After some to-ing and fro-ing, we decided to head to Tafraoute via Igherm. We’d read other cycling posts, and the route sounded hard but beautiful. They were right.

Leaving Tata, the road starts to gently climb, following a dry riverbed. Before long we were cycling through hills, where geological activity has thrust ancient bedrock up into twisted and contorted shapes. There’s not a lot of life here, with the environment still extremely rocky and arid with only the occasional car to disturb the peace.

After 50 or so km, we hit the tiny settlement of Tagmoute. This section is simply stunning, with high cliffs providing a protected environment for a long and winding oasis. This green belt is like a garden of Eden and there is suddenly life everywhere.

Cycling through the oases, we were surrounded by date palms, olive groves and flowering almond trees. Birds sang as water gently burbled through the terraces of emerald green wheat planted amongst the trees and the shade and cool provided a complete contrast to the previous hours of cycling in the glaring sun.

We were able to watch village life from our saddles with Berber women dressed in colourful dress going about their daily chores or simply sitting beside the road chatting. Kids were playing in the streets and we even spotted the occasional male working the terraces (we think women get the short end of the straw here, seeming to do most of the work, while the men sit around in cafes).

This part of the world seems little touched by tourism, and we mainly had cheery waves and greetings rather than the usual requests for bon bons or dirham.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end though and after an hour or so, the green started to fade, and we needed to find a camp for the night. At this point the road also starts to seriously climb, and we were soon standing in the pedals in our lowest gears. After a number of switchbacks we hadn’t made much progress (a lot of elevation gain though) and there wasn’t a whole lot of flat ground to pitch a tent.

A young French family spotted us struggling along, turned around and offered us a tow to the top hanging on to the window sills of the car… We decided we’d rather risk a bad camp, than certain death, but the thought was certainly appreciated! As usual just as we were starting to get desperate we found a lovely sheltered flat spot away from the road.

We were up early the next day. This section was again hard, with a steep climb to the top, followed by a series of steep rolling hills along the plateau.

A 25km slog had us in Igrehm, a small crossroads town. Here we met Briham, a recent university graduate. He explained the difficulty finding gainful employment and was happy to explain to us all about the local culture and history.

We said our goodbyes after an hour or so, and were about 5 kms out of town, when a rather breathless Briham caught us up. He had decided he wanted to cycle with us for a section! We cycled together for 15 km or so, during which he showed us the tiny mud brick house where he was born and explained how a living is still eked out of this harsh landscape with hand tools and terracing.

We parted ways a second time, loading Briham up with snacks for his return journey, and pushed on through yet more steep rolling hills until we found a nice secluded spot for a second peaceful night under vast skies.

The final stretch brought yet more, you guessed it, steep rolling hills. Just when we thought we couldn’t take any more, we crested the long drop into Tafraoute. As you can see, it was a particularly spectacular spot, and the long downhill had us whooping with joy!

Although the ride was really hard in places, it had stunning views, beautiful oases and valleys full of pink and white flowering almond trees. It was also fascinating to see such an ancient way of life still going on, even in, what looked to us, an almost impossible environment. Looking back, I’m glad we did it, but not sure I’d do it again for a while!