Our journey north towards Casablanca took us through the High and Middle Atlas mountains to a height of 7,000 feet.
On one occasion we were parked by the roadside having a break and a teenage boy stopped outside our open door asking for dirhams or bonbons – children did this regularly – nothing nasty, not begging, just politely asking, usually with a cheeky grin. The lad spied our recent supermarket purchases, bottled water and UHT milk stored by the open door. We had plenty so we were more than happy to give him one of each hoping it would benefit his family. As we drove away he gave us a cheery wave, thanking us by placing his hand on his heart.
The roads were good (mostly) and the scenery constantly changed as we progressed north. 
We passed through the wine producing area around Meknes, the green hills reminded us of the vinyards of France. Two thousand years ago those lands had been the most southern conquest of the Roman Empire, food produced there was sent back to feed the ancient Romans.
We didn’t rush the journey, we travelled at 50 mph and we were on the road no more than four or five hours each day. As we got further north we took the toll motorway, it was not uncommon to see a donkey and cart travelling along the hard shoulder and folk walking across the carriageways, sometimes leading an animal.
We had ordered a glow plug from MAN in Casablanca. Tony collected the part from the stores and was then sent to the accounts desk to pay. They didn’t accept card payments so Tony had to pay in cash. He didn’t have the exact money and they had no means of providing change. Impatient as ever, Tony told them to keep the change but he was prevented from leaving the premises with the glow plug until he held a receipted invoice – which was not possible until he was given the correct change! So he had to wait.
