Jones

It was very cold first thing this morning – 4 degrees outside, and 12 inside Jones. We’re economising with gas, as it’s difficult to obtain in Morocco, so we just had the heating on for an hour or so, using a heady blend of gas, and electricity from our leisure batteries.

It was just a short hop today, east along the Souss valley, with the snowy Atlas mountains to our left and the Anti Atlas disappearing in a haze to our right.

Our destination was Taroudant, which we’d not visited on our previous trip. The Saadians briefly made this town their capital in the sixteenth century before moving on to Marrakesh, and the extensive ramparts seem befitting. 

We left Flynn behind for a couple of hours while we grabbed some brunch – an omelette and salad for me, a kofte tagine for Rog.

As we left the café, a group of locals were encircling someone in the middle of the square. He turned out to be a snake charmer, although snake prodder would seem to be a more accurate description – he was certainly not playing any enchanting tunes on his magic flute.

Denying offers left, right and centre for guides, we dived into the souk and had an explore.

Taroudant is a Berber town, and I was keen to buy myself one of the scarves the women wear – they’re a lovely bright blue colour, dipped in black, like these – only mine was £4 not £30.

A little later we took Flynn for a walk. We headed out about 2km north, hoping we’d get to countryside where he could have a run. We did, in the end, but it was quite hot and we were convinced he’d just immerse himself in a muddy puddle, so after snapping some photos of the Atlas, we headed back.

We got a good view of the ramparts from the outside, too.

As the sun got over the yardarm, we played a game of General Orders: Sengoku Jidai (Rog’s Christmas present) with a few sharpeners – the plan being to eat at an alcohol-free Moroccan restaurant. 

But as we headed into town, it turned out Rog had a riad in mind. We navigated our way through the souk and found a little hidden doorway – locked. But when Rog rang the bell, they opened the door to a lovely hidden courtyard, and despite us not having a booking, and then not usually serving dinner until 8pm, we were allowed in.

We decided this was the perfect spot to have Rog’s birthday meal. So a bottle of red was ordered, and we enjoyed a meal of fish soup, fish with shakshuka and green beans, and a chocolate mousse. 

Happy belated birthday Rog!