From Marrakech to the dunes.

KM 0 · 466 m · Day 1

Marrakech

It starts in the Red City. There is only one road: the N9, straight at the Atlas.

KM ~100 · 2,260 m · Day 1

Tizi n'Tichka

The highest point of the road. The summit sign says 2,260 metres; GPS counts 2,205. From here, everything descends towards the desert.

KM ~185 · 1,270 m · Day 1

Aït Benhaddou

The most celebrated ksar of the Ounila valley, a UNESCO site since 1987. Here the road crosses a thousand years.

KM ~215 · 1,151 m · Day 1

Ouarzazate

They call it the door of the desert. The sky widens; from here on you measure in hours, not in bends.

KM ~331 · 1,562 m · Day 1

Dades Valley

First night, at 1,562 metres. The valley of roses, the Dades gorge, and air that still tastes of mountain in summer.

first night — we sleep in the valley

KM ~384 · ~1,430 m · Day 2

Tinghir & the Todra Gorge

Rock walls 300 metres high, in places just 10 metres apart. The road runs straight through.

KM ~505 · 807 m · Day 2

Erfoud

The last town. From here the land turns to hamada — dark, flat stone — and the horizon starts to shimmer.

KM ~525 · ~760 m · Day 2

Rissani

Where the caravans used to end: Sijilmassa stood just here. Thirty-five kilometres of asphalt remain.