Leaving the Sahara

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SAHARA Day 24

Since I wasn’t able to leave the desert until the night train again I had to fill my day with walking around Rissani. First I went to a Touareg, one of the four types of desert people, camp to see some of the creative works from the area. The Touareg people are also referred to as blue men because they would paint themselves with indigo to keep mosquitoes away from them. This group is night travelers; when the sun goes down they travel to a new place using the stars. The Berber nomads on the other hand just constantly travel to find new sources of water.

After spending some time there I went on to visit a mosque. In each mosque there is a tower that announces prayers five times a day. While in Fes you could hear the prayers from anywhere in the city; it is a very strange experience. The mosque had beautiful tile and plaster work. Obviously, I was not able to enter the prayer room but the building in general is lovely to see. Following the mosque I walked around inside the old Kasbah.

It is hard to imagine living in the conditions that exist in the Kasbah. Currently, Rissani is being funded by UNESCO to reconstruct many areas of the Kasbah that are falling apart. Everything is made out of clay with dark alley ways. It acts as an enclosed neighbourhood although the main gates are never these days.

I then headed to the bus station to await my transport to Meknes on the route out of Morocco.

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