Lost Tourist Discovers Asilah

Once a blight on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, Asilah has blossomed into something beautiful thanks to the ideas of two friends and the commitment of an entire community. Sarah Gilbert tells us its story. The man lifted the pointed hood of his djellabah against the breeze, reached for his brush and began to paint a dramatic swirl of colour onto the whitewashed medina wall. People stopped to watch him work, even offering to hold his ladder. Far from a Moroccan Banksy, he was just one of the many artists that flock to the white-cubed town of Asilah for its annual festival, the International Cultural Moussem.

Marrakech At Sunset

At sunset, Marrakech's famed Djemaa el-Fna comes alive. Through the rising smoke of the food Stands, several hundred flickering yellow lanterns illuminate a turbulent sea Of hoods and veils. Crowds form around the most unusual spectacles, pausing to gape, then moving on. Mystics meet, spellbinders cast spells, witch doctors mix potions and leather-skinned old letter.writers rock back and forth on their haunches waiting for customers. Medicine men spread out gazelle skulls, dusty jars of horsehair and ancient medical texts. Old men dressed in white robes stand on wooden crates and shout the Wan to anyone who will listen. Colorfully clad women read your palms to tell your future.

Marrakech is more than the medina

Beach clubs, trekking or hill retreats. If you thought it was a city just for weekend breaks, it’s time to think again!

Picture the scene: an old house, a riad, full of beckoning arches and curvaceous carvings, with a cool pool and a picture-book palm in the courtyard. Orange juice and pancakes on the roof for breakfast, couscous and salads under the stars at night. And all this in the middle of the medina, the old town of Marrakech, where the call to prayer rings out every morning and the sun shines all year round.

It’s no wonder we love Marrakech, and no wonder that more than 400 riads offer rooms in the medina. Up to now, however, this has been very much a weekender’s city, overflowing with atmosphere, but a little short on diversions. Once you’ve seen the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace, excavated the souks and wriggled among the snake-charmers on the Djemaa el Fna, you’re done. What next?