Five awesome places I’ve seen

Every blog needs a hook right? Okay so I thought I would sit down and think of five awesome places I have been, chuck in some photos and blab on a little about them.

5. The Pyramids, Egypt.

When I first headed overseas to backpack about, I knew there were a couple of things I simply had to see such as Niagara Falls, the Empire State building and the Pyramids in Egypt. I mean to be honest I was so green I have thought Egypt was just a myth or something from a movie! Well, I did get to Egypt and I did see the Pyramids. They are bloody impressive! They are as amazing as you’d think.

I even took public transport to get there from central Cairo. Once I alighted from the bus with my best mate we were hounded by people trying to get us onto camels. We declined repetitively. Our favourite quote became ‘my brother has a camel’ which was tried on us dozens of times that day. We morphed it into ‘my brother IS a camel’.

We heard about one guy who took the offer up to go on a camel ride around the pyramids. He left his bag, wallet and camera with the camel guy as he went inside one of the pyramids. He came back outside to find no trace of either the camel or his handler!

4. The Taj Mahal, Agra, India

So when in India you simply must visit the Taj, the world’s greatest monument to love. The Emperor Shah Jahan built it for his wife and it took 21 years to build, with construction beginning in 1632. She is buried there in a quiet mausoleum inside the building itself, and so is he. I heard a tour guide say that Shah Jahan had plans to build a black replica as his own tomb, however the internet tells me this is merely a myth.

As a tourist you pay 750 rupees to get in (around $13US), but if you are Indian it’s just 20 rupees. Some might consider this discrimination, but if you consider the relative wages it’s not so outrageous. I found the place to be blissfully peaceful in manic India, the gardens and adjoining buildings are really beautiful too and part of the attraction.

3. The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.

Exterior facing the square

The inside of the Hermitage is pretty darned grand!

Another place with a two-tier pricing system – it’s far cheaper to get in for Russians than non-Russians. Still, if you can act Russian (re-pout a lot lol) and have a Russian friend like I did, well, you might just be able to fool them at the entrance.

The Hermitage is a palace, no wait many palaces, and a museum in one, located in Senate Square. The façade is very famous, but inside it one of the world’s greatest museums with artefacts pilfered from all over the world.

2. Registan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

On the Silk Road, the ancient trading route from China to Europe, there are many fascinating cities and places. Samarkand is definitely one of the most amazing, with its Registan – three big medressas I ever saw. In fact the whole city is full of history and amazing Islamic architecture, but the Registan is three medressas that face into each other beautifully decorated with a blue mosaic work.

From ‘Short Journeys: Kyrgyzstan & Uzbekistan’

As you approach the Registan from the open side, the Ulugbek Medressa is to your left, the Tilla-Kari Medressa is in front of you between the other two and on the right is the Sher Dor or Lion Medressa. They are all impressive, but the Ulugbek Medressa, dating from the 15^th century and the oldest of the Medressas, is the most impressive of all three. It’s also the largest.

Your entrance ticket gets you into all three, and when I was there I bought it from an old lady on a small table outside the Ulugbek Medressa. I must admit, it didn’t seem all that official. It cost just under 12,000 som, and that included a camera, which as always in Uzbekistan was extra. Inside there are many different rooms you can visit, a sculpture of some wise-looking men looking at a globe, souvenir stalls, arches, beautiful blue tiling, and plenty of things to snap your camera at.

1660 saw the building of the Tilla Kari Medressa, inside which there seemed to be much less happening. However, it had a wonderful, peaceful courtyard and some of the paint work under the blue dome was really beautiful.

The final Medressa, Sher Dor or the Lion Medressa, appeared to be missing a bit of tile work, but was still pretty impressive. It was built in 1636. It was hot and I was a bit ill so I sat down inside on one of the seats and relaxed a bit. If you get yourself a tour it would probably be worth it, there are a lot of stories behind these impressive, beautiful buildings.

Ulugbek Medressa

For more information on Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, please do check out my ebook, Short Journeys: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

1. Dogon Escarpment, Mali

Hiking the escarpment

It's hard work!

Finally, one place that really blew my mind, and the undisputed highlight of any journey to West Africa (as long as the journey includes Mali of course) is the Dogon Escarpment, a long ridge in western Mali which is visually stunning, and a popular place to trek. I trekked along the bottom of the ridge for a day and a half, and then ascended to the top.

I stayed a night in a village at the bottom, where we met the locals and saw life continuing mostly as it has for centuries. However they do have car batteries which provide basic lighting in the evening. There was a cultural show as well, and for the sleeping element I was (with three friends) on the roof of a mudbrick building, sleeping under the stars. It was a perfect spot to sleep!

A Dogon Mosque, made from mud-brick.

The next day after the climb to the top we stayed at another village, and visited another meeting school children, craftsmen and a holy man. It was a completely unique experience and one I will always treasure and remember.

Dogon school room

For more information on Mali and the Dogon Escarpment, Please see my Chapter for Mali in the Dhaka to Dakar: Across Africa book.

