Hong Kong: One Country, Two Different Identities

Tourism has been an important part of the Hong Kong economy for decades and the last figures I was able to find showed around 26 million visitors annually-- around half of whom come from Mainland China. I asked Sandra McAubre, who normally writes on the topic of sports management degree programs to do a guest post on the feelings of Hong Kong Chinese about the change of status of the former British crown colony. She welcomes your comments at her email id: SandraA@sportsmanagementdegrees.net/ Her post follows:

How does it feel to be born Chinese, raised the British way of life, and then go back to being Chinese all over again? For the middle-aged citizen of Hong Kong, this is a very real conundrum-- the tiny island nation which belongs to China was leased to the British in 1898 for a period of 99 years. And so in 1997, it was officially handed over to the Chinese with much pomp and splendor. How do you cope with going from capitalist to socialist society in the blink of an eye? Fortunately for the people of Hong Kong, the island is not governed by the rules of Mainland China; rather, it is called a Special Administrative District and is being run the way it was when it was under the British. And so they�re able to retain their British way of life even as they revert back to their Chinese identity.

If you were to visit both Hong Kong and China, you would not be able to visibly tell the difference in the way of life in both places, but if you lived in either or both of them for some time, I guess the difference would become obvious. The larger cities of China may seem to be going the cosmopolitan route and adopting the Western way of life, but underneath the suits and inside the swanky multi-storied skyscrapers runs the thread of communism, the administration that allows only one child a couple, punishes people who speak against the State, and runs the country with an iron hand. China has only polished its external appearance to keep pace with the rest of the world and open its doors to developers and multinationals who provide opportunities for the nation to grow and flourish. Beneath the tip of the iceberg is a nation that is still proudly socialistic and which closely guards its secrets.

The people of Hong Kong are free to lead open lives, say what they want, and do what they wish to within the confines of the law that existed over the past century. But because they are no longer British, there is some form of censorship, even if it is self-imposed, as if they were a little apprehensive about some invisible punishment. And perhaps they are justified in trying to adhere to the way of life that China follows because this special status expires in 50 years. With 13 of them are already gone, only time will tell whether Hong Kong will still remain the capitalist economic success that it is or if it will slowly be assimilated into socialistic China and be forced to accept a new way
of life.

I recently visited Hong Kong and was impressed with the efficiency of the nation (I�m still unable to accept it is a part of China), and I sincerely hope it retains its unique flavor that is part British and part Asian (I cannot say Chinese in all honesty), no matter how many years go by.

India Finally Has A Modern Airport Terminal

The first time I flew into Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (formerly Dum Dum Airport) the city was still called Calcutta. It had been the capital of British India until 1912 and today it's the capital of West Bengal and the third biggest city in India with a population of 15 million-- give or take. The airport had the torpid, languid feel of the Raj with long, slow-moving lines and devoid of any hustle or any bustle. It's about a step and a half up from a primitive tropical airstrip. Roland was just there a few months ago again and he said it hadn't changed a bit (although there's a new terminal "being built." In India everything is "being built.")

Kolkata's airport may be the silliest, but it is hardly the only silly airport. A few years ago I was so mortified by a few hours of chaos at Delhi Airport that I wrote a quickie post about the experience. Robyn Meredith's classic bestseller comparing development in India and China, The Elephant and the Dragon, uses the pace of airport development in the two countries as a metaphor for the advances made in China and the plodding, endemic backwardness of India. Largely due to Chinese authoritarianism-- and Indian democracy-- China has surged light years ahead in infrastructure. In India, writes Meredith, "companies must navigate antiquated customs processing, variations in taxes and byzantine rules for transporting goods between Indians states in addition to the crumbling highways, decrepit airports, and what-me-worry ports... Progress on India's development projects is on again, off again, as if ambivalent India still can't decide whether it wants to be part of the modern world. The city of Bangalore's airport is a prime example. Originally built in 1942, the airport has changed little in the past sixty-plus years. It's white tile floors, poorly lit corridors, and shabby stained chairs-- needed for the long wait at the lounge conveyor belt-- make the airport look as if it belonged in the developing world. One might find a thin airport worker leaning against the wall, asleep, or another staffer eating his dinner at a table set up near passport control, not far from a neatly stacked pile of fifteen-foot-long tree branches. A rumpled red carpet, held in place with duct tape, shows the way outside, where a crowd of perhaps 250 people-- waiting relatives, taxi drivers, hotel touts-- mill about at nearly any time of night or day... The Chinese government's drive to build superior physical infrastructure-- tens of thousands of miles of highways and modern airports-- allowed China to dominate manufacturing exports. Without high-capacity, dependable modern infrastructure, the world's sophisticated supply chains simply don't work." Writing in 2007 Meredith pointed out that although "China's big cities already have new airports, the nation intends to spend more than $17 billion in order to build over forty additional airports by 2010." This morning when I work up it was big news that India's capital finally has a modern airport terminal.

