Morocco – where Muslim girls go to school. …….. Just back from a motorcycle trip around the southern parts of Morocco – a journey back in time. Over the High Atlas from Marrakech to Ouarzazate, along the Valley of the Kasbahs, through Dades Gorge and Todra Gorge, to Merzouga and the dunes, to Zagora the gateway to the Sahara – only 52 days to Timbuktu by camel – back through the foothills to Tafraoute, the coast at Aglou-Plage, and home via Taroudant with its markets called the mini-Marrakech, and the Tizi-n-Test pass back over the Atlas. Overall a walk on the wilder side of Morocco.

Morocco is a Constitutional Monarchy with an elected parliament and King whose Alouite dynasty goes back to 1669. On paper this is like the UK, but Mohammed VI has vastly greater powers than Elizabeth II – he can dissolve parties and act by fiat. One the whole, however, Morocco comes across as a relatively peaceful and contented place; yes, there was a bomb in Marrakech but there has been no Arab Spring here and the place, at least city life, appears modern and relaxed.

The King’s enormous posters can be seen everywhere but the cell tower is taking over from the minaret and I was struck every day by the fact that girls go to school in every place we visited – a rarity in a 99% Muslim country. The people we spoke to and drove alongside were gentle, helpful, and courteous and went to great lengths to emphasise that they were mainly Berbers whose traditions and history pre-dated any Arab invasions.