Seeing as there was lots of noise in the narrow streets until quite late it was nice to hear the streets quiet until quite late, it was good to see things didn't get going too early in the city. I had a breakfast of mint tea, fruit salad and a bit of sweet bread, it was very healthy!

The fantasitic roof top view from the Riad

The walk down to the garage was hard work with both my bags and when I got to the garage to get my bike I found the office where I left my helmet locked. Half an hour later it was eventually released and we were on our way. The sat nav couldn't still find my routes but it could tell me where I was, and that was just about good enough for me.

Starting on the picturesque N2 I made slow progress towards Ketama, but the scenery was worth the slow speeds, every youth I passed would make signs for smoking dope, to try to gain a sale but I just waved back. The Lawless Rif mountains has always been a cannabis producing area, but after the popular rise in dope smoking in the 70s it has taken over all other industries and is causing untold damage to the poor soils it is grown on. The subsistence farmers who grow it for little profit will one day find their soil destroyed.

Getting the ground ready for you weed. I don't think it is Fairtrade

It was Thursday, a souk day in many towns, with the souk taking up most of the road where people were trying to get there goods to market, with this I was shouted at by many a man wanting to sell me dope.

Things came to a head when I got to the market at Ketama, where the market has basically exploded all over the street and all rules of the road, well guidelines really, had been lost. You know there is a problem when you have to undertake a man pushing a wheelbarrow of crated bottles taller than yourself. Added to this, the intensity of the cannabis sellers with a somewhat aggressive stance made things just a bit too much. I wanted out but I couldn't get out. I paddled along until finally getting out of the souk I could put some miles down. This area of the Rif was even worse. More dope sellers by the roadside and whole mountainsides covered in seedings of it.

Finally coming down from the Rif, the sellers petered out, and the field began to fill with wheat and other more useful products. It had taken half a day to do 200kms and I had that to do again but in the most, the roads were straight and fairly quick.

Amongst the Cork Oaks of the Middle Atlas

Rather than carry on the main road, I took the mountain road through a national park full of cork oak trees. It was fantastic to be up high amongst the trees, especially after the hassles of the day and here everyone greeted you with genuine enthusiasm. The road reached high up and to the south, I could see the snow capped Middle Atlas mountains, offering a glimpse of what I would be seeing tomorrow. Back down the hill to Taza which was very hot. I found lodgings, ate a rather none descript meal and had an early night.