We left the high altitude Basecamp and began our descent to Amrund. The wind was whipping around and everything and everyone is dust covered. It’s in our hair, clothes, bags and pockets.

The descent path is pretty straightforward, with the only slight drama occurring, when I walked back up the trail to see if I could find a students sun glasses. Leaving the group in the shade I nipped back up the path, but unbeknown to me, I past the new Police Check Point. Uniformed men shouted down from the balcony demanding to know where my guide was! There were a tense few minutes while I tried to explain, but with a smattering of French and some congratulating on Moroccans on their recent win over Scotland in the World Cup, I was given a five minute pass!

There was a 170m height gain sting in the tail, as we climbed up through the narrow twisting lanes of Amrund, to a Gite at the very top of the village. We’d all had enough by the time we finally collapsed under the shade of a walnut tree and the obligatory mint tea was presented.

Later on that night, things took a sudden turn for the worst and I leapt out of bed in the dark and sprinted to the toilet, reaching it just in time. So as to not keep Simon up all night as well, I decamped to the terrace outside another toilet and rather than enjoying the stars, spent the night emptying myself of all my bodily contents. By the time the sun came up, I felt like a shadow of my former self!

There was no chance of me moving anywhere the next day, so Si took the group on a hike down to the town of Imlil to see the shops, sights and smells, while I continued my relay races to and from the bathroom.

Mohamed gave me some ‘herb tea’ from some local plants, which i hoped had involved a well boiled kettle! The only saving grace was that the rest of the gang seemed largely untouched. It’s one thing clearing up your own mess, but it’s quite another doing it for someone else!