Last night we hunted down the (only?) bar in Azrou to have some beers and watch some football. It was part of the Panorama hotel and located around back, inaccessible from the rest of the hotel. Special Flag seems to be the best Moroccan beer and costs 14 DH which at $2 for a small bottle is about the same as back home. We sat around talking with the local patrons (who must be non-Muslim!) until it closed at 11pm. This morning we planned to hike in the hills surrounding the city which must be the beginning of the Middle Atlas mountains. I woke up early and was ready to go by about 9 but my friends were sleeping in after all those (3) beers the night before. They slept while I had my usual breakfast of cafe au lait, orange juice and cheese omlette at the cafe on the main square. By 10:30 they were ready to go. We bought some bread, vache qui rit cheese, Snickers and oranges for lunch then just started out in a random direction. Before leaving town, we met some kids playing football who wanted to accompany us. This was great because the official guide wanted 200 DH for the day. They took us on a nice circuit until 4pm through some forest then farms then hills. The terrain in the last section looked like it would be a great mountain bike trail, and the views of the valley were fabulous. Back in town we had tea at the oldest boy's house and saw his (pet?) pigeons. Throughout the whole day, communication was only possible in French and their command of the language was quite bad. Tomorrow we plan to be on the bus, travelling the 300km or so south to the desert. Then I think I will split off from our group, head to Marrekesh, then Rabat, then get back to Paris somehow by the 9th.