Frequent travelers to India are in for quite a shock the next time they fly in to New Delhi's international airport with its new state-of-the-art terminal.

For years, arrivals at Delhi's main airport were greeted by the grim sight of dingy walls, dim lighting, congested counters and the smell of overflowing toilets when they went near a washroom.

But now, with the new Terminal 3, a futuristic 2.7-billion-dollar facility in glass-and-steel, the capital finally has a showcase airport that chimes with India's global aspirations.

The sky-lit terminal, one of the world's largest, "signals the arrival of a new India, committed to joining the ranks of modern industrialized nations," Premier Manmohan Singh said at the inauguration ceremony on Saturday.

Sprawling over four square kilometres (1.5 square miles), the terminal was completed by an Indian-led consortium in just 37 months-- a huge achievement in a country where major infrastructure projects regularly run years over schedule.

"India has never been recognised as able to build an infrastructure project on time, but we have demonstrated that we are capable of beating anyone else-- and on this massive scale," said Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

That remains to be seen and I'm not counting on what optimistic India boosters are calling a "game changer." It took them longer to finally throw up a modern terminal in their capital city than for China to build forty new airports! "Improving India's famously decrepit infrastructure-- crumbling roads, shabby airports, ramshackle railways and ports and erratic power supply-- is critical to accelerating growth, economists say... But infrastructure bottlenecks are seen as the main barrier to propelling growth to the double-digit levels the government says are a pre-requisite for dragging hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty. The airport terminal 'highlights our country's resolve to bridge the infrastructure deficiencies in our country,' Singh said." I sincerely doubt it.

Travel Safety-- WE ARE Passengers Not Prisoners

I want to share a little website with you than my old friend Ian put together, Passengers Not Prisoners. I think any traveler will relate to it. Ian's an anger-management and conflict resolution counselor and lecturer. He's way into violence prevention and is always on the road speaking at shelters, schools, hospitals, clinics, and drug-treatment programs. (He's also a record producer and concert promoter.) This is the intro he wrote for Passengers Not Prisoners:

�(Don�t) stay in your place.�

Freely exercise the right to travel, and more fully know your world and that it is almost invariably a safe place. The vast majority of the people on the planet are not benevolent, they are simply indifferent to you.

The world is not becoming more dangerous, it is becoming safer. A person was six times more likely to be murdered in the Middle Ages than today. It is just that today, through the mass-media, we hear about more instances which leads to a distorted sense of jeopardy.

People invariably only attack one category of victims: those that they feel deserve it. Out of the over 6-billion people alive today, they have better people to harm than you so the key is to not give them a reason to do it. (Even among those incarcerated for violent crimes, in study after study it has consistently been found that less than 6 percent of them can be clinically classified as sadistic.)

Aggression is communication, arguably the first act of communication. All individuals, no matter how wrong they may be, at the moment of action believe that they are right. Counter-attacking only leads to an intensification of conflict and a greater sense of isolation and opposition. Empathy (emotional understanding of others) and education are the most potent antidotes to softening adversarialism.

I've been traveling since I was 16 years old, when I tried to hitch hike to Miami Beach from Brooklyn to spend Pessach with my grandparents. Two years later I succeeded in hitching to Los Angeles, where I stowed away on a ship headed for-- in a roundabout way-- Tonga. I still haven't gotten to Tonga... but I'm workin' on it. Meanwhile, all of what Ian is talking about is the kind of stuff I've experienced first hand-- walking around in "wild" places, from Timbuktu and Cairo, East Jerusalem, Tangier, Kandahar, Katmandu, Tehran, East Berlin (back in the day), Mexico City, the slums of Bombay, Calcutta, Istanbul... and, yes, it all seemed mighty safe.

