...went on a tour of the town (I would say city, but this would elicit imaginings
of something, well, not like Timbuktu. A different story though, so for now town),
seeing ancient mosques, famous explorers houses, the sites of the city of gold.

Blah, blah, blah. The tour guide was good, but thats all I heard. For me, Timbuktu
is about the people who live there (eg. - the little girl in the picture), and not
the buildings or architecture (and there is some amazing stuff). I mean, why.
Why would people want to live in such a harsh environment? How do they survive?
How did they get here? So, as we stopped at certain points, I would look for
oppotunities like this one. Mingle with the locals. Play with the kids. Get some
good shots (not saying this is by any means a good shot, actually, I just look at
it as another missed opportunity. Hey, at least I tried). The guide wasn't too
happy with me, but all I heard was blah, blah, blah anyway. This girl was quite
excited though, as after the photo session I flipped her a caedeu, which sent her
away screaming into the house.


Taken at Timbuktu, Mali