Aït Ben Haddou is a town in Southern Morocco, about four hours' drive from Marrakech and close to Ouarzazate. Getting there is half of the fun, as you'll have to cross the High Atlas mountains. The pass, called Col du Tichka, is at an altitude of 2260 metres. When I visited in December, some snow could be seen on the highest tops somewhat further away.

The landscape gets more and more barren after that. There still are villages though. And women carrying firewood and goat herds by the side of the road.

I made this trip with a minibus on an organized day tour from Marrakech. This obviously has some disadvantages: we had only one hour at the site for example. You’re let off at the small modern town of Aït Ben Haddou. From there it’s a short walk to the water crossing that divides the new and the old town. Floods in the past weeks had turned the stream almost into a river. Obviously to the joy of enterprising locals, who made good money ferrying tourists across on the backs of their donkeys and horses. They even seemed to have fixed their prices among each other – 20 dirham (1.80 EUR) a ride. The prospect of a shaky ride or the fee was enough to keep more than half of the tourists (who had arrived in the dozens) at the shore.

I opted for a fat donkey (my first time!) and arrived safely at the other side without getting my feet wet. As I stood right in front of the village, it became clear to me that this Ksar really must have been built as a fortress to keep outsiders out. Its high exterior walls make you feel very small.

The villagers let you in nowadays - if you pay them 10 dirham. The interior of the complex has more open air to show than the outside suggests. There are several streets and stairs that lead you up to a viewpoint. It doesn't appear that people still live there; there are some young guides around and several of the buildings have been turned into "art" shops. As I was put on a one-hour-time limit, I had to run around quite fast. Admiring a decoration here and a view there, I couldn't help comparing this highlight of earthen architecture with the pueblos in the southern US or the similar-looking sites in Timbuktu and Djenné across the Sahara in Mali.

This site is well worth a visit of a couple of hours to do it full justice.