Morocco: Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakesh... just the names of these cities stir a hint of spice in the nostrils. Morocco has been thoroughly mythologised and for good reason. Travellers extol the country's unique living history, its shimmering light and its extraordinary art.

Morocco is the ideal African starting point for the traveller. An easy hop from Europe, it is hectic but friendly and stimulating as well. Open-air markets throughout the country are piled high with rugs, woodwork, jewellery and leather - said to be the softest in the world.

However, Morocco's image is slowly shifting. The old romantic notions of a conservative nation steeped in Islamic and feudal history now clangs with a contemporary reality. The medieval labyrinthine medinas of Marrakesh are what Morocco is all about for many, but don't be surprised to hear the shrill ring of a mobile phone or see a sign pointing down some darkened alley to the nearest internet cafe.

It's not just the Pharaonic monuments that have drawn travellers to this country since long before the birth of Christ - it's the legacy of the Greeks, Romans and early Christians, and the profusion of art and architecture accumulated from centuries of successive Islamic dynasties.

Modern Egypt is an amalgam of these legacies and more, juxtaposed with modern influences. Mud-brick villages stand beside millennia-old ruins surrounded by buildings of steel and glass. Some townsfolk dress in long flowing robes, others in Levis and Reeboks, and city traffic competes with donkey-drawn carts and wandering goats. Nowhere are these contrasts played out so colourfully as in Cairo, a massive city thronged with people and ringing to the sound of car horns, ghetto-blasters and muezzins summoning the faithful to prayer. Egypt isn't all chaos and clatter, however. It's also a diver's dream dip, a trek across the sands on a camel or a long lazy punt down the Nile.

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