Final Verdict On The Hôtel Bouctou

Staying at the Hôtel Bouctou is a double edged sword. It's more expensive than the Hôtel Camping Timbouctou, but it has a bar with beers that are cold and moderately priced. The water is also cold and moderately priced--though you do have to make sure the plastic seal on the water is not broken already. I'm not sure why I got one that was broken but I don't really trust the whole place. They can do some food. I got a plate of lamb that was supposed to come with bread but when I asked for the bread he said he couldn't find any. So maybe, stick with the beverages.

The hotel is filled with what Lonely Planet describes as hangers-on. And boy do they hang on. They let me know every single service available--trucks to Mopti, cars to the airport, cars to the river, tours of the city. You name it. There seems to be a loose confederation with the building that is called Azalaï tours in Lonely Planet and the hotel. A collection of all these hangers-on is often found lazing about in the copse just in front of the bar. They are all in cahoots with one another as well. When I checked out to take the boat to Gao, one of them who apparently saw I was throwing away an empty box of cookies asked me if I needed cookies for the voyage since I couldn't get any on board.

Someone told someone that I had a rip in my shirt and they offered to fix it. Somehow the original quote of CFA 1000 turned into CFA 2500.

There are also plenty of Tuareg merchants. They all have jewelry, knives, and other stuff to sell. I was there in low tourist season a few days before the big festival at the end of Ramadan, so they were desperate to unload their wares and gave good prices. But I still didn't buy much because I can only absorb so much Tuareg jewelry. They all ask and try to show me their stuff even though I tell them up front that I can't buy anything. It's sort of annoying, but I don't begrudge them it. It is what they do for a living--after all how can they compete with Mortons. Carrying blocks of salt through the desert on camel back is just not a viable business model except for the boutique salt market.

I had the "don't bring change and hope they forget" thing happen to me twice there. I never forget. >:-<

So I stayed there and I played fair. I bought a bunch of postcards from a kid, a bracelet, a necklace, and a little box. I got the shirt fixed and I had 5 shirts and a pair of pants laundered (quite well I must add). And I had a good experience with the barber who was expensive but the most honest guy I met there. And it doesn't surprise me because he is the only one there who doesn't speak English. In the end, all he expected for a tip was a cold bottle of Coca-Cola.

So, anyone going to Timbuktu needs to consider what the Hôtel Bouctou is and what it isn't when they go. It is not a place you can relax and unwind in peace with an ice cold beer. But if you like the rough and tumble of bargaining and fighting for the best deal and trying to see through all the scams, it can be fun. Also, if you don't speak French and are helpless without locals who speak English, it might be a good choice. But as for me, I would never stay there again.