After a morning swim (yes, I lost adventure points for staying in a ‘local’ hotel (Flint Quarzazate) and breakfast and trying again to make the video camera work, I head towards Agdz, with thoughts of having to come back with a working video camera, ideally two, one attached to the bike, one to the helmet.

Just outside of Quarzazate I stop for a broken down car. The guy writes me a piece of paper with a note to his brother to send a mechanic. I duly set out for my first good deed of the day and promptly delivering the note. Actually, nothing is prompt in Morocco, not the service, not the bike repair, and not my delivery as I must have driven past the place three times. Sometimes Moroccan GPS is the best GPS. But my good deed is rewarded with an offer of Berber whiskey and good conversation. My question whether or not it is actually safe to camp freely in Morocco or not is answered with hesitation and concerns for safety. I for the moment still beg to differ but do heed warnings of locals. After my good deed it is time for another and I am sent on a mission of acquisition of a Berber water flask at our familiar dealer of old overpriced goods. At least they appear real. So I pay more than planned but still a decent price. The best negotiation tactic remains simply to leave. As the say, follow the money, and they do all the way onto the street for the commotion of moroccan negotiation to continue. Anyway, got the flask, got a new knife, and I leave less content of a pleasant experience compared to the last time. The story of how the dealer needs to send 10 children to school did not help either my conscience or my liking of the dealer.

On the spur of the moment I decide I cannot leave with regrets, and therefore head south in the valley Draa to Merzouga. On the other side of the valley there is a stunning piste. I find it because I decide to turn into the beautiful Palmeraie on the left of the road. A tricky ride through donkey paths and tight single track “bridges” and I suddenly arrive at the river (qued) Draa, much the surprise of kids and women washing clothes, seeing this biker come out from between the palms. They send over friendly greetings and again I regret not stopping for a chat / kind exchange. Through the river and up a donkey path into town. My riding is definitely getting more confidant and I am proud how I negotiate the tight turns and narrow bridges in the Palmeraie, a beautiful experience.

But perhaps too confident as in my next effort I try to pass a palm with a single track before me and a ditch to the right. I need a couple more millimeters to get past the palm with the case at the back, and as I try to put weight on my right foot I step into air. Next thing the bike is lying upside down in the ditch at an angle of about 110 degrees, wheels in the air. This time I take the time for pictures :-). Well, that’s easy, since I cannot move the bike I have all the time in the world. So plan A) walk to the town and find help, and I set out only to return to the bike when I hear sounds – all my valuables are there… So onto plan B) honk the hooter time and time again, in the hope that someone arrives. No luck, and no luck either with the temperature. It is a pleasant 45 degrees Celsius. So plan C) is to use tie downs to create a jack using the palm tree, and millimeter by millimeter I manage to raise the bike.

I am sure plan C) would have worked and I am somewhat disappointed but thankful at the same time when two guys arrive to invoke plan B). Three of us and the camel is back on it’s feet. Out of the Palmeraie with a swim in full gear in the Draa – that feels good. Carry on south in the Draa valley and you drive up a little hill and on the other side you are treated to a spectacular site that makes you instinctively hold your breath, a field of palms as far as you can see, a sudden fertility and an explosion of green just when you are accustomed to the arid colours of heat, sweat, dust, sand and rocks.

Further down south and after this splendor hit Zagora, desert outpost supreme. I decide to head all the way south, entering protected desert territory to find Sahara Services in Mhamid to get advice on the piste and a Lonely Planet recommended place to sleep. They want me to go east, I wanted to go west to Merzouga. Tomorrow we will see what in fact I did…

It is almost full moon and the silence of the desert is just wonderful! And the moon is one night short from full.