Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco

I went for a run before breakfast — something I try to do on these trips when I can, partly to counteract all the tagine, partly because running in a new place gives you a different perspective on it.

We left Tinghir and headed west through Ouarzazate towards Aït Ben Haddou, one of Morocco’s most iconic sites. It’s a fortified village — a ksar — built into the hillside, and it’s been used as a filming location for everything from Gladiator to Game of Thrones. You can see why. The earthen buildings stacked up the hillside against the arid landscape look almost too cinematic to be real.

We explored the ksar in the evening, walking up through the narrow streets to the top for panoramic views. It was also Elise’s 40th birthday, so after dinner they organised some cakes for the group. I’d bought a bottle of wine earlier in the day so I shared it around — the kind of spontaneous celebration that makes group travel special.