Boy I didn't sleep well. I expected to sleep well since I usually sleep well after 2 consecutive horrible nights. But it was just too hot--and unbeknownst to me, it was actually cool outside at night. But my room was hot.
I needed to make sure I was awake early since I was meeting Chokoroba at 8am for my CFA 12000 (US$24) tour of Timbuktu. I woke up early and stayed in semi-consciousness until 7:30 when I grabbed a shower and headed out. Chokoroba was there at exactly 8. We headed off. First we went to his house where I waited outside. I didn't know what he was doing, but when he emerged, he was now dressed in full Tuareg indigo. Nice. I love that indigo clothing. It's the nicest shade of blue.
We first visited the main Dyingerey Ber mosque. It's a big mud mosque and the architecture is really interesting. These mud mosques are really a sight. There is nothing like them. Next we went to the Sidi Yahiya mosque which is not so spectacular. Then we hit a few explorer houses. Timbuktu honors some of the first European explorers to make it to Timbuktu. The first one was a guy from West India. He came and lived here for a while but was killed when he tried to return. There was a French guy. I can't remember which, but one of those houses is now owned by a guy who creates and sells Arabic calligraphy which I didn't buy. Finally a German guy whose house is a small museum with descriptions of his work in German, French and English. He wrote about his travels in Africa and I hope to find them when I return to read them myself.
Next came the highlight of the trip. Because Timbuktu was a center of scholarship at one time, there are a lot of manuscripts here. And the dry climactic conditions allowed them to remain more or less intact until today. But they are still deteriorating. So there is a South African sponsored initiative to find these manuscripts, restore them, by modern archival standards, and then scan and digitize them for future scholars. A truly wonderful project. I first saw some manuscripts in a room, but they were under glass and the guide of the place could really only tell me what they were and when they were created. Not much else. Then we went to the workshop where they make all the archiving boxes. Since each manuscript is in its own condition and its own size, each archival box has to be custom made to house each restored manuscript. The archivist (archival technician?--I don't know his job title) showed me how they restore and stabilize each manuscript with a virtually transparent Japanese paper on each side which makes each page strong enough to withstand handling without further deterioration. Then he showed me a box with bound manuscripts and a location for the original cover when it still exists but can longer serve as a cover for the bound pages. Finally he showed me an archival booklet that can be used for 1 or 2 loose pages for exhibition. They make all the archival materials right there in their shop. It was fascinating and I really think the work they do there is important. But alas, there was a conference going on so I couldn't see the final stage of the process where they scan and digitize the manuscripts.
Next, we saw the last mosque which is made of mud and is pretty neat. Just beyond it is a new university being funded by South Africa as well. It's nice that South Africa is taking an interest in the history of the entire continent.
Finally, we went to the ethnological museum. There is a CFA 5000 (US$10) tourist tax which is collected at this museum. I had sort of envisioned a museum with a window where I pay my tax and get some sort of receipt that indicated I have paid my CFA 5000 tax. But no. There are just some guys in chairs hanging out by the door and you just give a CFA 5000 note to the one the guide tells you to. Very informal. And I wonder if all the "tax" makes it to the city coffers. Once inside there is the "well" or the Tim which was controlled by a woman named Buktu. The legend is that she found the well and used it to aid the Tuareg on their journeys and thus Timbuktu was started. The well in the museum is actually just a 3 foot hole in the ground with a sheep-skin bag suspended above it. It is obviously not a well, but a representation of a well. Oh well. ;-) It is a bit offensive, but no more than the Romanian merchant outside Bran castle selling vampire tourist swag since Vlad Tepes could conceivably have spent the night near there at some point.
Finally, I headed back to the hotel. I paid Chokoroba the agreed upon CFA 10000 upon which he said the nice thing about Americans is that they tip, so I gave him another CFA 1000. He was an OK guide, but his English was not quite up to some of the descriptions. He's a nice guy and it's easy to spend time with him. Some of the guides are pretty hard to look at, but Chokoroba is easy to be with.
