Photos

One of the boys wandering the streets of Timbuktu...

For me, it wasn't the place, Timbuktu, that was the highlight of it's own myth. It was the journey there that was amazing. If you go, don't take a car or bus, take a piroque up the Niger River from Mopti...an amazing experience in itself.

As for Timbuktu, well, it's a shithole. No if's, and's or but's about it. Streets littered with trash, fake Tuareg bothering you all day, everybody trying to sell you touristy crap, people getting mad at you if you don't buy from them, etc, etc...Now, am I glad I was there and saw this fabled city. Yes, most definitely, and want to go there again...just don't expect some town in the middle of desert with nomads wandering around. Yet, if you look, you can find exactly that. It's not going to find you though, you have to find it.

Thanks
John