Timbuktu, Mali

Although the approach to Timbuktu is tarred, the streets are of sand, often deep. We settled in at the Hotel Colombe, which has a roof terrace that is fine for observing the coming and going on the main street. Most traffic is donkey powered. The breakfast bread is baked in an oven in the street, and is gritty. Dinner is beef, mutton or chicken with potatoes, rice or couscous. The bottles of Castel are ice cold.

We had a half-hearted look at some houses of European explorers, and the attractive mud mosques. The majority of time outside of the hotel is spent in involuntary discussion with souvenir vendors, camel owners, prospective guides, people wanting to buy the car (tempting), and once, a gentleman who said I was in need of a haircut (true) and offered to come to the hotel with his shears. Con invested in a full Tuareg wardrobe.