A world Heritage Site

Ait Benhaddou in all its glory
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After filling our stomachs with greasy Mcdonald "food" we were finally on our way to the Beber ksar (fortified village) of Ait Benhaddou.  The drive took us about 6 hours all in all.  I thought the drive was absolutely sublime as we winded our way up, around and through the high atlas (again)....but this time I was driving!  Marlene didn't really like it cause all the sharp turns and winding roads were making her gravol prone.  I felt great all day...until we arrived at our destination taht is.

atop ait benhaddou
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Little history...Ait Benhaddou has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987 and has had several large films shot there including Lawrence of Arabia, Jeus of Nazareth, The Mummy, Gladiator and Alexander. It is a fortified city along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech.  There are still a number of families that live within its walls, but most have fled for the most part.  The estimates are that it is at least 550 years old, so it is in obvious ruin these days, but still very impressive to see. It's really like a life sized sand castle.  After exploring the ruins of this vast compound we headed back to the hotel where I needed to get some rest...again.

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I missed dinner again due to my illness and when Marlene got back to the room and found me in a cold sweat (in 30 degree weather) she began to panic. It was so bad (top 3 worst feeling in my life for sure) that we contemplated going back to marakech.  I pleaded with her to let it run its course for one more day and if I didn't feel better then we can start worrying.  Luckily I was able to get rid of the worst part of my illness and feel reasonable the next morning.  So it was off to the todra gorge for us!