Aït Benhaddou looks like a sandcastle that someone left to harden for four hundred years. The ksar, a fortified village of rammed-earth towers and flat-roofed houses stacked up a hillside above the Ounila river, sits about thirty kilometres from Ouarzazate on the old caravan track between the Sahara and Marrakech, and it was listed by UNESCO in 1987. The walls glow red-ochre in the evening, the towers have geometric patterns pressed into their upper storeys, and the whole cluster is reflected, on the rare days when the river runs full, in the water below.
The place is a monument to the trade that made it. Caravans carrying salt, gold, slaves and cloth came up from Timbuktu and across the desert, and this was a stop where merchants rested before crossing the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka. Today only a handful of families still live inside the old walls, while most of the village has moved across the river into modern houses, and the earth buildings need constant repair after rain. Cinema found it early. Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and the Game of Thrones series all used it, which explains the souvenir shops and the camels waiting for hire.
For a rider, the approach is the thing. The N9 descends from Taddert in long, broad curves into a drier, redder landscape, with the road dropping toward the Ouarzazate basin in stages and the colour of the rock changing from brown to a deep brick. A short side road leads to the ksar from the main highway, and the surface is generally fine. Morning or late afternoon light is best for both riding and photographs, since the midday sun flattens everything, and in July and August the heat is considerable.
Small cafés on the river bank serve mint tea and tagine, and you can cross the river on stepping stones or, when the water is high, on a small footbridge. Keep some cash for the entry to the upper terraces, which usually costs a few dirhams, and wear shoes with a decent grip, because the paths are steep and loose. Go before the tour buses, if you can manage it.