Some Like It Hot

Anyone who got an actual hand written letter from me during the last two years has heard me whine about the heat in Burkina. Just when I thought I couldn't complain any more, I go to a place that's even hotter. The fabled Timbuktu. Not just a hip brand of messenger bags, Timbuktu is also a really hard to get to town in NW Mali and a certified world heritage site. It took 5 full days of pain and suffering to get there overland from Ouagadougou(which is about 700 km away). The trials of this trip included having to spend the night sleeping on the bare ground in a shantytown on the bank of the Niger river where a gang of little rascal aged street urchins tried to mug me. They got nothing but my pride, since my pockets were empty at the time. Anyone attempting to rob me these days will be sorely disappointed.

Situated on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, Timbuktu was once a way station for the trade of gold, slaves, and ivory from the gold coast to northern Africa and of salt in the opposite direction. Geographically, this made a lot of sense up until about the 16Th century when people gave up the excruciating hassle of crossing the Sahara in camel caravans in favor of sea and river based trade routes. Owing to its prosperity as a commercial center, the city developed into a social and cultural hotbed and was home to a huge university with as many as 25,000 students as early as 1400. The library is pretty spectacular, with gorgeous mud wall construction and and impressive collection of ancient islamic and greek texts. I couldn't give it more than a cursory clark-griswald-at-the-grand-canyon type nod because the heat from the sand was seeping through my cheap Chinese flip flops(my only pair of shoes! yay for minimalism!) and scalding the bottoms of my feet. Other famous things that I didn't spend much time looking at are the Djinguereber and Sankore mosques, built in 1327 and the early 15Th century respectively.

Since there was no way in hell I was returning the same way I came, I got halfway back to Ouaga on a ferry boat running the Malian length of the Niger river. you can also pay an absurd amount of money to take a frightening prop plane out of the "airport", but I opted to save myself the cash and the panic attack. The boat ride is the preferred mode of local transport because a fourth class ticket is 10 bucks and you can bring your goats, cattle, and chickens. I chose a second class ticket for 80 bucks. Falling squarely in the center of the deluxe-first-second-third-fourth class spectrum, this will get you a bed in a four berth cabin, three days of meals, and access to a tolerable but nonetheless cockroach infested latrine. In spite of being dirty and uncomfortable, the ride is amazing and highly recommended. Sunrise and sunset on the Niger river are photographer's dream. Check out the pic snapped with a cheap digicam of the full moon rising at sunset. The boat stops at small villages along the way to pick up and drop off passengers and supplies. Most of the villages are only accessible by river during the rainy season, and are thus relatively untouched by western influences. Among the more interesting stops was the village Niafunke, which blues and world music fans will know as the home to the late Ali Farka Toure.

I got off the boat at a town called Mopti so I could check out the nearby mosque at Djenne, an architectural wonder and another world heritage site. The world's biggest manmade mud thing, the mosque was first built in 1307 and subsequently rebuilt in 1907. Not much more of interest here for the reader, but a trip well worth the effort if you are ever in the 'hood. My philosophy is that anytime one is near the world's biggest anything, one should go see it. The area gets a bad rap by word of mouth on the backpacker circuit because it's not easy traveling. Even if your pockets are stuffed with cash, you won't get better than 2 star accommodation. In spite of being inadvisable for high maintenance travelers; between Djenne, Timbuktu, and Dogon country (which I described in a post I put up last year), this part of Mali is among few tourist destinations that are worth the hype.

Pictures: Self portrait in Niger; Mosque at Djenne with monday market in foreground, Mali; Niger river in Mali; Giraffe in the wild in Niger.