On the other hand, sometimes it seems like the ruling elites are discouraging travel and drumming up divisiveness across the world. Ian addresses it as Homeland Insecurity:

A fundamental confusion seems to have occurred. The government and the entire transportation industry exists because of us. They work for us (the citizens), we do not work for them. The harassment and systematic subjugation of innocent and law-abiding individuals must stop.

Positive change almost always fails because of the inability of a system to admit its own failure, instead amplifying the intensity of what it is already doing rather than truly changing course, and, thus, compounding the original error.

Raise the bar higher and the competition inevitably rises as well. Feeling secure does not equal true security. Some risk will always exist. We will never have (�and never have had) total world peace. All that we can strive for is ever-increasing relative peace. 80 percent of the resources should not be spent attempting to control the ultra-exceptional (i.e., far less than 1 percent of instances) that by their very unique and extreme nature are unpreventable.

Clearly, the next terrorist attack will come from within the system designed to prevent it. As the system grows larger and the number of employees goes up, so does the exposure, as well as standards and ability to supervise going down.


UPDATE: Airline Food-- Worse Than You Thought

It's kind of been a truism of air travel for decades that the food isn't too good-- although in international first class it kind of is. But do the roaches and bacteria know first class from steerage? FDA inspectors found a host of health violations in recent inspections of the 3 major airline catering facilities (serving Delta, American, United, US Airways and Continental). The conditions for the food prep were rated "unsanitary and unsafe."

The FDA reports say many facilities store food at improper temperatures, use unclean equipment and employ workers who practice poor hygiene. At some, there were cockroaches, flies, mice and other signs of inadequate pest control.

10 Most Well-Known Addresses in the World

Sheryl Owen asked me to share a post, 10 Most Well-Known Addresses in the World from her blog here. The first thing that struck me off about it was that the 4th best known address in the world, and the first outside of the U.S., was 221B Baker Street in London, home of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. I used to have an office in London down the street from there. I would pass it every day. It was never all that busy-- not in the mornings, not at lunch time, not in the evenings, not in the summer and not in the winter. It wasn't deserted. It just wasn't a big deal. And it's better known than 10 Downing Street? And no Kremlin? Tiananmen Square? Masjid al-Haram, home of the Kaaba? The UN? [UPDATE: Bruce Tenenbaum e-mailed me three minutes after this was posted and asked where the Taj Mahal is on the list. Good question.]

Well, thank God there's nothing in Las Vegas listed. My next stop is Marrakesh and I would have thought the Djemaa el Fna would at least be as well known as... 221 B Baker Street. Their post:

We thought it would be interesting to put together a list of the 10 most popular and/or well-known addresses in the World. Now the tenants in several of these addresses (at least #1) change on a regular basis, but the fact that these addresses are significant does not change. The structures and history surrounding each of these will keep them well known for years to come.

1. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC-- This is the address where arguably the World�s most powerful man lives: the President of the United States. Known as the White House, it is located in Washington, DC and it is a national treasure.

2. 11 Wall Street New York, NY-- This is home of the New York Stock Exchange. Tourists travel here year-round to visit the charging bull statue and to take in the hustle and bustle of one of the financial centers of the world.

3. 350 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10118-- This is where the previous world�s tallest building stands: the Empire State Building. It�s 102 stories high, and is a world-famous attraction for tourists and locals alike. In addition, it is featured in several Hollywood movies.

4. 221 B Baker St, London, England-- This is the address to the Sherlock Homes Museum (given the address in March of 1990). When the Sherlock Holmes series of books were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, street numbers in London mostly stopped at 100 and even to this day the Museum�s address is out of sequence on the block. That didn�t stop it though from becoming one of the most popular addresses of all time.

5. Tour Eiffel Champ de Mars, Paris-- Paris�s number one attraction is this address where the Eiffel Tower stands. For tourists, going to Paris is never complete unless you�ve been here. At night, there are beautiful lights you can�t help but stare at.

6. 4059 Mt Lee Dr. Hollywood, CA 90068-- This is the exact address where the Hollywood sign stands. It�s a mountain, but is now a preserved site to prevent its destruction. It�s featured frequently in Hollywood movies as well.

