Bienvenue à Tombouctou La Mysteriuse, together with the Sister Cities, Tempe AZ, Chemnitz, Marrakech and Saintes |
Ministry of Culture map of tourist sites in Timbuktu |
Timbuktu (French: Tombouctou) sits a short distance north of the Niger River on the edge of the Sahara |
Nomad tents sent up on the edge of Timbuktu (Tombouctou) |
Woman in a colorful dress against the desert |
Woman heading for one of the nomad tents |
The Sahara comes right up to the edge of Timbuktu |
With all the Non-Governmental-Organizations in Timbuktu, there are plenty of modern villas |
But most of the buildings are more like this, Timbuktu |
Libya has a large presence in Mali |
Qadafi sees himself as a patriarch for all Africa |
VSF-CICDA Agronomes & Vétérinaires sans frontières, Route de Korioumé, Tombouctou |
Along Route de Korioumé, Timbuktu, Mali |
Appui au Développement des Régions du Nord Mali, Tombouctou |
Timbuktu branch of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Abba Cisse private school, Route de Korioumé |
As soon as they spot you taking a photo, they want money |
ikatel: Bienvenue sur le Reseau - Tombouctou |
Diverse Malian people in an uprising against the Sun Devil? Native language AIDS campaign |
ONG = Organisation Non Gouvermental - Non-Governmental Organization. The Route de Karioumé is lined with them |
ONG Chariot - the white Toyoto Land Cruiser, Mali |
Bibliotheque Mamma Haidara de Manuscrits, Rue de Chemnitz |
Centre de Rechereches Historiques Ahmed Baba |
Arabic Calligraphy in the form of a kneeling man |
Manuscript library of the Ahmed Baba Historic Research Center |
Possibly an old Quran, tough to tell |
Tarikh el Fetash by Mohammed ben al-Mutawakil, died 1593 |
Arabic text |
Typical Timbuktu, Mali |
People going about their business, Timbuktu |
Parti Siege - Progressiste Soudanais - Mali - Union Travail Justice |
PSP - La verité finit toujours par triompher |
Tombouctou brand mineral water |
Tuareg man, Timbuktu |
Most of the young Tuareg men that approach you in Timbuktu will have portable shops |
Tuareg man with neck purse |
Office National des Postes, Tombouctou, Mali (Timbuktu) |
Rotary International polio vaccination campaigne, Mali |
Place de l'Indépendance, Tombouctou, Mali |
Independence Square, Timbuktu |
Welcome to Timbuktu - City of 333 Saints |
Timbuktu's Dyingerey Ber Mosque |
Timbuktu's Dyingerey Ber Mosque |
Dyingerey Ber Mosque, Timbuktu |
Dyingerey Ber Mosque, Timbuktu, 14th Century |
Tuaregs with the Dyingerey Ber Mosque |
Tuareg with the Dyingerey Ber Mosque |
Tuareg blue |
Back side of Dyingerey Ber Mosque |
Mudbricks from which Timbuktu is built |
Bibliotheque Al Imam Essayouti, Tombouctou, Mali |
Ornate doorway, Al Imam Essayouti Library, Timbuktu |
Open door, Timbuktu |
Window in a similar style, Timbuktu |
Well kept houses, Old Town, Timbuktu |
Ecole pour les Talibes (Ecole Koranique) Tombouctou |
Ecole pour Talibes, Koranic school (Madrasa) Timbuktu |
The pupils study Koranic verses written on wooden tablets |
Dusty boys at Koranic school, Timbuktu |
Koran school outside today |
Teacher at Timbuktu's Koranic school |
Teacher at Timbuktu's Koranic school |
ONG_aedt@yahoo.fr |
Hut set up in a ruin, Timbuktu |
Alexander Gordon Laing House, Timbuktu |
Tuareg with the Gordon Laing House |
In contrast to the rest of the Islamic world, Tuareg men are the ones who wear veils |
Djingarei-Ber district, Timbuktu |
René Caillié house, where a French explorer stayed, arriving in 1828, becoming the first European to make it here and back |
Maison de René Caillié, Tombouctou |
René Caillié, undergoing restoration by the Ministry of Culture |
House of René Caillié, Tombouctou |
Now he's got a street, Rue Réné Caille, Tombouctou |
Window, Maison de René Caillié |
Detail of the door to the René Caillié House |
