Erg Chebbi   

Although the golden sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi are beautiful it was difficult for most travelers to go there. In the best position were drivers with their own 4x4 and GPS. If they have hopefully my or another travel guide with a route description they just have to be strong in Erfoud and refuse any company. They will easily and peacefully find the dunes.

But all the others have it now much easier with the new asphalt road from Rissani to Merzouga. Either with their own car or with the official taxi one can be there in 30 minutes from Rissani. But now they found a new trick: on the way to Merzouga you might find a car, apparently broken down or out of gas, but don't believe him, he will only bring you in his own Auberge. They all want to make their business, will bring you to Auberges and carpet shops they are working with.

Auberges in the Erg Chebbi area

For budget travelers the best way is to go to Rissani and take the local taxi to Merzouga. There is one and it is cheap, but often people during the trip try to tell you that the taxi is not going to Merzouga and bring you to an Auberge far from it. Here is a story of a Morocco traveler (from the old times without asphalt):

I just returned from a trip to Morocco. I have two areas that I'd like to comment on, but before I start let me state this caveat. The vast majority of Moroccans are lovely and friendly people. Also apart from the relatively minor incident described below I had a superb time during my stay and I would visit again and recommend the country as a great travel destination!

Firstly, visiting Merzouga and the Dunes. When you arrive in Rissani you will be ambushed by relentless touts hoping to escort you across to Merzouga. These guys all hangout at the 'Cafe Salama' which is the first place you see after the gas station as you come in to town. Unless you are special forces or something and can call in an airstrike on this place (how I wish), you will get hassled. These guys scramble to their mopeds as soon as a foreigner is spotted. Many of the Moroccans in the faux guide/carpet selling business seem to have adopted a WW2 approach to helpful tourist signs and the like. If you find a sign it will often be obscured and sometimes new signs disappear overnight! Simply finding the road to Merzouga out of Rissani is a major challenge as there is simply no one that you can ask who won't also try to scam you!

My story is that I did find the road, but that once I was out in the desert (and it was towards the end of the day) there were no other cars. Fortunately (or so I thought) I spotted an English couple driving in the same direction. They had conceded to pay one of the faux guides and I tagged behind. Soon they, and then I, got stuck in the sand. Fortunately with some backwork and determination we got out and eventually reached the dunes. However we did not reach Merzouga, but like many people were presented with a fait accompli by the guide, who had actually taken us to his own family/friends place, which in this instance was the "Auberge Lahmada" . Not only that, but the tracks to these types of outfits are far worse than the well worn track to Merzouga. As a consequence the front of my hire car got totaled. I was just lucky that it could still be driven. It could have been a very expensive nightmare. Once at one of these establishments (some 20 km north of Merzouga) you will be subjected to relentless pressure for treks etc etc. I walked south to a few other Auberges and heard similar tales.

My second point is car hire. If you hire a car from the cheapest place and then ask what if I have an accident or the car breaks down, what do you expect people to say who are trying to flog you their service??? If the car breaks down you are totally F####d! If you have an accident you will have to pay for the car to be repaired or possibly worse, face a law suit from someone you have injured. Strangely enough they never say this but always reassure you that there will be no problem. My advice here is if you do want to shop around for car hire, do so via one of the better known larger western companies. "Bon Chance"  

Another report:

Some fellow travelers and I took a CTM bus from Fes to Rissani a few days ago. At the CTM station, our bags were offloaded and we were greeted by what seemed like an official of the CTM station there. We asked about taxis to Merzouga and he introduced us to a driver and they showed us his van and we discussed the price (20 dh, which was legit). After a coffee, my two friends and I and three Japanese girls hopped into the van. Instead of taking us to the town or the hotel we requested, they took us far out of the way to a hotel that they or a friend owned called Auberga Hamada. We did not leave the vehicle. We told them to take us directly to our Hotel that we had specifically asked for. They said we would have to pay more money since they had already driven us this far. They did take us to our hotel, and we did NOT pay them more money (luckily their car got stuck so we had to walk a bit to the hotel).