Rock the Kasbah

It's hard for us to hear the word kasbah without thinking of The Clash's song, though any rockin’ going on with or without Shareef's approval is of the fully acoustic variety, as electricity has not yet arrived.

Thirty kilometers north of Ouarzazate, past the camel crossing signs, sits the impressive Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou. The countryside of Morocco is dotted with kasbahs, a word which seems to help multiple definitions, but which, south of the Atlas Mountains, means a fortified feudal village of several dozen house built around a castle and made of pisé, a mixture of mud and straw. This mixture, while beautiful, is not exactly durable and requires constant upkeep. This makes it hard to date buildings and something that appears a thousand years old in style might be less than a hundred years old, but left ravaged by weather. We’ve heard than warring tribes would attack each other’s kasbahs not with fire, but with water; if you could divert enough water, you could simply wash away your enemy’s fortifications.




Ait Ben Haddou, situated on the bank of a small river, is considered one of the better examples of a remaining kasbah, though the village has turned from agriculture and trade to tourism, supplementing from time to time by renting itself as a set for movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.

We hired a guide, who’s main job seemed to be keeping other guides at bay, and directing the route we climbed, rather than explaining much about the kasbah. He points out the “streets” – formerly dirt, but now paved with stones – which UNESCO renovated several yeas ago. He notes with a bit of disdain that they brought in 200 workers to fix the streets, while all around houses are crumbing to the ground.

Who knows what we might have learned with a better guide or more time perusing the guidebooks, but on a crisp January afternoon, it was a sight to behold. Quiet and serene with views extending miles in all directions, all thoghts of rockin' vanished as we headed back down the hill for lunch.