Rissani Favorite Tips by globetrott Top 5 Page for this destination

Rissani - a palmtree is like a treasure

Favorite thing: wealthy people have their own palmtree in the garden

Fondest memory: In our countries in Europe, most people see a tree just as a decoration - but here in the desert a tree is a much more - it is like a treasure - spending shadow and offering dates all year long.
Therefore it is also NO good idea to eat some of these fruits from the trees, as they all belong to someone and make the income and food for a local family...

Rissani - the gate to the desert

Favorite thing: Rissani is one of the last villages, before you will go into the Sahara, and somewhere a bit outside of the village we had a stop and saw this herd of camels.
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Fondest memory: and the Sahara will not always as sandy as you expect, and also not totally without any vegetation, BUT it is full of a big variety of simple and almost unvisible flowers, plants, bugs and other insects.

Rissani

Favorite thing: Click on the pic to see the fine ornaments

Fondest memory: Rissani was somehow the most surprising place for me in Maroc - as i never expected such rich ornaments inside a village, almost in the desert...

Rissani - fine ornaments

Favorite thing: I never expected to see such fine arts in a village like Rissani

Fondest memory: It was inside one of the shops, and was proudly shown to us - the roof is open for fresh air - and rain - if it ever happens a few times a year , was no problem at all, as it disappears into the ground within a very short time

Rissani

Favorite thing: there is so much to explore - and some of the houses offer a path with covered arcades to be protected against the sun

Fondest memory: In the brochure of the tour-company I read, that they recommend to wear a warm jacket in the Sahara - it sounded so funny, but is absolutely the best you may do - I had my winter-jacket and was protected against the hot sun - and the steady wind, that would have dried out the skin within a short time.
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and also the locals had their warm Chellabahs...

Rissani - great architecture

Favorite thing: many of the houses in Rissani look really unique with a shady inner-court and great ornaments on the houses
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Fondest memory: This was the court of one of the shops I had been to in order to buy my 2 Camel-bags.
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Just entering a private area like this on your own might be a problem - although most of them will not have gates in front
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But tourists will always be surrounded by kids, offering "tours" through their town, and they will know, where tourists will be accepted for a short look into the private "gardens" & courts

Rissani - not bad for shopping

Favorite thing: at many places around Maroc I was searching for "Camel Bags" - those are big bags, made like a KILIM

On the front you see the pattern - and each tribe has its own pattern

On the back it is mostly just wide stripes of different colors.

"Camel Bags " were used for the transportation of all goods, the nomads had to transport, when they moved from one place to the other.

They were attached to the saddle of the camels...

Fondest memory: Here in Rissani I found the best examples of these bags - and more than I could afford - while in the rest of Maroc I always asked in vain for "Camel-bags"

Rissani - if you need a dentist...

Favorite thing: Well, maybe this is rather a "shopping-tip" if you are looking for some great new teeth...
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Click on the pic and make your coice - my favorite is the one on top with the nice heart-ornament ;-))

Fondest memory: I saw some of these windows, while in Maroc - and I also saw dentists "working" on " Djema El Fna " (The big square, where you see artists,fairy-tellers,snake-charmers... )in Marrakech, where they work on a big square, pulling out teeth and doing repairs in the square - but I did not dare to take a pic...

Rissani - almost in the Sahara

Favorite thing: Rissani - a small village where the Sahara "starts"

Fondest memory: Most of the houses are built by clay and straw and the village is surrounded by a wall, as the steady wind would outherwise blow the sand into the streets...

The desert - MUCH more than just "nothing"

Fondest memory: What amazed me most was the fact, that the desert has so many small flowers and animals, when you simply look for them - and whenever some rain would fall once or twice a year, certain flowers appear for several hours or days and disappear again until the next rainy days...