Writing this rekindles a degree of guilt in me as I was supposed to be on that trip but due to circumstances, I had to abort it. My friend Todor, however, undeterred by insignificant trivialities like professional or family obligations, packed his kit and left, and that was that.

He was entitled to be annoyed with me because my decision to quit – along with another person –  meant that the group could not make the minimum of 10 whereby the cost would have been 2000 leva a person. Instead the eight that went paid 2200 each.

The objective was the Atlas Mountains and the summit of Jbel Toubkal – 4167m – in particular.
On the Bulgarian end, the group consisted of guide Evgenii Dinchev from www.bgtrekking.com, Todor Dimov, his girlfriend Pavlina and six other Bulgarians. From Sofia, the flight to Morocco made a pit stop in Rome, arriving in Casablanca at about midnight local time, or two hours behind. They were greeted by local guide Abdullah, who helped them load their kit onto a bus bound for Marrakesh, where the travelling Bulgarian mountaineering circus spent their first night in a hotel.

The Atlas are a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2500km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The objective, Jbel Toubkal, is in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert.

The population of the Atlas Mountains consists predominantly of Berbers whom, according to initial information, do not drink alcohol, but Todor was determined to prove that myth false and catch them red-handed. The Berber words for a mountain are "adrar" and "adras", which is probably how the Atlas Mountains derived their name in the first place.

Stumbling in Marrakesh after a jagged ride in a clapped out bus, which probably saw active service at El Alamein, first impressions of the city, according to Todor, were ones of  "an apparent extensive bombing campaign" – dark, deserted and quiet, which, according to him, presented no other alternative but to head to his room and hit the sack.

Todor rang his family in the morning and went for a stroll around Marrakesh, then arrived at the assembly point where guide Abdullah apparently reaffirmed his reputation for punctuality. Their kit was checked, and the march towards their first way-point, at 1430m, commenced.

Abdullah had decided that they should take it easy on the first day, apparently distrusting his Bulgarian clients on inspection. Traversing along an ancient grave site, the group eventually reached their destination at 1700m, set up camp and enjoyed a decent meal with the locals. "I was pleased with the local Berbers, the food was superb and the home-made rakiya complemented it all nicely," Todor said.

The following day the wake-up call came at 6am. The party then headed towards the Tazim Uatar col at 3125m. Swerving ever upwards the group was exposed to a merciless North African sun, and several hours into the climb, the col was reached and the group stood before a ski resort in the Atlas Mountains surrounded by peaks towering at about 3000m.

Morale was boosted by the river and the chance to cool off, but more importantly for Todor, there was a chance to stock up on beer. The next way-point was a camp at 2680m where the group had to endure sustained winds whipping the tents interminably before a wake-up call finally rang out at 6am. After a swift breakfast the climb towards Tizin Adi col at 2940m was resumed.

Along the way, Todor remembered meeting local Berbers who would forbid him or anyone else for that matter, to snap pictures, especially of their women. "From personal experience I know it’s a bad idea to take a picture of someone else’s wife, so I didn’t even bother," Todor said.

That night the party bravely advanced towards their next bivouac site, Gitte, where for the first time since the beginning of the expedition a proper bath was on offer. Accommodation was spartan, basic and functional, although good enough to recharge the batteries for the following day’s trek to a holy place called Sidi Shamf Haroush, or "White Stone", at 2325m, towards their final destination, the camp at 3000m from where the assault on the summit itself commences.

The Refuge du Tobkal at 3207m, according to Todor, was rather similar to Bulgarian mountain lodges with its sturdy and massive construction. It offered decent accommodation and a clean canteen. A local Berber man drinking strong coffee introduced himself to the group as a mountain guide and apparently offered Todor some local "smoke", which my friend tactfully declined.

The party launched themselves at 6.30am, and after three-and-a-quarter hours of climbing, the Bulgarian motley crew finally scaled the summit of Tubkal at 4167m. And all that for a meagre 20 minutes’ pleasure of seeing North Africa’s tallest point, snap dozens of pictures, and head back down sharpish because the guide feared that the group suffered from poor altitude acclimatisation. "A piece of that mountain will remain forever in our hearts," Todor said.

Those who missed the party last year will pay a lot more in 2010 if interested, unfortunately. According to the website of www.bgtrekking.com, scaling Tubkal will cost 3400 leva for a group of four to five individuals, 3000 leva for six to eight people, or 2880 leva for between nine and 20 climbers.

The package includes return flights from Sofia-Rome-Casablanca, four nights plus breakfast in a three-star hotel and one night in a lodge, French and English-speaking guides, plus mules for logistical support and others. Other destinations are also available.