Its probably about 5:30 am when you hear the first one. A noise that at first sounds like the sacrificing of an extremely loud goat. Then another one. 2 goats in stereo, dying very slowly. As I was awaking and my senses were catching up with the strange noises around me it became apparent that there was some form of tune to these early bellowings, or at least some variation in tone, and that their origin was in fact human. The calls for Muslim prayers, played loudly on speakers, rally the city to a wake up for the first prayer of the new day.

Fes to me, seemed very much like a... [read more]

Still no problems with the car (after about 1300 miles), and we set off on our last leg of the European segment of the rally. Another clear sky, and more clear roads meant the early part of the drive was a cruise. With Granada in the distance but fast approaching, the surrounding scenery was sensational. Our 2 car convoy was making great time as we whizzed through the southern half of Spain.

As we were closing in on the Costa del sol we spotted the first or our future rally buddies. And shot by at 90 miles an hour whilst they were probably doing the more sensible thin... [read more]

After 2 nights in the jungle it was time to head to Cusco, 3400 metres above sea level. At this point in my life, I think that's the highest I've been (outside of a plane), but this is a record which will continue to be broken over the following days and weeks. The distinct lack of oxygen is quite apparent, making it occasionally difficult to get a full pair of lungs. But we had a couple of days here to acclimatise to the altitude before we set off the magical inca trail.

Cuzco is a cracking little city. Historically it was the heart of the Inca empire and this... [read more]

Day 8

With only 4 hours sleep under our belts we were on the road again, this time heading about 400km south west to the coast, where we were all keeping our fingers crossed for a bit of warmer weather. We decided to avoid the more obvious larger cities and head to a smaller town off the beaten path, in a stretch of the coastline known for its beaches.

As the journey went on we left the drizzle of Marrakesh behind us, and it wasn't long before it was clear we were heading in the right direction to warmer territories. We weaved our way through the red rock mountains with t... [read more]