7. Buckingham Palace, London, England-- The most famous place in the United Kingdom. This palace is where the royal family lives and is often a place of attraction because of its important and beauty. It�s very old and retains its classic yet elegant look.

8. Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island New York, NY 10004-- This is yet another attraction in New York, the Statue of Liberty. This is a symbol of America�s open arms and welcomed many immigrants into the country. It�s known around the world and a top tourist destination in the U.S.

9. Manager Square, Bethlehem, West Bank--The Church of the Nativity is located here and this is a very well known and holy site for Christians from around the World. This is cherished as the site where the baby Jesus was born and laid in the manger.

10. 2 Macquarie Street, Sydney-- This is the most popular place in Australia, the Opera House. Here, you can watch plays, operas, etc. and enjoy the beauty of the place at the same time. It�s a must-see if you�re in Australia and is no doubt the most recognized place in Australia.

It�s actually difficult to stop with just 10 famous addresses from around the World there are so many great places to go and visit and addresses that are extremely important to individual nations and to various religious groups. There are lots of honorable mentions from the Vatican to the world�s tallest building in Dubai, we hope you spend a few minutes to think about all the addresses that you think should be in the top 10 of the World.

Exploring Cape Town and the Winelands

-by Lindy Howard

If you're visiting Cape Town for the first time, you�re in for something completely different. This town that started off as an isolated supply post at the end of the world is now one of South Africa's largest, most colourful and thriving cities. Safaris, beautiful beaches, the winelands and a thriving metropolis can all be found fairly close to each other.

Victoria & Albert Waterfront

If you arrive by sea the first place you're likely to land is the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, and that's as good a starting point as any.

The V&A is one of Cape Town's premier tourist and shopping districts, but it's not all for show. The surrounding port is still operative and you can watch the busy operations as you visit the V&A's hundreds of shops and cafes or the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Nelson Mandela Gateway & Robben Island

From the waterfront, you can head through the Nelson Mandela Gateway and board the ferry to Robben Island, where Mandela and many others spent years as political prisoners. And if a sea voyage is not on the agenda, take a stroll around and see Cape Town's iconic Cape Dutch architecture. It's an intriguing mixture of French, German, Dutch and British stylings unique to this part of the world.

The Cape Town Coastline

If aquatic pursuits are more your style, Cape Town's unique geography makes for an interesting day at the beach. The Atlantic waters to the west are substantially colder than the Indian Ocean to the east, and each one harbors different creatures. The Indian Ocean is perhaps better for diving and wildlife while the Atlantic coast has more developed residential areas and restaurants.

The Winelands

Ranging a bit further out can be rewarding as well. Within a short drive of Cape Town are the South African Winelands, a UNESCO recognized region where many exquisite wines are produced.

Whites, reds, German and French styles are all well represented here thanks to the region's rich colonial history and an extremely grape-friendly Mediterranean climate.

You can take one of many guided vineyard tours or set out on your own. Many visitors find that it's best to rent a car because public transit in Cape Town, while quite good by African standards, is still somewhat lacking. The Winelands spread out in a northeasterly direction from Cape Town and into the increasingly hilly terrain of the interior.

Constantia Valley, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch

Locals call this region the Boland, Afrikaans for "uplands." The Constantia valley region is home to some of the Winelands' oldest estates and poshest dining.

Go a little further and you'll find the origin of some of South Africa's best wines in the area around Stellenbosch, the oldest town in the country.

The Franschhoek region was once settled by the French, and this small town still hosts more than thirty farms. Many of the vineyards of the Winelands have excellent restaurants on-site, and almost all of them offer tastings and cellar tours.

How Long Will It Take Arizona's Tourist Industry To Recover From The Republican Party Jihad Against Hispanics?

