16 April 2023, Agdz, 26.27km
Palm Grove Apartment R704 [DH370]

When you are greeted with a single word in French, courage, at the bottom of the road you can see switch-backing up the mountain ahead of you, you guess it is likely to be quite a climb. When you hear approaching trucks apply their air-brakes, you know it for sure. Ride with GPS had estimated a 10km climb to the top of the pass; our host had said it was only 3km. Neither were quite right, but the actual 4km was a lot closer to the latter's estimate, much to our delight.
We were on the road by 0645, hoping to reach the top before the heat reached us. In fact, we walked those 4km in a chilly wind and although slow, we were comfortable.
Thereafter we dropped for almost 22km through the most extraordinary scenery to Agdz (pronounced Ag-diz) in the Draa valley*, part of an ancient trade route we will travel for the next two days.
Camel caravans can apparently travel around 40km per day. I spent some of today thinking about the urge to trade. The willingness to go to whatever lengths necessary to exchange something of value for something you value more. To spend hundreds of years establishing relationships and places to rest and refuel. It is hard to comprehend in a modern world where the N9 makes the journey (relatively) easy.
--
We have rented an apartment for tonight, so I will be cooking our simple meal planned for our camping dinner last night: pesto pasta.
--
*"The pre-history of the valley of the Draa goes back thousands of years, as is evidenced by the many rock art engravings or petroglyphs in its surroundings..."