|
Mauritania is quite a shock, even
after the privations of Western Sahara. The border guards spend all
day in cardboard shacks and the police have no transport, nor even shoes
for that matter. However, once you adjust
your expectations it is quite a pleasant place. The hustling is less
aggressive than in the big Moroccan cities and it is really no big deal to
give gendarmes a lift to their next posting. Bribes are confined to
"cadeaux", which are usually no more than a couple of biros, a
packet of cigarettes (bought locally for €0.40) or an old shirt or
towel. Why should I begrudge them my cast-offs when I have so much
and they so little? I pity their resignation
to the "Will of Allah", which actually means an acceptance of
the status quo and a complete lack of initiative to want change anything
for the better...witness their attitude to road safety!
It is also contains some
of the most spectacular landscapes and astonishing architecture, remnants
of disappearing civilisations. Oualata may be one of the world's more remote
UNESCO sites, but it is well worth the considerable effort needed to get
there and actually delivers what Tombouctou promises but fails to.
|
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)
_small.JPG)