Rissani Travel Guide

Rissani, while a convenient stop off point for travelling from the north of Morroco to the desert by bus, should be noted for it's overly pushy and occasionally decietful locals. I should point out that I had an amazing time in Morroco, and the people are generally really friendly and interesting, but this is just one of those cautionary tales of things to look out for.   Whilst backpacking around the country, myself and several friends caught a bus to rissani, intending to then get a taxi straight to a particular hostel in the desert. However, as soon as we arrived, in the late evening, we were latched upon by a very persistent man, who insisted we stay at his hostel. After going into a cafe to avoid him, he continued to push his services, while we tried to chill out after a six hour bus trip. When we eventually said we just wanted to find our own place to stay, he claimed that the only two taxi drivers in the town were currently in the cafe, and we would not find anywhere else to go. After getting into an argument, he then accused one of my friends of being racist. We walked off, but were soon followed by several of the men on mo-peds, who claimed they just wanted to apologise. Immediately after this, the two taxis from the cafe followed as if to pick us up. Feeling threatened, we went into the nearest hostel we could find, coincedentally opposite a taxi rank! One of the men even slyly followed us in and got a commision off of us! Relieved to be out of the situation, we paid for a nights accommodation, and arranged with the hostel clerk to get a taxi the following day. However, the next day we found that the taxi driver did not want to take us where we wanted to go, but instead to another hostel he said he had been instructed to take us to.When we argued enroute, he then turned around and took us back to Rissani, where we argued some more (!) with the guys at the hostel, and eventually got our money back. My female companions were quite upset at this point, and we decided to go to a police station to report the hassle we had received in the town. Unfortunately, no-one at the station spoke english, so they called in an interpeter. Who just so happened to be the guy we were reporting! Anyway, after a sitdown and some more arguing with the chief of police and the two men from the hostel, one of the guys from the hostel agreed to drive us to the taxi rank and ensure we got out of town alright. We eventually got to the desert, and had an amazing time in the saharan desert, riding camels and sleeping out in berber tents amongst the dunes and stars! So, a happy ending in the middle of a fantastic adventure, but just something to watch out for. 

go see the desert of rissani. beautiful. one of the most impressing places in the world, when you sit at night on top of a dune and hear nothing than the wind, the sand, and  you'll see one of the greatest firmaments you can imagine.
 

http://www.kasbahennasra.com/
Fijn hotel met zwembad en tof personeel, en dit allemaal aan de rand van de woestijn in Marokko!