We arrived in Marrakech on Tuesday and stayed at a terrific Riad owned by two Scots, David and Ross. If you are ever in Marrakech I could not recommend their hospitality at Riad Arahanta too highly. Ross took us the short walk through teeming Marrakech streets to the incredible Djemaa el Fna. It is absolutely breathtaking and almost impossible to put into words. Ross even found a place where we could get a couple of beers too.
We moved on the next day to Essaouira, a quite beautiful costal town and the home of an annual world music festival. There are musicians on almost every corner and three giant stages, two in the main squares and one on the beach. Again we managed to blag a drink by convincing hotel staff we were with the TV crews and sponsors in a large beachside hotel. There was an extraordinary buffet which sat uneasily with some of the poverty outside, and the grotesque site of an arabic drum band accompanying a bloody fashion show. The festival finishes tomorrow with a performance by Youssou N'Dour. Glastonbury? Who needs it?
