Morocco

Occupying Africa’s northwestern corner, morocco offers visitors an unforgettable experience. But beyond its peaceful riads and storied souks, this complex nation has countless facets — cultural, geographical and sensory. Take time to peel back its layers and discover deep-rooted culinary traditions, epic road trips and famous desert hospitality

- By Emma Gregg. Photographs by Getty, Emma Gregg, AWL images, Anna Purna Mellor, Ben Pipe, Alamy, John Plumer

TREAKING TALES

INTO THE MOUNTAINS

Take it slowly on a mule trek through the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and make time for chance encounters along the way, from reviving cups of tea with farmers to poignant conversations with local women

The air is rich with the scent of ripe figs. Bulbuls are chirping in the walnut trees and Bia Azabi, my Amazigh (Berber) guide, is teaching me a song as we walk.

“Wallah henn i koum, wallah henn i ah...”

“Why are we singing, Bia?” I ask.

“She says she’s singing because she’s happy!” says our interpreter. I’d be happy, too, if I’d been brought up in a beautiful valley like this, full of orchards, roses and wild oleander, and earning a living as a community guide. Bright-eyed and aged somewhere around 60, Bia hails from the M’Goun Valley, a region in central Morocco so remote it gets just a few, brief paragraphs in my 580-page guidebook. It’s around 200 miles east of Marrakech by road and not far from the most popular hikes in the High Atlas mountains, but it’s relatively little explored. Over the coming days, I’ll be walking with Bia through the valley from village to village on a 35-mile hike.