We rose early to the beautiful sight of the sun lighting up the Draa Valley and turning the sky a pale pink. After a quick breakfast we rolled out, long before the women showed up to do their washing and with only the keenest children out on their bikes, mostly heading to school. The ride into Agdz was easy and by lunchtime we were happily camped in the middle of an oasis.

Compared with our campsite of the night before, the Kasbah de la Palmeraie was a good find and we recommend it to other travellers. We spent the afternoon cleaning our bikes – only the second time this trip – and going for a swim in the pool. When we returned from our swim we were a little alarmed to find water around the tent. We had been given a spot next to an irrigation channel for nearby wheat fields and someone had forgotten to block off the channel running past our front door, but thankfully they closed the gap before our tent and bags were sent floating. The day’s last adventure involved bringing home eggs from the nearest store.

For all you creative thinkers out there, what is the best way to transport eggs, which are sold loose here, down a bumpy, potholed road? The best answer to our email will win a postcard from the country of your choice!*

We can already tell you that just putting them in a pannier doesn’t work and neither does the mesh pocket on the side of our handlebar bag. Friedel tried cycling one-handed, holding the eggs carefully in their plastic bag with the other hand, and got three out of four back to the campsite safely, although there was a near miss with a donkey pulling a cart. We have yet to buy eggs and not break at least one before we manage to boil them.

*Provided we actually cycle through it 😉