As you arrive across the sands or plateau from Atâr or Chinguetti, the stone houses of Le Ksar al Kiali seem to tumble down the cliff. The top of the hill is dominated by the minaret of the new mosque, which is a mere 200 years old, while at the western end, at the base of the town, is the 14th-century old mosque. In between, the crumbling structures seem to have been piled up higgledy-piggledy by some giant child playing with building blocks.