Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Top 10 Places: Timbuktu

Coming up with daily content is quite a challenge when the routine of my life is not exactly news-worthy. So I’ve decided to do some topical series - this one will be of ten of the most interesting places I have been lucky enough to visit, in no particular order.

I’ll begin with Timbuktu – or Tombouctou as it is locally known – which I visited in February 2004 while doing an internship in Mali.

Called 'la ville mysterieuse’, Timbuktu was founded more than 1,000 years ago. During the 14th century, when the Malian Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to present day Nigeria, it was a cosmopolitan centre of culture and commerce. Camel caravans made the long and difficult journey across the Sahara desert, bringing salt from the north and exchanging it for its weight in southern gold.

During the 15th century the town became a rich, highly acclaimed centre of Islamic education. Doctors, judges, priests and scholars all lived on the generous tab of the Malian Empire King and mosques that still stand today served as universities for both religious and secular fields. While there, I saw treaties on Islamic law, politics and medicine, as well as copies of the Koran and beautiful prayer books, dated as far back as 1204 AD.

These days there are still caravans of camels carrying salt through the city. But the city is, for the most part, a poor, dusty shell of its former glory. For seven months of the year there are no fresh fruit or vegetables. There is little economic activity, and despite the dozens of international NGOs that have set up office there, employment and opportunities are scarce.

Yet at the same time, mystery of this ancient city could still be glimpsed in the labyrinth of winding streets no wider than sidewalks. It was felt walking across the desert under a bright crescent moon, listening to musicians plucking bowl-like guitars and softly padding their animal-hide drums. It was in the stories and poetry that have been passed on and created here, in the silent procession of camels and the way the borders of the city just seemed to dissolve into an endless horizon of sand.

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