Thursday 4 February

We got up this morning and both decided we wanted to go home, that's right, home to the UK despite the weather. We'd simply had enough.

Let me explain. Right from the start we agreed that once we'd got the group across to Asilah, everyone should do their own thing. Okay, we also said that if people wanted to tag along with us we wouldn't chase them. However this has been going on for nearly three weeks and was spoiling our enjoyment. With tensions rising inevitably one very small incident was the straw that broke the camels back (metaphorically speaking of course; no camels were injured!).

So we just packed up and left – don't get me wrong, we don't have any argument with anybody, it just wasn't working for us. A pity really as we had wanted to see the various places we had planned, but they'll still be there in the future.

However, once on the road and a bit settled we agreed that we were “cutting our noses off to spite our faces” and perhaps returning to the UK was a bit extreme. But being part of a group was not going to happen again, and decided to take a few days out on our own doing nothing. So we returned to Foum Zguid, a place we really like, the “pretty” way to take advantage of the scenic route.

This basically meant heading north along the Valle de Draa, following the river which actually had water flowing in it. An excellent road with dramatic views along the way, especially palmeries lining the river with a backdrop of mountains.

At Agdz we turned off to take a lesser road across country, in surprisingly good condition and we were able to keep up a fast pace. That is, until we turned south on the R111 for the last 68km to Foum Zguid. I suppose at one time it had been a road but at anything over 20 mph it was impossible to avoid potholes, broken surfaces and the like. We were following an old Peugot pickup and are sure he was trying to show us the better bits as he made no effort to get away from us and indeed when we stopped for a comfort break he was just around the corner when we resumed.

This went on for 34km – yes we measured it – both of us trying to remember if it was this bad last year (it was, according to the diary) until the road suddenly again became as good as any road we've been on in Morocco!

The campsite at Foum Zguid was still quite busy but we found a nice pitch and settled in, the lads being a little surprised at our return. It being quite late, once sorted out we walked down to the restaurant and treated ourselves.