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Morocco: Rock Men of the Hammada

A village in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains
An isolated village in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, home to the rock men

The next day we set off from Marrakech for southern Morocco in our pristine little Fiat Uno, which, with only 15,000km on the clock, appeared to be exactly what we'd been promised the day before. Filling up with petrol in the centre of town – where the attendant refused to accept a credit card, much to my surprise – we stopped only to change some travellers cheques before heading east out of town. On the horizon the misty shapes of huge mountains loomed, barely visible through the dusty haze, and it wasn't long before the houses petered out and we were rolling along the right-hand side of the P31, the main road to the mountains of the High Atlas.

Tiers of fields in a mountain valley
Stunning scenery on the road heading southeast from Marrakech