The U.S. has virtually no chance to bring home its bid to host the 2018 World Cup, officially submitted today, because of the anti-Hispanic police state created in Arizona by that state's off-the-rails Republican Party. And two major Mexican soccer teams, Club Am�rica and Club de F�tbol Pachuca, cancelled their July 7th match at University of Phoenix Stadium. That's because Arizona Republicans have been doubling down on their sociopathic jihad against Hispanic residents. As Austin joined San Francisco and Los Angeles in announcing a boycott of Arizona's new anti-Hispanic police state, tourist officials there are bracing for the worst. In Phoenix alone, David Krietor, a deputy city manager who is tracking the issue, said this week the city faces lost business worth about $90 million over the next five years. Debbie Johnson, president of the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association, said a boycott might be disastrous for the state's more than 200,000 hospitality-industry workers. "We really don't need another hit," she added. As of April 30, the lodging association had identified 19 conventions canceled, worth an estimated 15,000 room nights, or $6 million. This is getting more and more serious and it's time to really wake up here. Yesterday when I was reading Sebastian Doggart's wonderful post on unindicted war criminal Condoleeza Rice and his reference to Martin Niem�ller's chilling 1940s-era poem, I couldn't help thinking about what the Republicans are doing to the state of Arizona. Original translation:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Arizona is getting out of hand. And it isn't about controlling the borders or controlling crime. It's pure fucking racism and narrow-minded, self-righteous bigotry. The accidental governor signed another hate-filled bill to tell Hispanics they're not welcome in Arizona, another piece of the Republican ethnic cleansing push. Latest to be banned: "ethnic studies."

HB 2281 bans schools from teaching classes that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment or advocate ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals. The bill also bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.

The bill was written to target the Chicano, or Mexican American, studies program in the Tucson school system, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

School districts that don't comply with the new law could have as much as 10% of their state funds withheld each month. Districts have the right to appeal the mandate, which goes into effect Dec. 31.

Tucson Unified School District officials say the Chicano studies classes benefit students and promote critical thinking. "We don't teach all those ugly things they think we're teaching," said Judy Burns, the president of the district's governing board.

She has no intention of ending the program, which offers courses from elementary school through high school in topics such as literature, history and social justice, with an emphasis on Latino authors and history. About 3% of the district's 55,000 students are enrolled in such classes... Ethnic studies are taught at high schools and colleges nationwide, but the Tucson district officials say their 14-year-old program is unique because it's districtwide, offered to grades K-12, and can satisfy high school graduation requirements.

Yesterday the Los Angeles City Council, in a 13-1 vote (lunatic fringe nutcase Greig Smith from Simi Valley being the "1"), decided to ban travel and future contracts with Arizona over their anti-Hispanic policies.

During a morning-long debate on the resolution, council members compared Arizona�s action to Nazi Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust, as well as the internment and deportation of Japanese Americans during World War II. A new Arizona law, which will take effect July 23, will require police to determine whether people they stop are in the country illegally, which critics say will lead to racial profiling.

�Los Angeles the second-largest city in this country, an immigrant city, an international city. It needs to have its voice heard,�� said Councilman Ed Reyes, one of the resolution�s sponsors. �As an American, I cannot go to Arizona today without a passport. If I come across an officer who�s having a bad day and feels that the picture on my ID is not me, I can be � deported, no questions asked. That is not American.��

Even national Republicans (though not McCain) are embarrassed by the out and out racism-- they usually prefer it carefully cover-up-- and yesterday it was announced that the heavy favorite for the 2012 GOP Convention, Phoenix (who "had it in the bag") was suddenly replaced with Tampa, a very open and multi-ethnic, all-American city. As disappointed as they are, beleaguered Arizona tourism officials aren't even a little surprised. Tourism, one of the state's most important industries-- first because of the violence and now because of the racism, is in the crapper.

Hispanic civil rights groups are boycotting Arizona and urging others to do the same. Officials at the National Council of La Raza, one of the groups driving the boycott, had privately asked the RNC not to meet in Phoenix.

The city risks losing as much as $90 million in hotel and convention business over the next five years because of the controversy, according to city estimates released Wednesday. The state's hotel and lodging association has counted 23 canceled meetings for a loss of between $6 and $10 million. On Wednesday, Los Angeles became the largest city to join the boycott.

...Arizona Republicans, including Gov. Jan Brewer, have stood more solidly behind their immigration law as a necessary tool for dealing with illegal immigration. She has also pushed back against the boycott, particularly the call for Major League Baseball to pull the 2011 All-Star game out of the state.

MLB owners, who have not commented on the boycott, begin a two-day quarterly meeting in New York this week. No major action items are on the agenda, but advocates of the boycott hope it will be discussed.

"You have a sport that the Latino community loves, whether you are a recent immigrant or native born, Latinos see baseball at their sport," said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, the director of immigration and national campaigns at NCLR. "The question is: As a sport where do they stand?"

