One Day // The Pacha
Ait Ben Haddou / UNESCO
Departure 7:30h // Return 18h
Departing from Marrakech to the village of Telouet, located just over 150km, this route offers those who use it the delightful vision of incomperable landscapes of the High Atlas, especally in the rise of Tizi n'Tichka the 'neck pasture' nestled 2260m above sea level, the highest road pass in Morocco, in a setting could not be more naked.
The road rises, punctuated by villages with flat roofs dry stone terraces carved mountainside crops are wheat and barley. It reveals beautiful views of the mountains and arid parts of the isolated kasbahs.
This village Telouet at 1800m above sea level on the southern slopes of the Atlas Mountains, and the valley was previously the site of passage of caravans between Marrakech and Ouarzazate. It is this trade that the Glaoui family is enriched considerably by taking a toll. This very hilly region, homeland of the Berber Glaoui was the stronghold of Al Hadj Thami al-Glaoui, Andalusian inspiration, denotes the opulence of Glaoui at the time and contrasts with the sleek and gross Berber style. From its terrace offers a magnificent view of the Jebel Ghat a hight of 3800m.
All along that valley Ounila crossing the track, a stark contrast between the ocher of the earch and rocks, and green plantations are a delightful environment.
The beautiful village on the edge of Wadi El Maleh, a real pile of red rocks terraced houses in southern slope of a hill, Ait Ben Haddou is probably the most spectacular of all Ksar in southern Morocco.
Classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, this site has been privileged for many film shoots: Lawrence of Arabis, Gladiator, Scheherazade, Cleopatra, Jesus of Nazareth, Indiana Jones, Babel etc. This unique heritage, which does not seem have changed since the Middle Ages, has attracted the greatest directors around the world who have turned them these pageants. Stroll through the maze of narrow streets and walkways serving the houses is a pleasure a succession of architecural surprises. At this peak, the tower of the old kasbah in ruins, reveals a view of the village and the natural beauty of the landscape beyond. The historical value of the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou is undeniable, with regard to one of the acient caravan counters.