A few miles northwest of Tataouine, along a hair-raising, part gravel road, lies the hill town of Ksar Hadada. Once a ksar, or fortified grainary, Hotel Ksar Hadada is now a popular tourist destination (not to say, tourist trap), and this location has been rumored to play an important role in the Star Wars prequels.

Location: 33° 05' 54" N, 10° 18' 38" E (using Magellan GPS Pioneer)
Directions: Ksar Hadada is really easy to find as it is a major tourist destination. From Tataouine, take the road heading northwest (MC 207) to Ghoumrassen. Continue on that road through Ghoumrassen and follow signs to Hadada. The road might be rough in places. Once in Hadada, it's relatively easy to find Ksar Hadada since it's in the center of the town on a small hill.

It is rumored that Ksar Hadada will be featured as a slave fortress in the upcoming prequel movie. Appearances aside, Ksar Hadada is now a functioning hotel. Although accommodations are what one might term "spare," with bare dirt floors, and ill-fitting wooden front doors.

Alarmingly, as we wandered around, Gus became increasingly enamoured of the idea of spending the night at Hotel Ksar Hadada. In the end, reason prevailed, and after we had finished our photography, we jumped into our not-so-trusty Clio and returned to our resort hotel on Djerba.

It is easy to see why a film crew would choose Hadada as a location: it's just so freakin' cool looking, with many hidden courtyards, and stairways that, like the Winchester House of Mystery, appear to lead nowhere.

Hadada is a popular tourist destination. During the time we were taking these photos, half a dozen coaches rolled up outsite to disgorge French or German tour groups. Most were shuffled in and shuffled out in a matter of minutes, however. One reason I hate being part of a tour group.