| Page Views: 711 Last Visit to Ait Ben Haddou: September, 2006 | Ait Benhaddou by iwys - last update: Feb 4, 2009 |
Ait Benhaddou is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most filmed towns in the world. It has featured in numerous movies, including "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Jewel of the Nile", "The Living Daylights", "The Last Temptation of Christ", "Jesus of Nazareth", "The Sheltering Sky", "Kundun", "The Mummy", "Gladiator" and "Alexander". |
|  | The old town is a ksar: an oasis town, made of adobe, and consisting of several fortified homes, or kasbahs, and a fortified granary. Only two or three families still live here. Most of the population now live in the new town on the other side of the river, which is also where the hotels and restaurants are. It only takes a few minutes to cross the river from the new town to the old. When I was there, in September, the river bed was completely dry; in winter the water can be knee-deep, but it is still quite easy to wade across.
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Ait Benhaddou was first built in the 11th century as a stop for camel caravans carrying salt, gold, ivory and slaves across the Sahara. | | |
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 Comments for iwys about Ait Ben Haddou | | | | |
sourbugger Wed Feb 4, 2009 22:38 UTC
rock the kasbah, rock the kasbar ! | razbella Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:17 UTC
stayed at La Baraka on your recommendation and it was fine.... as you said, basic rooms but excellent food, friendly staff. | barryg23 Tue Jan 23, 2007 08:36 UTC
Lovely pictures of Ait Benhaddou - I'll be visiting here in March. Those hotels both sound nice. | Adamis Tue Oct 17, 2006 23:34 UTC
Lovely pics, looks dry. I was there in Late October, the river was waist deep and passable by horse. |
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