With good friends (Dan, Amber, Fred and Klaus) in tow, 2 Toyota Innovas set off for the long trip north west to Hampi. I was still a bit nervous about my new camera so with much coaxing – thank you Fred and Amber - and an IRON grip on my camera plus shoes with gripy soles, I dared to start shooting again… here are a few (remember folks, I use this word very flexibly) of my favs from the trip…
Fred mocking Darren trying to work and be on vacation at the same time…..
No Darren, look over there..
A co-worker of Darren was getting married and we were super excited when we were invited. We headed down to Madurai in Tamil Nadu with another co-worker of Darren's and travel buddy Paul.
Taking a sleeper car train in India is a blast. This time it was an AC two tier sleeper (we left at 8 pm for an arrival into Madurai at about 6 am). We had a wonderful time exploring Madurai – spent some time exploring the main temple and surrounds… Madurai is a fabulous city.
The wedding was a two day, beautiful affair – so I brought two saris – but I think the bride had about 10 – ALL were stunning! We were honored with being asked to bless the bride and groom.
The food was fab and eating off banana leaves in a massive dining hall is an experience not to be missed!
Then we went to the first part of the wedding
The next day we headed, very early, to the second part of the wedding…Darren in his doti and me in my second sari.
Bride and Groom
If you don't know what a South Indian Wedding sounds like, this will give you a small taste….these guys played throughout the entire ceremony just about on both days!!!! Not sure if your man was quite pleased about the video I was taking…..
I took a heck of a lot of photos so I thought I would post some random fun ones.
Thanks for a great time Paul and Marie!!
…..and trying to hail a cab. Since Paul and Marie usually take their scooter, the picture you see of Paul bending over to negotiate a price (after we waited for a while outside their apartment for a taxi to come by) and the ensuing conversation was an every day occurrence and thought it would be cool to share at least one cab ride with you. Unfortuantely, in the only video I have, the conversation has already taken place and the occupants of the car (Marie, Paul and myself) are trying to determine if it safe to delete photos…
Anyway, the conversation prior to the photo deletion one is basically translated thusly:
Someone asks what's your name (read tribal name – cow herder, farmer, etc). Once tribe is established, each party insults each other about said tribal name. Basically jokes are regarding what people eat, what they do (cow herder, farmer etc) and why you should be their slave and why their tribe is better – all done in a joking manner and good humor kinda – it also only happens if you speak bamana.
One of the most alarming things as a woman is the continued prevelance of genital mutilation (excision – a sterile medical term for what really happens) in many, many places around the world.
The vast majority of Malian women, rural and urban, rich and poor, regardless of education level, have suffered FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) - see this site. About 90-95% of young girls in this region are subject to this practice's more extreme form – usually BEFORE the age of 10 yrs old.
I saw this poster many times as we drove through Pays Dogon…It will not end the practice though and Mali is not the only country! If you want to do something about it or just educate yourself more fully, please see this website about Mali or this site.
So there is no way that I can fit all the images from our three days and two nights in Pays Dogon but hopefully these few will suffice.
We went from (try to say all these names 3 times fast) Djiguibombo to Kani Kombole thru Tele and Ende to Begnemato and back.
The nights were spent on the roofs staring up at what I can only discribe as the most fantastical display of stars I have every seen in my life after driving/trekking through the low country which was very dusty and bloody hot – – yes, yes people, I know it is the sahara but still! It was rough trekking but the encampments along the way provided a place to kill the hottest part of the day (basically 11-4 pm) with lunch, card games and napping under makeshift hogons.
The surprises included oasis on the climb up to Begnemato with it's the onion fields and the stark, raw beauty of the place, the cliff dwelling much like those in the southwest …not to mention the stars…no wonder the Dogon people are credited with discovering the rings of Saturn.
After having a nice leisurely breakfast (which turned out to be pretty much each breakfast) of bread, butter, jam and tea, we headed to Mopti.
We checked into Y Pas De Problem (The No Problem Hotel) which was super cute and decided to do a boat tour of the Niger and Bani Rivers. After a false start, we were able to get a boat that had gas in the engine and headed out.
It was a great cruise punctuated with overloaded porter vessels, fisherman heading back in after a day on the river and a short visit to a fishing village. We capped off the evening at the Bissap Cafe – an AMAZING restaurant in the main port/shopping area of Mopti. Great food, fabulous atmosphere and genial service as one restaurant reviewer (PAPER PADDY) noted in her review.
It is famous for it's Monday morning market and it's mud brick architecture (mainly the Great Mosque). We rolled into town Sunday afternoon, and after a little tiff with the manager of the 1st hotel where our mosquito infested room was fumigated to no avail, we moved on to much more comfortable digs right off the main square where the market would take place on Monday.
We paid for a guide to show us the town – very cool as we got to climb up on to the roof of one mud house and survey the town in addition to learning more about the architectural style, history and the people of the area.
Pandemonium does not begin to describe the market the following morning – I managed to snap a lot of poor photos being downgraded to my point and shoot. Most of these pics are Maries as well as the video…
The market was amazing…. loud, crowded, and FULL of pretty much anything you wanted to buy. Definitely worth the trip!
Segou, about 150 miles NE from Bamako, was the first stop.
We walked around visiting a art exhibit, markets, and well, just generally taking pictures. Dinner was at the Hôtel Le Djoliba where we ended up staying on our way back down to Bamako – cheaper and SO much nicer than the place we stayed that night.
Door to the art gallery – the color was just cool.
Cooking pots stacked at the market – joli ye? (how much?)
Various sacks of animal bits, chalk, beans used for "medicine" or
talismens. Not sure I would want some of this stuff hanging off my
neck – I don't know, maybe a lucky crocodile necklace might have come
in handy later in the day…
Fortification of beer and pizza was required to face more bargaining madness….
Just thought this was a cool image…
Diggin' the cow horns decorations on this house….
Snuck up on Marie to take this great picture…
Port shot and unfortunately the last with my D-60 because moments after
taking this picture, I, without my croc talisman, bit it hard and fell
down this embankment….killing my camera in the process. I did have
my point and shot on hand but the picture quality for the rest of the
trip sorta sucked.
This is a little video of our drive up to our Pays Dogon Adventure. We went to Segou, then to Djenne, Mopti, Pays Dogon and back to Bamako. It will give you a good sense of the 12.5 hr drive there (including road quality) and back. The music playing is Ali Farka Toure – his Red recording, played from a worn, very dusty cassette tape is raw blues. It was the perfect soundtrack for our journey!
We stalled while driving through a similar small village….cars aren't the most reliable in Mali….. but the villagers came out to help Paul push the car so the driver could pop the clutch and we were on our way again….
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