morocco: essaouira
After the sand dunes of the Sahara and the beehive of Marrakesh, the lazy Atlantic coastal town of Essaouira provides yet another of Morocco's many contrasts. Named Mogador by the Portuguese, the town was long a Barbary pirate haven, and its windswept ramparts and traditional fishing port still remind of its notorious past.
As local legend tells it, the Castle Made of Sand here (the ruins of the Bordj el Berod watchtower) was the inspiration for the Jimi Hendrix song. (Other accounts deny this, but that doesn't discourage the locals.)
Update: For more photos of Essaouira and Morocco, see Jorrit's blog.