Timbuktu is in Mali, a West African country bordered by seven others, including Algeria, Niger and Senegal. Unless you fly from the capital of Bamako, it's difficult to reach -- somehow fitting for such a place of legend.
Like scores of travelers, I've been fascinated by the mystique of Timbuktu since the days when my mother threatened to banish me there as a child. After hearing about the Festival au Desert, a three-day music fest based on traditional gatherings of Tuareg nomads, I decided it was time to banish myself.
Though on a budget, I took the official Festival au Desert bus rather than chance public transport from Bamako to Timbuktu. Faster it was not, as the usual 24-hour trip turned into a 72-hour odyssey. Stops for food, fuel, prayer, transmission trouble, dead headlights (the driver wanted to duct tape flashlights to the bus hood but was vetoed), and catching air and hitting our heads on the roof as we traversed the bumpy Sahel (the stark, flat, shrubby zone approaching the Sahara), all made for an unforgettable if uncomfortable journey.
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