OUARZZAZATE

Where the roads between the Drâa, Dadés and Ziz valleys cross, Ourzazate marks the beginning of the great journey by dazzling the traveller with two magnificent kasbahs. Taourirt, the former residence of the Glaoui, is frighteningly beautiful. A series of towers rising out of a mass of closely packed houses, thrusting their turrets into the blue of the sky, jostling to be first in fine to receive the sun. Aït Benhaddou is 30 kilometres from the town. Just imagine a fabulous sand castle transported, as if by magie, to stand in the middle of a field of flowering almond trees. So beautiful and playing so artfully with the light that it has often been used as a setting for films such as “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Un Thé au Sahara”. Indeed, this kasbah is so exceptional that UNESCO has given it world heritage status.