James Bainbridge - Planet Morocco

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Morocco is an exotic gateway to Africa; its mountains, desert and coast are populated by Berbers and nomads, and its ancient medina lanes lead to souqs and riads.

From Saharan dunes to the peaks of the High Atlas, Morocco could have been tailor- made for travellers. Lyrical landscapes carpet this sublime slice of North Africa like the richly coloured and patterned rugs youll lust after in local cooperatives. The mountains not just the famous High Atlas but also the Rif and suntanned ranges leading to Saharan oases offer simple, breathtaking pleasures: night skies glistening in the thin air; views over a fluffy cloudbank from the Tizi nTest pass. On lower ground, there are rugged coastlines, waterfalls and caves in forested hills, and the mighty desert.

The varied terrain may inform your dreams, but it shapes the very lives of Moroccos Berbers, Arabs and Saharawis. Despite encroaching modernity, with motorways joining mosques and kasbahs as manmade features of the landscape, Moroccan people remain closely connected to the environment. The nomadic southern blue men brave the deserts burning expanses in robes and turbans, with mobile phones in hand. Likewise, traditional life continues with tweaks in the techniques of Berber carpet makers; in date cooperatives; in medina spice trading; and in the lifestyles in ports like Essaouira and mountain hamlets.

Meeting the Moroccan people involves nothing more than sitting in a cafe and waiting for your mint tea to brew. The trick is to leave enough time to watch the world go by with the locals when theres so much else to fit in: hiking up North Africas highest peak, learning to roll couscous, camel trekking, shopping in the souqs, getting lost in the medina, and sweating in the hammam. Between the activities, you can sleep in the famous riads, relax on panoramic terraces and grand squares, and mop up tajines flavoured with saffron and argan.

Often exotic, sometimes overwhelming and always unexpected, these ancient centres are bursting with Maghrebi mystique and madness: the perfect complement to the serene countryside. When you hit town and join the crowds, you follow a fine tradition of nomads and traders stretching back centuries. Unesco has bestowed World Heritage status on medinas including Fez, the worlds largest living medieval Islamic city, and the carnivalesque Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh. The terrorist bomb on the square in April 2011 was a tragic episode in its history, but travellers should not be discouraged from visiting this welcoming, tolerant country.

The kasbah of At Benhaddou, south of Marrakesh.
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Circuses cant compare to the madcap, Unesco-acclaimed halqa (street theatre) in Marrakeshs main square (). By day, La Place draws crowds with astrologers, snake-charmers, acrobats and dentists with jars of pulled teeth. Around sunset, 100 restaurant stalls kick off the worlds most raucous grilling competition. I teach Jamie Oliver everything he knows! brags a chef. Were number oneliterally! jokes the cook at stall number one. After dinner, Djemaa music jam sessions get underway audience participation is always encouraged, and spare change ensures encores.

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Fez Medina

The Fez medina () is the maze to end all mazes. Dont be surprised if you get so lost you end up paying a small boy to take you back to familiar ground. But dont be afraid, because getting lost is half the point: blindly follow alleys into hidden squares and souqs, with the constant thrill of discovery. Treat it as an adventure, follow the flow of people to take you back to main thoroughfares, and experience the excitement of never quite knowing whats around the next corner.

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High Tea in the High Atlas

Thirsty? Hot? Cold? Carpetless? In Morocco, mint tea is the solution to every critical condition. In Berber villages hewn from High Atlas mountainsides, vertiginous valley views and wild mountain herbs add extra thrills to Moroccos hallowed teatime traditions. Trekkers bound for North Africas highest peak, Jebel Toubkal, should factor in time to accept friendly offers of tea starting at Armoud. This hilltop village is a couple of hours from Marrakesh and a 30-minute hike from Imlil, but all that seems centuries away inside a traditional ighrem (stone and earth house), sipping tea with wild absinthe while the family goat bleats in the courtyard.

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Camel Trek in the Sahara

When you pictured dashing into the sunset on your trusty steed, you probably didnt imagine thered be quite so much lurching involved. Dont worry: no one is exactly graceful clambering onto a saddled hump, and the side-to-side sway of a dromedary in motion only comes naturally to Saharawis, belly dancers and genies. The rest of us novices cling on comically, knock-kneed and white-knuckled, until safely over the first dune. But as rose-gold sands of Erg Chebbi rise to meet fading violet-blue Saharan skies, grips on the reins go slack with wonder and by moonrise, Timbuktu seems totally doable.

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Dra Valley Kasbah Trail

Roads now allow safe, speedy passage through the final stretches of ancient caravan routes from Mali to Marrakesh, but beyond the rocky gorges glimpsed through car windows lies the Dra Valley of desert-traders dreams. The palms and cool mud-brick castles of Tamegroute, Zagora, Timidarte and Agdz must once have seemed like mirages after two months in the Sahara. Fortifications that housed gold-laden caravans are now open to overnight guests, who wake to fresh boufeggou dates, bread baked in rooftop ovens, and this realisation: speed is overrated.