Day 35 - 3372km, Olad Berhil, Morocco. It was a startlingly early wake up today for both me and the unfortunate hostel attendant who I accidentally groped when searching for my camera battery charger in the dark. Following a hasty and apologetic departure, I had a fantastic day riding along quiet alpine roads through spectacular scenery, friendly Berber Villages and down an adrenalin pumping descent from a 2000m pass. I also bumped into long time tourer Bruno (www.bruno-saulet.com) whose year and a half round the world epic makes my trip look like a spin to the shops and my attempts at a beard playground bum-fluff.

I'm now staying in a bustling back country town with no tourists for miles but I still got ripped off by my female hotel owner in just about the first bit of female Moroccan contact I've had since arriving in the country and have had to scale a 6ft wall in my towel just to get a shower which for once had hot water but only hot water, scolding at that - just what you need after a hot day in the sun! I've also again played the street grub food poisoning lottery - so far so good.