Ait Ben Haddou

K ASBAH DU TOUBKAL MOROCCO’S PREMIER MOUNTAIN RETREAT Issue Number Seven July 2016 Click on logos for more information Contents Mad dogs and Englishmen…. …go out in the midday sun. At least that’s what Noel Coward sang but Ait Ben Haddou 4 here in the High Atlas we are enjoying the balmy days of early summer; long days for trekking or simply lounging under a parasol on one of Discover 6 our rooftop terraces. Morocco Meeting my 8 Kasbah du Toubkal has long Recently the physical beauty Muse been known for its location of the mountains and valleys, of being one of the foremost the architecture, the people A Life 10 trekking centres in Moroc- and the culture have awoken Interconnected co – Imlil was for years the the muse of artists and writ- main access point for entry ers. This issue will show you The ForeSight 11 to the slopes of Jbel Toubkal why. Group – but over the past few years Brandy Bell and Maxine it has become recognised for Relton tell their personal Education 13 its peacefulness and position stories of their arrival at the For All away from the hurly-burly of Kasbah and their sense of hectic modern life - secluded knowing this was the place Marrakech 14 but not remote. they needed to be, while Björn Atlas Etape Corporate groups and com- Larsson, CEO of ForSight, an Morocco in the 16 panies offering specialist train- interpersonal relationship ing saw it as an ideal venue to organisation found that the Media bring people together, a place ‘hotel at the top of the world’ Book review far away from their normal more than measured up to a activities. Then visitors who medieval village in Abruzzo were looking for mountain and a remote island in the tranquillity to host yoga and Aegean. wellness courses discovered As ever, I look forward to hear- that the gardens, terraces and ing from you at spacious rooms of the Kasbah [email protected]. were perfect for their clients' needs. And everyone loved the Derek Workman natural grace and welcome of Editor the Berber people and the …and everyone at delicious traditional Moroccan KASBAH DU TOUBKAL food. 3 Ait ben Haddou A crumbling glory of mud and straw ust there, that patch there, by the side of that small hill, see it?” Well, yes, I did see it, a more- Jor-less round piece of bare ground completely lacking any significance other than being similar to many other pieces of ground around Ait ben Haddou. Hamid was trying to show me where the scene in Gladiator was shot, the one with Oliver Reed looking sufficiently Arabish as he explains to the slaves, including the disgraced general Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, that “I did not pay good money for you for your company. I paid it so that I could profit from your death”. (Cut to pile of corpses being picked over by vultures.) Fortunately for Ridley Scott, Gladiator’s director, a top of the village, the last redoubt in time of invasion, few rough poles to act as stockades and a couple of and two cemeteries, Muslim and Jewish. walls plastered with adobe, and his gladiatorial village From across the dry river bed of the Oued Ounila, was virtually there, given the presence of the majestic Ait ben Haddou looks magical, with its olive groves Ait ben Haddou and the desert landscape around it. and date palms, and patchwork fields of vivid green. (He was obviously so inspired by the location that he You can make out the kasbahs, the homes of the came back to shoot the Holy Land scenes for Kingdom rich folk, built around a central courtyard and guard- of Heaven.) These are just a couple in a long catalogue ed over by a tower at each corner. While some of of films that have used this ancient citadel as a set; the larger and more important buildings have been Lawrence of Arabia, The Last Temptation of Christ, maintained many of the traditional mud and straw Kundun, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and part of the dwellings are returning to the red earth from which TV series Game of Thrones amongt them. they were built. A family of storks are perched on one Ait ben Haddou is more than just a film set, of the lower towers, a sign of good luck. The village though; it is a ksar, a fortified village whose history layers its way up the hillside, stopping just short of goes back almost a thousand years, although the the wall that safeguards the granary, perched on the maze of narrow streets and crenelated towers you very top, like a nipple on a recumbent breast. But it’s see these days are mainly from the 17th century. As a only as you get closer that you see that so many of strategic stop for caravans of camels, often the roofs have collapsed, walls are crumbling, arches numbering thousands, on the trans-Saharan trade fallen in as the buildings degrade past the point of no route from