"Le Comptoir" used to be one of the In-Places in Marrakech. Marrakech used to be the last Oasis on the Caravan route to the South and an important trading post.Now it's a tourist destination.The Koutoubia,the Medina and the place Jamaa El Fna are the main tourist attractions.Unfortunatly they renovated the lot too much and nowadays it looks like an African Disneyland.I remember Jamaa El Fna drinking mint tea,smoking a spliff and watching the golden dust rise off the hard dirt beaten plaza at Sunset.Nowadays that ain't possible anymore since they decided to asphalt the area a couple of years ago.The jugglers,snake charmers,hairdressers and "dentists" are still around though.Loads of little restaurants,cafés and boutiques around the plaza.There are several "Riads" some of them excellent,some are fleapits .Check out "Riad Olive" it's a guesthouse belonging to a Frenchman I befriended when I lived there. The Moroccans call what they did to Jamaa El Fna "progress",I call it an atrocity.