The MLB Players Association has come out in opposition to the law, as have the Phoenix Suns. The team wore its "Los Suns" jerseys last week specifically to push back against the state's law. The decision came from team owner Robert Sarver, who suggested the players wear their Noche Latina alternates.

Concert promoters are also starting to feel their business disintegrate, Cypress Hill being the latest band to cancel a show and announce support for a boycott of Arizona. There's no chance I will go to Arizona while these Republicans are doing this kind of thing. Blue America is also urging everyone to support the only federal elected official in the state who is standing with the Hispanic community, Rep. Ra�l Grijalva (D-AZ) at the One America page. Grijalva and his staff have been threatened-- with serious violence (one gunman has been arrested so far)-- and he has had to close down his constituent services offices in Tucson and Yuma. Arizona isn't behaving like its part of America. I bet we couldn't get the Mexicans to take it back though.

Meanwhile Faith in Public Life announced today that an �emergency delegation� of Bishops and prominent religious leaders from Arizona will fly to Washington tomorrow to ask Sen. John McCain and White House officials to set politics aside and take immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform.

These religious leaders-- who will also meet tomorrow with DOJ, DHS and other Members of Congress from Arizona-- are on the front lines of the immigration debate, as their state enacts Arizona SB-1070-- an extreme measure that will likely lead to increased discrimination and racial profiling, and penalizes families and faith communities already living in fear. This draconian legislation, which has been denounced by religious leaders from across the theological, political and ideological spectrum, demonstrates the urgent need for political leadership from Arizona�s Senators and the President to move on comprehensive immigration reform immediately-- before other states follow in Arizona�s footsteps.

Planning A Trip To Morocco

Yesterday I booked my flights from L.A. to Marrakesh. Roland said it'll be his 5th trip there. It'll be my 14th! The first time I went I drove. Not from L.A.-- from Germany, where, in 1969, I had purchased a VW camper van, which became my home for several years, and drove around Europe, wound up in Spain, and then took a ferry, with the van, from Algeciras to Ceuta. (Algeciras is at the bottom of Spain and you can get a ferry to Ceuta, a lonely Spanish colony they haven't given back yet, or directly to Tangier, which is what I've always done since that first trip. Except when I take a plane-- which is what I'm doing this time. No carefree two-three months to drive around Iberia and Morocco this time-- just 3 week conventional holiday in Morocco. And in the old days, you had to more or less fly to Casablanca and then get to Marrakesh or Essaouira from there.

Now it's almost convenient to just fly directly to Marrakesh. I say "almost" because it's still a small regional airport and not many international flights-- other than charters-- go in and out. I found one on a subsidiary of Royal Air Moroc, Atlas Blue, which I had never heard of. But it flies from Heathrow to Marrakesh. The only thing I'll miss about Casablanca is Le Port de P�che, one of my favorite seafood restaurants anywhere, a consolation for anyone who is forced to travel to an otherwise must-to-avoid (more or less) Casablanca.

Anyway, today's New York Times Travel Section is all about Morocco. The raison d'etre for all that space is a music oriented piece on Essaouira, the wonderful seaport on the Atlantic Ocean I discovered after Marrakech back when I first started coming to Morocco. I knew Jimi Hendrix a little from New York and he was there too, taking a rest before going to play at the Isle of Wight Festival (where I was headed as well). Essaouira was a lot sleeper then than it is now. And now-- every June-- a guy I met years and years ago hosts a big (5 day long) music festival. It highlights gnaoua music which is a mixture of African and Arab musical traditions.

Unlike festivals staged, � la Woodstock, in muddy, middle-of-nowhere pastures, or worse, in vast, overheated football stadiums, the Gnawa�s setting, in a small, friendly and almost impossibly picturesque, wind-cooled seaside city, is as magical and mesmerizing as the music.

Roland's pissed off because the article on Eassouira doesn't mention any of the really great seafood restaurants they make the city one of the culinary capitals of the country. I'm delighted; the fewer tourists who have those places on their agendas, the more room for us when we're back the in a couple months. I'll do a more comprehensive guide to Essouira restaurants when we're there, meanwhile, suffice it to remember that it's the home of nutty, delicious argan oil.