What is the Tichka / Tizi n'Tichka area like?

Everyone knows the Tizi n'Tichka as the dramatic, much-photographed pass you cross on the way to Ouarzazate and the desert — over 2,200m of switchbacks through the High Atlas, recently widened so it is far less white-knuckle than it once was. But I always try to get clients to treat the Tichka area as a place rather than a transit corridor, because tucked just off the pass is one of the most extraordinary and underrated sights in southern Morocco.

That sight is Telouet. A short detour east of the main road brings you to the ruined kasbah of the Glaoui — the warlord family who, from this remote mountain stronghold, controlled the southern caravan routes and effectively ruled much of Morocco under the French until 1956. From the outside it is a crumbling earthen hulk, but step inside and you find rooms of astonishing, decaying opulence: carved cedar ceilings, zellij tilework, stained glass and stucco, all slowly returning to dust. The contrast between the lavish interiors and the bleak mountain setting is unforgettable, and because it is off the main road it sees a fraction of Aït Ben Haddou's crowds.

The wider Tichka area is rich Berber mountain country. The climb up from Marrakech passes terraced villages, walnut and almond groves, and roadside stalls selling minerals, amethyst geodes and fossils (haggle hard — much is dyed or imported). Up the valleys the slopes are farmed in tiny plots, mules still do the heavy work, and saffron country begins to the south around Taliouine. From Telouet an adventurous piste — partly rough — runs through the Ounila Valley past more old kasbahs and granaries directly to Aït Ben Haddou, an old caravan route that makes a wonderful alternative to the main road for those with a 4x4.

My advice is simply not to treat the Tichka as a four-hour drive to be endured. Build in the Telouet detour, stop for mint tea at a village café with the peaks all around, walk a little in the Ounila valley if you have time and the right vehicle. Done that way, the Tizi n'Tichka stops being the boring bit before the desert and becomes one of the most memorable days of a southern journey — high mountains, Berber life and a faded warlord's palace all in one stretch.