When it was safe to stop, we managed to admire the scenery. We checked in at Hotel Ourika which was expensive at 320 Dhs for what it had to offer but the view from the room was great. The stay would compensate for the previous night’s discomfort!!

Having freshened up, we drove up to Oukaimden where skiing is possible in winter. We met up with some kids from Casablanca on holiday for a week and the teacher who spoke good English explained to the kids our expedition.

There are some off road tracks in the national park with flowers in full bloom but we didn’t venture too far off as Alison had the shivers from Todhra and Dades!

We headed for a village, Siti Fatimah and witnessed an accident involving a 4x4, and had good use for some of the Global Doctors medical supplies.

There were loads of restaurants with sitting areas by the river but we had to decide on takeaway as it started raining when we decided to eat. We got our half kilo of beef but got cheated by our chef who asked for 30 Dhs for grilling it. I got a free lesson on tying a Berbere headdress though and practiced it o Adrian.

Before leaving we made the boys of Siti Fatimah happy with the gifts of pens from Tourism Malaysia. We left Ourika with memories of great views.