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BENI KHEDDACHE
 Large
town with tiny ksar
Beni
Kheddache is one of the largest towns west of Medenine, and is climbing up the mountain side,
overlooking a fertile valley.
There is quite little of interest in the modern
town, and the ksar that made you come here is not very impressive either. It is
placed on a small hill top, but this position is terribly dwarfed by the nearby
high mountains.
But if you can do
without quantity,
at least Beni Khaddache offers some fine views: The ghurfas
that still are used, the adjacent mosque with its two minarets and the
one-floor market buildings that start right after the mosque.
Modest modern town
Beni Kheddache is a modest town, and except a few public buildings,
there is little here that indicate much wealth. This is from the market area,
which is closed during the middle of the day.
BENI ZELTANE
 Not
climbing that hill anymore
Beni Zeltane is slightly out of the track for most, and honestly it is
quickly losing its claim to interest. It is a stone village climbing a mountain
side. Houses are made from the stones of the mountain, and from a distance the
old village becomes invisible. Today, very few still live here, and conditions
are bad. Houses have fallen in, stones have covered the streets making them
unpassable.
A few (you may have to look around) places, the
attractive shapes of the traditional village are still found.
In recent times, the inhabitants of Beni Zeltane have abandoned their
old ways in exchange of running water and electricity. They inhabit a
whitewashed, standard village a few hundred metres deeper down into the valley.
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