To go to Timbuktu almost were a turning point for us, since we were closed to halfway on our journey. We cut the distance in two from Bandiagara and slept over in the town Douentza. There were only 200 kilometres to the mysterious city. The road was very uneven and corrugated and filled with huge holes that vibrated your mind to the edge of going bananas. The only wise thing to do was to take it slow and easy. After eight hours and late in the afternoon we arrived in Korioume from where we should catch a ferry to take us to the other side of the Niger River. We could see some huge dunes from a far and soon we were back on track. It was a peculiar feeling to b in Timbuktu, the frontier to the vast desert of the Sahara “where the world ends” that was at least what I believed when I was a child. Amazing!

The last part to the mythical city is tarred with big green trees along the road! We had the very important photos taken with the gate of the city in the background, before we drove through. Our hotel was located just after the gate. It had only a little space in front of the building for camping, so we took a room instead.