After your guide gave a brief explanation on the control of our quad and road safety, we depart from Ait Ben Haddou around 9am. On the way to Glaoui Kasbah, we will drive along the beautiful Ounila Valley where many old Berber villages are located. There are many viewpoints where you can enjoy panorama views of this expansive valley, clutters of clay buildings with small kasbahs and mosques in between. You may see locals in traditional costumes walking on the side of road to visit friends and family on special days. (Please be sensitive when taking photos of locals especially women.)
We will also pass through a small mine where workers extract precious minerals out of the colorful rocks in this area in the past. Old post stations for defense on top of small hills can be seen from the road. Further on, we will pass a small forest on the side of the road, a rare sight in this semi-desert region.
After a few hours, we finally arrive at this famous yet non-touristy Kasbah of Glaoui in Telouet, one of the most extraordinary sights of the Atlas. We will have lunch here at a guest house restaurant outside the kasbah first. After lunch, you can buy a ticket and visit the inside of this complex at your leisure.
Lies at an elevation of 1,800 m (5,900 ft), the Kasbah of Glaoui is a glimpse of the style of Moroccan political government and power still within living memory. Pasha Glaoui was ousted from the Bahia Palace and died of cancer shortly after exile in Telouet after independence. As a palace of El Glaoui family, 300 artisans worked on salons faceted with stucco, zellij and painted cedar ceilings during construction. Although some of the rooms have fallen into ruin after over a half-century of decay, the 2nd-floor reception rooms still remain its glory as Telouet’s former position as the center of a trans-Saharan trading empire. Work was underway to restore the property in 2010. After your visit, we will drive back to Ait Ben Haddou through the windy road of the Ounila Valley.