the Sudan to Marrakech carrying gold, return. silver and slaves and returning with salt, it would To help maintenance costs, some of the Kasbahs have been a thriving town, home to thousands. As allow visitors. The small dark rooms with uneven well private homes – everything from small palaces to floors and tiny windows may seem incongruous when modest one-room dwellings – there were communal you recall that wealthy families would have lived here. areas including But go back four centuries and think how your ances- a public square, a mosque, a caravanserai to house tors might have lived, using the traditional building those travelling with the caravans, grain threshing areas methods of the area. In Ait ben Haddou, as in many outside the ramparts, a fortified granary (agadir) at the 4 regions of Morocco, buildings were constructed (and rows of blank fenestration, looking as if they are waiting still are) of hand-made bricks, with rooms the maxi- for windows to be fitted, and the ancient design of mum size of the nearest indigenous tree to provide the horseshoe arch used as door and window open- the ceiling beams and narrow external slits as win- ings. (And the holes in the walls aren’t the aftermath dows so archers could lose arrows during an attack of tribal warfare, they are there to ventilate the walls, (and these were perilous times of regular and vicious which would dry out and disintegrate much quicker tribal wars). And bear in mind the soaring summer without them, and are found throughout Morocco temperatures, where external windows guarded by where this construction material is used.) ornate metal grills and open internal-facing window The climb to the agadir is strenuous in the heat but apertures allowed any passing breeze to cool the immensely worth it, with glorious views of the palm- house, and flat roofs became open-air bedrooms to eraie at the foot of the village and the stony desert avoid the claustrophobic heat of a crowded bedroom. that stretches almost into infinity. The afternoon is And as the traditional Moroccan way of life is to live slowly settling and the warm light of the desert sun with extended families, these rooms could get pretty casts a glowing sheen over the russet pink of the sticky – and probably pretty smelly as well. village below. As shadows stretch in the narrow alley- As you climb the narrow, higgledy-piggledy streets ways I make my way down the hill and out of a small and get to eye-level with the decaying walls that stand arched side entrance. For a few minutes I watch a man in rows like a mouthful of broken and rotted teeth, weeding a patch of garden. History or no, life goes on. you get a close up view of the basic traditional building materials, the compacted bricks, called pisé, laid over footings of stone harvested from the harsh ter- rain outside the town, and covered with a thick layer of adobe. But ‘basic’ doesn’t mean ‘plain’; the tops of the high angle towers and upper sections of the kasbahs are decorated with motifs, ziggurat designs created by careful spacing between the clay bricks, 5 MOROCCO Discover Ltd, the British owners of Kasbah duT oubkal, have been arranging trips to Morocco since 1978 and are ABTA Bonded, holders of an ATOL license and members of AITO. We have a selection of pre-arranged holidays but with almost forty years of experience covering every aspect of Moroccan life we can create your perfect personalised experience in this delightfully charismatic country. The High Atlas Mountains Marrakech The High Atlas, the greatest mountain range of North Built around the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque Africa, is perhaps the most beautiful and intriguing whose beautiful minaret dominates the skyline, part of Morocco. Ancient footpaths and mule tracks Marrakech is a fascinating city that comprises the navigate through dramatic landscapes of apple orchards, medina, the old Arab quarter, and the new town of walnut groves and terraced mountainsides. In the Guéliz, with its modern restaurants and bars, fast-food villages you will have a glimpse into a way of life that chains and big-brand stores. Any visit to Marrakech has barely changed for centuries and where traditional must include a visit to the medina and its colourful values and hospitality are largely unaffected by the souks (marketplace) where you can barter for car- outside world. pets, leather goods, jewellery, lanterns and spices. Kasbah du Toubkal Les Yeux Bleus Award-winning Kasbah du Toubkal, just 60km from Set in the Bab Doukkala district, one of the most popular Marrakech, is set on a hilltop in the Toubkal National Park, and picturesque quarters of the medina, and just ten below the towering flanks of Jbel Toubkal.

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