Dhaka to Dakar: Chapter 19 - Mali

These are just five amazing things I have seen. They are not necessarily my top five, or in a specific order, but I wanted to take the chance to blog about some of the brilliant things I’ve been so fortunate to see – and experience, in my travels. What are some of the brilliant places you’ve seen or visited?

My Mali Part Two

Continuing on from the previous post, I have bee reminiscing about one of my favourite African countries to visit, Mali.

Mopti was the first proper town we arrived at. I was lucky to still be in the group of four that had done the Dogon trek together, so we found our way to a cheap guest house. I can't remember the details or name of the place, but it was probably around ten dollars a night. I shared a dorm room with my friend, and we were fortunate to have it to ourselves.

Changing money was a bit of a hassle I remember. I didn't need to but friend did and it took quite a while at the bank. I had used traveler's cheques at times. Cash was much easier to change in West Africa, however you usually needed a passport to change any money at all and often receipts for traveler's cheques. 

Mopti is situated on the confluence of two rivers, the Bani and the Niger. It's a great base for branching out to the famous and recently infamous Timbuctu, sometimes by boat, sometimes by car. It's not particularly close and depending on the river levels can take 3 days to a week I think. I wasn't headed that way, but many in Mopti were. They were organising all the details for their trips there, quite a few foreigners were staying in Mopti.

The best thing to do as a tourist there, as Mopti itself doesn't contain a plethora of tourist attractions, was to take a boat on the rivers. I spent a few hours floating around, visiting some islands, watching river life in Mali. It was great. The people living on the islands see quite a few tourists naturally, and are always asking for cadeaux (gifts = money) but that doesn't spoil it if you have a cheerful attitude to it.

Watching boats move people and cargo around is great, and I saw some interesting things being ferried - including a small boat full of coffins.

Coffins on the river.

Aside from Dogon Country, Mali's greatest attraction is the Mosque at Djenne, which we did in a longish day trip from Mopti. We had to hire a taxi, but with four people that was very affordable. We took it south, and at one point had to get out as the car made it across a river and up the embankment on the other side. The recent rains had taken out several bridges in the area.

Over the rooftops of Djenne the Mosque stands tall.

A ferry took us across the river to Djenne, it's on a sort of island of its own. The taxi left us outside the mosque, pretty much the centre of Djenne. It was the biggest mud-brick mosque and probably building I have ever seen. A large square surround it - I think there is an amazing market there once or twice a week. You can't go inside sadly, apparently some westerners shot an advertisement there many years ago now which featured scantily-clad women and people were so shocked the mosque became closed to all foreign visitors.

However the whole town is mud-brick, an amazing maze of streets and life. Many people had official cards as guides and desperately wanted to guide us, but we found a nice bloke who showed us the way when we needed help so we employed him instead! It was a highlight of Mali, Djenne, no two ways about it. A must see and a very special place on Earth.

From there it was back to Mopti and another 5am bus the next day. My friend and I said goodbye to the two we'd been travelling with as they headed north to Timbuctu. We would head south to Segou....

The Mosque at Djenne. 

And that's where today's post ends. Last part on Mali in the next week, maybe sooner. Right now I can't recommend travel to Mali, however, if the troops in there get the job done as they seem to be doing, it could be a safe tourist destination sooner rather than later again.

Don't forget my writings:

Dhaka to Dakar: Across Africa

Dhaka to Dakar:Across Africa - Mali Chapter only

Pictures from The Dogon Trek

Finally I have had a chance to get some photos from the amazing Dogon Trek up. I am in Casablanca today and tomorrow, and then to London and home by the end of the week. Enjoy the pics!
First is a village called Injeli (I think), then some rocks on the escarpment, thirldy in the village of Ende the girls (who do all the hard work in Africa it seems!) pound millet, Fourth are houses (no longer inhabited) on the cliff face, Fifth the trek begins, and finally a couple of Dogon children.

Dogon trekking, Across the universe

Here I am in Mopti, Mali. I am sorry for the lack of recent postings but it just hasn`t been possible.
A week ago I left Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and took a bus to Ouigouyah in the north. My friend Paul and I met a couple of Irish girls and we teamed up to visit the Dogon country, along with Timbuctu this countrys premier tourist attraction.
The Dogon Escarpment stretches for some 150 kms, basically a large long cliff. Tribes live both below and above this escarpment. We found a guide, and from Bankass in Mali we set about trekking some of this area.
Starting at a village called Kani-Kombelai were walked along the bottom of the escarpment to villages Ende and Teli. We slept on the rooves under the stars and enjoyed the hospitality offerred; even though there was no electricity and the food was basic.
The next day we climbed the escarpment to Begnimato. Its all very rural but the scenery is just breathtaking. Ok; so they have coke for sale. The heat is bad so a coolish drink never goes astray. Much of the village life hasnt changed much for ages.
Another rooftop night, and then we were driven to Bandiagara the next day. Then yesterday to Mopti.
Paul and myself took a trip on the Bani river yesterday which was great; then today we did a day trip to the town of Djenne where the worlds biggest mud-brick structure, an amazing mosque, stands. We were guided around there for a while, another amazing place. tomorrow its onto a town called Segou....