The Rissani Souk runs three days a week — Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday — and is one of the most genuine market experiences left in southern Morocco. It is not a tourist souk. The bulk of the trade is in dates, grain, livestock, and the second-hand goods that pass through the Tafilalt before they head out to other markets across the region. The animal market in the early morning — donkeys, sheep, the occasional camel — is the part of the souk most worth getting up early for.
The covered alleys near the gates of the medina sell spices, dried medicinal plants, slippers, leatherwork, and the locally made daggers and metalwork. Bargaining is universal; prices roughly halve from the opening number. Stop for a glass of sweet mint tea at one of the stalls — it is the price of entry and the surest way to slow the pace of an otherwise overwhelming hour.