There are so many options for things to do in Morocco it’s hard to decide where to start. Here is a list of my top 5 unmissable things to do in Morocco. Camp in the desert   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Morocco | Desert | Sahara (@desertcamping) on Mar 20, 2020 at 4:58am PDT Picture Morocco and you will, of course, think of the Sahara, a wide ocean of sand. While the desert varies in appearance depending on where you go, one of the most picturesque and easily accessible locations is Merzouga and you can even camp in a Bedouin tent if you like. Learn to surf, or ..read more

Just before the dark broke I left Santiago. It was strange. Everything had been leading to the city but now I was leaving it. I was heading in the opposite direction of the arrows. When I found them. And there was a bit of checking my phone map, especially by the motorway. Eventually, I got on a trail of blue arrows, though less frequent than the yellow ones. An hour got me out of the city proper but it took half the day to escape the suburbs, the satellite towns and the motorways. The morning was foggy and misty but free of rain. On occasion, I passed tired but excited pilgrims finally reachi ..read more

Santiago can feel strangely commercialised after being on the road for so long. A plethora of souvenir shops fill the old, narrow streets, hawking everything than can be covered in yellow arrows or shells. Still, I enjoyed a few days of doing very little and wandering the beautiful city, filling time between meals by taking photographs, visiting churches and museums before I headed for Finisterre. It was hard to recapture that feeling of finally reaching my destination though I watched others arrive in the large square before the cathedral. The rain often gives way to torrential downpours and ..read more

The albergue in O Cebreiro was freezing that night and, though I had three layers top and bottom, I could not get warm. Unsurprising then when I went out and found the village of O Cebreiro a pretty winter wonderland in the snow. Again I decided to take the main road down from O Cebreiro, though a little longer, as it would be safer. The day began beautifully with just a little falling snow though this turned into icy needles in my eyes, worsening to a blizzard several times. The snow ploughs passed up and down but often the snow was falling as fast as they were ploughing and at times I couldn ..read more

Early on a cold, damp morning, I headed off from León. It felt just a little above 0°, it was windy, showering often and coupled with the usual suburban and industrial sprawl that accompanies leaving a city, it was not the most exciting day for walking. My pack was now heavier, due to a restock of tape, freezing gel, and an anti-bed bug spray, and after a few days off it’s always harder to get going again. Almost 25km later I came to San Martin del Camino either side of a busy road. A tiny town, with one bar, dinner was a pot noodle and everyone went to bed early, though the albergue was warm ..read more

Heading off from Burgos at the unforgivably late hour of 08:30, I was both rested and yet unenthusiastic. My rest had made me lazy. The next big milestone was León and my destination that night was Hornillos del Camino, about 20km off, the terrain being mostly flat and would be a good test for my foot. As usual, heading out from the city was not very picturesque, though passing by the university was interesting, after many kilometers of suburbs, rough tracks and motorway the only point of interest in this rather grey morning was a stork in the fields. Just before the tiny town that was to be m ..read more

The next stretch out of Logroño on the way to Burgos, according to the guidebook, was 31km uphill and I decided to split it into two, stopping first at Navarrete, a cute little town and then at Nájera, a historic old town set against a warm red cliff. I was surprised that the inclines weren’t as steep as I had imagined and though rain was forecast both days only after setting off from Navarrete rather late at 8am was there real fog but no rain. Yet. The route runs along the road quite often which isn’t so scenic and among lots of fields of grapes, punctuated by the occasional vineyard, where y ..read more

Having really enjoyed experiencing Pamplona I decided to rethink my Camino strategy. My tendons, now plural, still were sore, a bit improved but I’ve had enough experience with tendon problems to not want to create a longer-lasting situation. And more, I liked seeing where I was, I was finally starting to enjoy the experience rather than concentrating on how far I had to go. With that in mind I decided to break the next stage in two and only aim for Zariquiegui about 10km from Pamplona without a heavy pack, then try the next 12 to Puente la Reina with it the day after. The first few kilometers ..read more

It was unmistakably French. The arguments between drivers and cyclists, the cafes and pastries, the political graffiti, and roads named for its long and sometimes less than illustrious colonial history. Yet in some ways it was different. In the early evening, as people filled the streets and outside cafes and bars, the character of Bordeaux seemed as warm as the weather itself, even the bum I refused a smoke wished me “Bon journé”. Recently having come south from Iceland I wondered how the hell I was going to cope with the warm weather, my summer hiking gear seemed way too heavy already. Borde ..read more

“It’s the second-highest.” “No, it’s the highest.” “No, it used to be the highest, then they found another one.” “I refuse to believe you! Prove it!” “There’s no signal.” “Ha! See, I was right!” So went the argument as we enjoyed a break from the most un-Icelandic heat of a summer’s day, sitting in front of Glymur, the second-highest waterfall in Iceland. (The highest is now Morsárjökull if you’re a waterfall nerd.) Regardless, Glymur is pretty awe-inspiring, even if it turns your legs to jelly looking down the almost 200m drop. Glymur is easy enough to find, just take a detou ..read more