It appears that not a single place that we’ve been to so far has been unaffected by flash-flooding. This morning’s excursion to the Gorges in Boumalne du Dadès found us circumnavigating broken roads, mudslides and piles of loose shingle - unfortunately, a number of 4x4’s and tour vans were caught a bit short during the flooding and the now broken and disconnected roads leading through the valley had completely cut off some of the hotels and restaurants nearby. This has’t appeared to affected the tourist trade though, as busses of people still manage to make it through to the amazing sights that await them.

I have to admit, having been to the ‘States and been ‘round the national parks in Arizona and Nevada, all this seemed rather familiar in grandeur. In fact, as with most of our time here - if you were stateside and you could be magically transported here blindfolded in an instant, the layman probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The roads are long and straight through rocky, then sandy desert, and the geology somewhat familiar.

Of course, that’s not to take away any of this place’s charm and personality - I doubt you’d be able to get brochette and pomme frites from one of many restaurants after your trek through valley, and of course there are no end of multi-lingual guides to assist you with your needs along the way for a nominal fee.

Unfortunately, today marks the first (and last) time we get suckered in to unwittingly buying a “souvenir”. We should’ve realised it from the start (and on some level we did), but when somebody asks you for a lift back to their village, and offers to invite you in for tea (apparently, “it’s rude not to accept hospitality in Morocco”) you really should expect the local handicrafts to be wheeled out by the guy’s “cousin”, who just happens to speak perfect English and has a credit card franking machine!

The moral of this lesson is - the benefit of the doubt in Morocco will always end with you buying a carpet. Exceptionally good tea though.