I went to the bar and wrote and read La route/The Road. While I was sitting there, naturally, every Tuareg between here and Libya wanted to show me their jewelry, knives, pipes, etc. "I already bought a necklace." "But mine are different." "I don't need a bracelet." "That's OK--just look." It was nice stuff and some of the prices were really good. But I just don't need any of the stuff. If I were doing America-Mali-America, I'd snatch the stuff up, but I'm on a long journey and I'm just halfway through. Some of the merchants had told me last night that they were in a caravan that was going to leave bright and early this morning. But they were still here. Somehow I'm not shocked.
But then a guy came in and didn't have anything to sell--he had a service. He wanted to shave me and cut my hair. I can tell the jewelry salesmen that je n'ai pas besoin de bijouterie, but I sure can't say je n'ai pas besoin de être coiffuré. My head was like a mop by now with my last haircut in Essaouira, Morocco. He wanted CFA 5000 for the shave and haircut. He said he learned to cut hair in France. Probably a lie, but at least it meant he can give a white guy a white haircut. OK. We went outside behind the hotel and there in the open air, he gave me a haircut and a shave. Most of the hair was cut with a straight razor. They sort of shave your excess hair rather than scissor it. It was kind of neat. And since he's associated with the hotel, they put my water bottle in the freezer while I got my haircut. When it was done, a kid who sold me either the bracelet or the box yesterday brushed the hair off my pants. He certainly didn't get it all, but he got some of it.
I went back towards the door of the hotel bar and again a guy who has been trying to get me to buy a bracelet tried again. I know he's desperate to sell it because it must weigh at least an ounce and he's selling it for CFA 4000 (US$8). It's silver so the intrinsic value of the metal itself is worth almost what he's asking. But no sale--I don't need another bracelet. There were 4 kids there watching the whole thing. Then the kid who brushed off the hair from my pants said he wanted a cadeau (gift) for brushing off my hair. I must have made some sort of acquiescent face because the other 3 kids to start brushing off the remaining hair. Finally I gave 2 of them a CFA 100 coin and since I was out of them I gave one kid a CFA 200 coin and told his friend to get his CFA 100 from that guy. I'm sure he will.
Once in the place, they sort of figured out that I'm willing to pay for services I need but not for stuff I don't need. The shirt I had on has a rip in the right arm from when it got hooked on the door handle at Le Petit Bateau in Conakry. A kid came in and right away said "I'm Taylor." It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. But I finally figured out that he meant to fix my shirt. He quoted me CFA 1000 (US$2). OK, I can do that. I took off my shirt and handed it to him. The pretty Spanish girls at the other table didn't gag, at least. ;-) After a while he came back with the shirt done and said it was harder than expected and would cost CFA 2000. I rolled my eyes and said "bon". Then the guy said he wasn't the tailor but a runner and needed something too. I took a deep breath, said "bon" and offered him CFA 500. I gave him a CFA 5000 note and waited for my change. After about 15 minutes, the actual tailor came and said he wanted his CFA1000. I said I gave the kid CFA 5000 and wanted my change, too. He told me that he also was paying the kid CFA 1000 for bringing him the business. Then a few minutes later the kid came back and handed me CFA 2000. I said he still owed me CFA 500 more, but he said he needed something for the running. No, I said, we already agreed on CFA 500 for that. So he gave me the remaining CFA 500. Damn, these guys just nickel and dime you to death here. Anyway, I like the shirt and the shirt with a repaired rip with the Timbuktu tailor story is better than shirt that was never ripped in the first place.
In the mean time I had several beers, a 1.5 liter bottle of water than went from refreshingly cold to downright hot, and some brochettes and fries that were not so great though edible.
At least I can say that for all the annoyance, the Tuareg are fun to deal with. They have a natural charisma so that even when they are annoying as hell, they are at least charismatically annoying.
September 26, 2008 17:11 Mali local time
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