© Lonely Planet Publications 157 The Jebel Nafusa & Ghadames The barren Jebel Nafusa (Western Mountains) is Libya’s Berber heartland and one of Libya’s most intriguing corners, a land of stone villages on rocky perches and otherworldly Berber architecture. The fortress-like architecture of the jebel reflects the fact that this is a land of extremes. Bitterly cold winters – snowfalls are rare but not unheard of – yield to summers less punishing than elsewhere in Libya, though the southern reaches of the Jebel Nafusa merge imperceptibly with the scorching Sahara. It was to here that many Berbers retreated from invading Arab armies in the 7th century, and the Jebel Nafusa remains one of the few areas in Libya where Berber culture still thrives. Con- sequently, the jebel’s human landscape is as fascinating as its geography and architecture. The Jebel Nafusa merits as much time as you can spare. From the underground houses of Gharyan in the east to the crumbling qasr (fortified granary store) and old town of Nalut in the west, imagination and necessity have fused into the most improbable forms. Nowhere is this more true than in Qasr al-Haj and Kabaw where the wonderful qasrs look like a back- drop to a Star Wars movie. Elsewhere, the abandoned stone village of Tarmeisa surveys the coastal plain from its precipitous rocky perch, while Yefren makes an agreeable base. Beyond the jebel on Libya’s western frontier lies one of the world’s best-preserved oasis towns. Ghadames is an enchanted spot, a labyrinthine caravan town of covered passageways, intricately decorated houses, beautiful palm gardens and a pace of life perfectly attuned to the dictates of the desert. Ghadames one of our favourite places in Libya. THE JEBEL NAFUSA HIGHLIGHTS & GHADAMES Qasr Lose yourself in the labyrinthine lanes of the magical old al-Haj Nalut city in Ghadames ( p164 ) Yefren Tarmeisa Imagine yourself in a galaxy far, far away in the Kabaw perfect Berber granary store of Qasr al-Haj ( p160 ) Pick your way through the best preserved old town in the Jebel Nafusa at Nalut ( p162 ) Picnic amid the enchanted troglodyte qasr at Kabaw ( p162 ) Ghadames Crawl to the edge of the precipice at the abandoned stone village of Tarmeisa ( p161 ) Watch the sunset from the terrace (or your balcony) in the Yefren Hotel ( p159 ) 112-jebel-nafusa-ghadames-lib2.indd2-jebel-nafusa-ghadames-lib2.indd 115757 222/03/20072/03/2007 22:07:43:07:43 PPMM 158 THE JEBEL NAFUSA & GHADAMES •• Gharyan lonelyplanet.com The Jebel Nafusa & Ghadames 0 100 km THE JEBEL NAFUSA & GHADAMES 0 60 miles To Medenine To Zuara To Surman To L'Aziziyah (5km); (90km) (30km) (25km) Tripoli (30km) Bughilan Remada Qasr Rabta Badir Bir Ayyad Soffit Gharyan Borj Bourguiba Tiji al-Haj Al-Ghala Nalut Geush Jadu Zintan Abuzeyan Dehiba Ain az-Zarqa Yefren Kabaw Tarmeisa Wazin Ruhaybait To Bani Walid (25km) T U N I S I A J e b e l N a f u s a To Bani Walid Mizda (30km) Nisma Fassanu Bir-Alagh Sinoun Tiaret A L G E R I Hamada al-Nasla Ras al- Ghoul Burj Burj el-Khadra Al-Qaryat Messouda Ain ad- Debanem Mantras Ghadames Derj Deb-Deb H a m a d a a l - H a m r a Touneen To Sebha (420km) To Al-Aweinat (Serdeles) (500km) of the area and provided a refuge from ﻏﺮﻳﺎن GHARYAN x041 / pop 87,142 cold winters, hot summers and invaders – Gharyan sprawls across the top of the pla- the houses were invisible to all but those teau at the eastern end of the Jebel Nafusa. within a few hundred metres. All of Ghary- Although not the region’s most picturesque an’s houses have been abandoned by their town, it’s worth a quick stop to see one of owners for modern housing and some are the underground Berber houses, buy some now used as storage pens for animals. Sadly pottery or break up the long journey south – many have also fallen into disrepair. this is one of the last towns of any size be- To reach the best preserved dammous (ad- fore Sebha, 690km south across the desert. mission 5LD), walk 400m south from Funduq Rabta (right as you leave the hotel) and & GHADAMES Orientation & Information then turn right again. One is about 50m THE JEBEL NAFUSA Most of the facilities you’ll need are within along on the left behind a 3m-high wall easy walking distance of Funduq Rabta (see with two decrepit pottery amphorae atop opposite ) on Sharia al-Jamahiriya. The post the gate. Back where you left the main road, office is two blocks east of the hotel (look ask for the key (miftah) at the coffeehouse. for the telecommunications mast) and there The living quarters are at the base of a are a couple of banks nearby. In the same dramatic circular pit, with a radius of about complex as the hotel is Gharyan’s most 10m, cut three storeys deep into the earth; convenient internet café (per hr 0.75LD; h9am- the depth of the houses varied as the inhabi- midnight Sat-Thu, 5pm-midnight Fri). tants dug until they found sufficiently hard rock. The wooden door at ground level opens Sights to a tunnel that leads down into the house, DAMMOUS (BERBER HOUSES) which consists of living rooms, a kitchen, Gharyan’s underground houses (dammous) bedrooms and storage areas that were cut were built by the ancient Berber inhabi tants into the base of the walls. Animal bones were 112-jebel-nafusa-ghadames-lib2.indd2-jebel-nafusa-ghadames-lib2.indd 115858 222/03/20072/03/2007 22:07:49:07:49 PPMM.