Day 1 - Arrival Now in the tent at camp 1, first night in the desert. Only a couple of hours walking today but a long journey here and not much sleep last night. The drive through the High Atlas was a bit hairy - a winding mountain road with hairpins, precipices and driving snow. Just as well it was dark so we couldn't see how far down it was, but the driver did an excellent job and got us through safely. We arrived at the hotel at about three o'clock in the morning for a few hours sleep then were up for an early breakfast and briefing. The drive down the Draa Valley took all morning, but passed quickly with fantastic scenery all the way. We stopped at Zagora to buy a shamla head cloth for the desert (this was to prove to be a very practical piece of kit as protection against the sun and blowing sand). I bought something to take home as a gift too and had my first and only experience of haggling, quite good fun really but I'm glad I don't have to haggle every time I pop to the supermarket at home.
	We arrived at the start point early in the afternoon and the coach drove off leaving us with a lot of desert to cover. All a bit daunting at this point, with a hot dry wind and dunes shimmering in the heat haze in the distance. No more roads, beds, toilets, etc for over 100Km. Just feet to walk with and camels to carry the kit. The cameleers loaded up while we have a salad lunch and then we set off.
		Walked two hours at an easy pace, mostly firm ground but crossed a few small dunes, that's heavy going as your feet sink under the sand. There's a real dehydration risk here but it was just a short stroll to our first camp really, tomorrow we set off across the desert and the real walking begins...
			Next page