The Kasbah road, Morocco travel review

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The asphalt of the road, long and straight, and the heat of air create mirages in the distance. Deceived, the eye sees everything blurred. It seems to be close to the flames of a fire. But no ... we're on the road from Ouarzazate Errachidia leads to the famous "because of the kasbah. The name is the fact that in this area of Morocco is concentrated the largest number of these phantasmagoric and magical properties. The entire route will be marked by sunny days. Cross a territory arid, semi - desert, and there are many stops along the side of the road, now under the shadow of some rare palm tree, or more often in front of a shop of beverages.
The asphalt road, always flanked by a wide strip, in clay, reserved for carriages and people on foot, is often interrupted by bumps ending in fords from the bottom mud dried and hard. Here and there, small groups of women, men and children. Little traffic, but when another vehicle crossed the road we prudently turning on the track that runs beside you, that is by making us completely. E 'advisable ...

The fate of the kasbah, as well as that of ksour (Ksar plural), until a few years ago 'seemed now marked. Lost their raison d'etre, many ksour were emptied, others were collapsed. Any rain or sand storms weakening or submersible always un po 'di più le kasbah ... Erosion and the desert continued their tireless work of destruction until the early 90, the Moroccan government decided to intervene with a works of renovation and preservation of such real monuments of national heritage.

What is a Kasbah and what is a Ksour? Parallel with the western world is simplification, but useful: the ksour are the equivalent of our fortified cities of the medieval period, while the kasbah are castles, namely the homes of kings and princes, the locals.
Each kasbah, like any self-respecting castle, has a story to tell and a past rich in memories. There are still many of those almost completely destroyed as well preserved. Some appear to apparently empty, but in reality are inhabited by those who are reluctant to abandon the last witness of a true civilization called, precisely, of the kasbah. If you are not in a hurry and if you would take this opportunity to speak, just like these people you have the opportunity to discover a culture based not on the money god, but the suffering. For such a beautiful memory guarded and kept in the heart is still more than a few thousand branches. And 'This is the most characteristic aspect of the "road", the civilization that we still resists, the rest of Morocco, parts of the desert and the south including, it seems to move only for the money.

The first we encounter along our route, is to IFRI, around Errachidia. We see it emerge suddenly, because until the last is hidden by the tall palm trees. It 'one of the best preserved and one of the most famous. Like this, the most beautiful encounter with the look, but do not neglect the more dilapidated ones, perhaps more difficult to reach, scattered throughout the landscape and visible for the rise time of a tower, now a city wall.
The road leads us to Tineghir! The village, seen from the detour leads to the gorges todra, it seems a huge ksour, of other times remained incredibly meanwhile, is a real village. The buildings, all colored sand is mixed with the browns, the browns, the beige, yellow burning of the surrounding mountains.
From Tineghir forward is really a succession of kasbah and ksour. They are tons, it is up to you to choose where to stop depending on your spirit and emotions of the moment.
Not always the most famous are the most characteristic. Some do not know the name nor the exact location, simply meet along the way, while others are achieved with short detours from the main road. Each visit may prove a waste of time as an unforgettable experience. There seem to be sealed at the time of Saladin, and on these occasions which in and enjoy the inexplicable atmosphere of these buildings.
In the Dades gorges, along a narrow, steep and full of hairpin bends, (nell'Alto Moroccan Atlas seems to be on some mountain passes) if they meet the beautiful as that of Ait Arbi just at the entrance to the gorges and the Imassine little further.

Along the way the eager curiosity with which each of us expects the enchantment of the emergence of a new kasbah, or ksour it is broken from time to time, by meeting a group of children, or elderly. Thanks to hospitality of the people, the desire for eye observation is added to that of the heart, the desire to enrich ourselves through knowledge with the world around us Moroccan. "The way the kasbah" is not only buildings but also people, the villages of Morocco.
Do not miss going on the road to Ouarzazate, the kasbah of Amerhidil, nell'oasi Skoura of an amazing fairy-tale building. The clicking of cameras is here, more repetitive than usual. I wonder if the slides are not all equal, but these individuals unique call to be immortalized nearly to photograph the face of an innocent child or a beautiful maiden.
The kasbah of Taourirt to Ouarzazate, in the city center, is a true work of art, but the atmosphere, however, is no longer that magic to those encountered on the road.
Travel to see monuments and works of man, to know different people and from my own. Well, before arriving in Ouarzazate, during stops in a kasbah and another, between an oasis and the other, often it seemed to perceive the signs of ancient civilizations of the kasbah, if not endangered, of processing . I am having noted that this small slice of Africa "Arab" is still true, in which people try to preserve their traditions, where you can meet genuine and friendly. While sharing the same geographical location as that encountered along the way, the people of Ouarzazate sorts not the same values and life itself.

Leave the matter Ouarzazate for a bumpy road, but to start, however, are far enough way to slip back again in the tale of the real world of Ksar. That of Aït Benhaddou, with its kasbah, appears to be unusually far behind. It seems a dream, a mirage. The walls tremble for the refraction of air due to heat and only when the river exceeded the most part we dissected deceit. The sign of the time, climate and people are impietosa with evidence. The walls are severely damaged, some houses were only the walls, the kasbah is tormented by a series of injuries. Yet Aït Benhaddou worth a visit. Not for nothing because of its scenic was chosen as the backdrop for many films. Aït Benhaddou is not a ghost town. There's still people there, just to say the truth, just as an old man with his donkey, wrap everything in his long burnus wool dark brown color, curved for old age. Women aside, one of the few people I saw dressed as Islamic customs.