Maison de René Caillié, Tombouctou |
Timbuktu street |
Madrasah Sidi Yahiya, the school of the nearby Sidi Yahiya Mosque, Timbuktu |
Decorated door, Madrasah Sidi Yahiya, Timbuktu |
Ornate door at the Medersa Sidi Yahiya, Timbuktu |
Hardware store Sidi Yehia, Timbuktu |
Timbuktu |
Timbuktu street life, Mali |
Young man in Timbuktu |
Ethnological Museum, Timbuktu - not terribly impressive |
The gift shop at the Ethnological Museum, Timbuktu |
Heavy anklets worn by slaves of the Tuareg - slavery may still exist in Mali and Niger |
Ethnological Museum shop Timbuktu |
Interior of the nomad hut on display at the Ethnological Museum, Timbuktu |
American entry into the Timbuktu explorer's club - D.W. Berky head the American Trans-Saharan Expedition from Biskra, 1912-1913 |
D.W. Berky House, Timbuktu |
Timbuktu |
Timbuktu |
Tuareg with the door to Heinrich Barth's house, Timbuktu |
Door detail - Heinrich Barth Haus, Timbuktu |
1853 German explorer Heinrich Barth House |
Heinrich Barth Haus, Timbuktu, Mali |
Musée de Heinrich Barth, Tombouctou |
Plaque on the Heinrich Barth House |
Map of the 5 year Trans-Saharan journey of German explorer Heinrich Barth |
Writings of Heinrich Barth |
Muamar Qadafi poster, Timbuktu |
Painting of the Sankoré Mosque, Heinrich Barth Museum, Timbuktu |
View from the roof of the Heinrich Barth Haus, Timbuktu |
They're persistent...waiting outside... |
Timbuktu |
Outdoor oven, Timbuktu |
About a half dozen Tuareg stuck with us for the entire walk through the old town |
Mud minaret of the Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Mosquée Sankoré, Tombouctou |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Minaret of the Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosquée, Tombouctou |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Sankoré Mosque, Timbuktu |
Regroupement de Eragagda Takaboundou, Tombouctou |
Construction company sign with the outline of Mali |
Grand Marché, Tombouctou |
Grand Marché, Tombouctou |
Salon de Coiffure Katus Beauté |
Street market outside the Grand Marché |
Tuareg on a tiny donkey, Timbuku |
Grands Moulins du Mali |
Maison des Artisans, Tombouctou |
Artisans center, Timbuktu |
Dubai Boutique, Timbuktu, Mali |
The commercial street heading towards NW Timbuktu |
Rue des Nations Unies, Timbuktu |
Rue des Nations Unies, Tombouctou, Mali |
Young boy, Timbuktu |
Persistance pays off... |
That Tuareg wallet is now on my wall |
Mud bricks drying in the sun, Timbuktu |
Quartier Abaradjou, Tombouctou, Mali |
In the northwest corner of Timbuktu, on the edge of the desert, a monument to the end of the Tuareg Rebellion |
Flamme de la Paix |
Bar-Restaurant Amanar, Timbuktu (recommended) |
Bar-Restaurant Amanar, Timbuktu |
Mohamed Agousmane enjoying a Coke at Amanar |
Bar-Restaurant Amanar, Timbuktu |
Flamme de la Paix, Tombouctou - site where Tuareg rebels burned 3000 weapons ending the Tuareg Uprising 27 March 1996 |
The Flame of Peace, Timbuktu |
Camels resting on the edge of the Sahara, Timbuktu |
Saharan sands rise beyond Timbuktu |
Camels, Tombouctou, Mali |
Camel portrait, Timbuktu |
Doesn't he look like he's smiling |
Camel resting, Timbuktu |
Camels parked near the Flamme de la Paix, Tombouctou |
Tuareg walks among the camels |
Nomad huts in the Sahara on the edge of Timbuktu |
The "road" leading out of Timbuktu - Taoudenni, in the far north of Mali - 740km |
Tombouctou - Essakane - 70 km |
Invitation to visit the Tuareg for tea |
Mohamed's house |
In the tent for tea with Mohamed Agousmane and his family |
Sabine and Brigitta joined me for the afternoon |
Tuareg using a bellows to heat the coals |
The Tea Maker |
Tuareg pouring tea for us |
But of course, there are things for sale |
The Pushy One |
My Tuareg Sword from Timbuktu |