You can’t go to Morocco without seeing the Atlas Mountains. At least that’s Michelle’s theory. So, never one to procrastinate, she managed to convince another couple that it would be a trip of a lifetime to journey with us up over the mountains via Tizi n’Tichka (at 2260m) and then to take an off road piste to the Kasbah at Ait Benhaddou. We rented a driver and a 4 wheel drive vehicle for the day and set off at 7.30am one morning….

The day was beautiful. The warmest day so far. Even so high up in the mountains with snow around us the weather was lovely. We stopped every so often to admire the stalls selling minerals and art and of course – carpets, along the way before turning off road on the way to Telouet. The mountain road was scary. Very high, no barriers and plenty of cars barrelling around each corner, another opportunity to put your head in your hands and pray for a safe journey. We made it to Telouet around noon to visit the Glaoui kasbah. It is actually one of the most extraordinary sights of the Atlas. It’s slowly crumbling away back into the sand, but you can still imagine the style and the power that it held in its day. Most of the rooms are just ruins, although in the latest wing of the castle there are still some rooms where you can see the intricate patterned tiles and marble and even a royal suite with silks on the walls. It really was something special.

Our plan was to continue via a piste to Ait Benhaddou but because of the heavy rains received the previous week we were advised by other drivers that the route was long and slow, another 3.5 hours – putting our return to Marrakech in the late evening. None of us could bear to imagine returning via the mountain road in the darkness, so we collectively agreed to linger over lunch in a Berber tent and retrace our route slowly home.

It was a spectacular day. Who would have imagined snow and ice so close to the desert. The mountain ranges were amazing, and the villages along the way were from times past, and not to forget Alison & Stanley who really made the whole journey a true adventure.