Days 9 & 10: Agdz

A grand taxi back to Zagora and from there into the vallley of the Draa. Agdz is somewhat bigger than Tamegroute with about 10,000 people. With time in hand, I stop for the customary mint tea. A man is singing the praises of Chelsea and although I haven't looked up last night's results, I don't want to be uncool by asking him. Maybe he hasn't looked them up either because it turns out that Chelsea lost. Never mind, it's good tea.

Thursday is market day in Agdz and the souk is strung out along the road back towards Zagora. It's a lively affair and besides the usual food products, there is a plethora of second-hand clothes. It's totally unconscious of tourists and is also an efficient way of recycling unwanted goods. I continue down the road to my lodgings, an unassuming but pleasant guest house where again I am the only guest.

The Draa valley is at its most beautiful around here. The hills have closed in from Zagora and the brown harshness of the desert is relieved by the deep green of the date palm groves. Most of the villages have at least one kasbah. Tamnougalt, a couple of miles down the valley, has two, one of them converted into a hotel where I get another fix of mint tea, and the other, an abandoned but recently restored structure perched on a hilltop and visible for miles around. Walking back to the guest house, I wait for the angle of the sunlight to change until the shadows are right.

Back at my lodgings Abdullah the proprietor, in good English, reports that the price of fuel has trebled in the last few years. It has made life difficult for the public but surprisingly there seem to have been few protests. It contrasts with the situation in France where the "yellow waistcoat" movement have nearly shut down the country.Læs mere