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COOKERY COURSE

Next on the agenda was a Moroccan cookery course. Held in the beautiful La Maison Arabe hotel and restaurant, we learnt the art of tagine cuisine and mixing the perfect Moroccan salad. Recipes were scribbled down before eating the product of our sampler half-day lesson. If you're in a hurry, this may not be the best way to spend a good chunk of a short break, but great if you're a serious foodie.

Courses are spread over three half-days and are taken in small groups. Prices from £118 per person with La Maison Arabe

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BACKGROUND

• Will Morocco be a bargain in 2009?

• How to haggle in Marrakesh

• Can we get currency before we get to Morocco?

• Can we take a toddler to Morocco?

• Is Morocco no fun during Ramadan?

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• The 8 best restaurants in Marrakesh?

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SPA

The dust of the day was scrubbed off, literally, at Les Borjs's spa. A traditional Moroccan hammam consists of stripping down to your knickers (if you're shy), being doused with buckets of warm water, getting rubbed all over with olive oil soap and exfoliated with a rough glove. The semi-pain was followed by what was probably the best message I've ever had.

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HOT AIR BALLOON

The highlight of the trip was a hot-air balloon flight in the desert between Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains, where we were lifted to around 3,000 metres.

Hanging out of a basket at that altitude is not for the faint-hearted - the view was the sort of thing you would see from the window of an aeroplane - but the sunrise over the mountains was stunning, and well worth the vertigo. Breakfast that morning was at a Berber village, where we were treated to mint tea and freshly-baked flat bread.

Depart at dawn and take in the panorama of Marrakech and the nearby Atlas mountains. Prices include a tour of the surrounding area in a 4 x 4 and tea at a local Berber village, from £140 per person through Cadogan Holidays, or from £169 with dosomethingdifferent.com

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