Running in a circle - Marrakesh style

From Azrou I headed for Marrakesh. Originally the idea was to simply had straight there on highway - about 400k's - initially that went well, quiet and scenic roads, but as I got closer to Marrakesh the traffic built up and the riding got less fun. So on the spur of the moment I turned off to a side road that was marked on my map as scenic. Well that was an understatement, it now rates as one of my to two roads in the world, some thirty or forty kilometers of winding, often single track, tarmac cutting its way dramatically up and down the sides of steep gorges inhabited by only the occasional village. What an antidote to the highway. As dusk was approaching I chose to stop at the first place big enough to have an hotel that I came too, not expecting there to be much there, but luck was running with me I had happened upon ( completely by chance) one of the most famous tourist sites of the region, the Cascades D'Ouzard. These are a set of waterfalls that are the second tallest in Africa - not quite Victoria falls standard but pretty impressive.

I stopped two nights in Marrakesh after making it there the next day. Quite enjoyed it and the sights of the famous Djemaa el-fna square; snake charmers, belly dancers, jugglers and other strange entertainers plus the myriad of food stalls was definitely worth seeing. However at the end of it, it was a big city and I definitely prefer the smaller less hectic places. (As an aside, look closely at the palm trees photo - they are really mobile phone towers)

By the way the running around in a circle in the post title refers to the fact I did the Marrakesh half marathon whilst I was there. A much bigger event than I was expecting, there were many thousands of runners. I managed to just achieve the time of two hours I was aiming for so came away happy if foot sore.