Sunday 06 January Marrakech to Ait Ben Haddou

PWe hear the call to prayer from the nearby mosque at 7:00 am and fully wake at around 8 in time to see the sun rise over the Atlas Mountains from the rooftop terrace. It is icy cold at this time of the morning! The rooftops of the medina are a hazy pink. We have breakfast downstairs, rocket fuel strength black coffee and fig jam with round unleavened flat breads. Then at 10:00 we leave the Riad to walk back through the maze like streets to find our car and Hsan. We drive off through the scruffy urban fringe of Marrakech heading east towards the Atlas Mountains, which seem to rear up dramatically from the surrounding flat land. Soon we are making our way up the Tizi n'Tichka pass which takes us up to 2600 metres. We pass through little villages on uneven roads most of which are in the course of major road works . The tops of the mountains are dusted with snow. Then we make our way down to Ait Ben Haddou, with its Kasbah perched on a hill surrounded by mud houses. We walk over the bridge to get to the 11th century town, and Hsan takes us round the village. Impressive views of the red arid landscape beyond. We stay in a little Riad (worryingly near another mosque) and relax on the roof terrace with some mint tea, poured from a great height as is the Moroccan way! Chicken and green olive tagine for supper with some Moroccan red wine.