Rough roads to Agdz

We are parked this afternoon in a campsite in Agdz, a palmerai no less, adjacent to a Kasbah which is in the process of being restored by volunteers and our fees here go toward the restoration project. We have all facilities here and the charge, including a meal this evening, is 130 Dirham, about a tenner!

We left Taliouine this morning and had the option of two routes, one on national roads about 250k and another on a "secondary" road, about 150k. The guy at the campsite said the secondary road was not suitable but it looked ok to us so we set off this morning and stopped for coffee at a village where the roads separated. We asked the man in the hotel cafe and he said no problem on the minor road so off we went. After a couple of miles we came across road improvement activity and spent the next few miles dodging big trucks, piles of gravel and earth moving machines. We cleared that obstacle only to find that for half the remaining distance the road surface was pretty rough, to say the least. It was single track which meant playing chicken with on-coming vehicles to see who would end up with two wheels on the stoney roadside. Second and third gear for mile after mile but with fantastic views all around. We peaked at 1800metres before dropping down to where we are now at a mere 950m.

Today's road-

Eventually we came back to a two lane surfaced road which was a relief and arrived here with our suspension intact and air in all tyres, phew.

Parked up in the Palmerai-

We are at the head of the Draa valley and tomorrow we set off through the valley for about 60miles to Zagora and we have been promised some stunning scenery on the way. Another 60 miles and it's nothing but desert so I think we may have a look around and see if we can arrange a 4x4 trip to see the dunes before heading back to where we are now and then onwards to Ouarzazate and the Dades valley.

When we have a driving day we always stop about halfway for coffee and a bite to eat. Our ideal is coffee and croissant but no luck so far. We've had pain chocolate, pain and cheese, pancakes with honey or jam (twice) but today's was a cracker. We asked what they had and were offered omelettes and a few other lunchy things and then eventually we were offered coffee cake! A result! What we got was flatbread with laughing cow cheese, Argan oil and apricot jam. Something lost in the translation I think. The croissant hunt continues.

Where we are now-

 

 

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