Kayes to Bamako (Part 1) -- December 23, 2003

[12] Kayes to Bamako (Part 1) -- December 23, 2003
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Photograph by Luke Klein

Photograph by David Scholnick

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[12] Kayes to Bamako (Part 1) -- December 23, 2003 If you click on a photograph, a larger version will open in a new window; close the new window when you have finished viewing the photograph. Video and audio clips may also open in a new window to allow continued downloading of the current page; close that blank window after the clip begins to download.
Photograph by Luke Klein		Luke: Dave didn't let the distance stop him from campaigning for Dean. Kayes had a less friendly feeling about it than previous places we'd stopped. We did not find out until the next morning that our hotel was in fact a brothel (there wasn't a sign or anything). This explained why all the double rooms had only one bed; it also explained the funny looks we had received when we had requested two rooms for the four of us. Dave: While the general rule was not to talk about politics, I couldn't resist. They were still on a pro-America high from W.'s recent visit. Nobody knew who Dean was, of course, but I liked telling them, 'Il est contre Bush.'
Luke: A small glimpse of the very large market in Kayes		Photograph by Luke Klein
Photograph by Luke Klein		Dave: Kayes was a whole new level of confusion. No paved roads, one bank, and an unscrupulous cab driver. I found myself watching my back more than usual. ... We met the Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) at our hotel, which they told us was a brothel. That explained the soft porn they had off our satellite our first night. I recalled that being a little weird. ... The PCVs liked hanging out in Kayes. Our hotel was the only place for miles where you could get some beef. One dude told me that he traveled a day and a half to get to Kayes: 'I wake up and I eat a bowl of rice. When the sun goes down, I eat another bowl of rice.' The PCVs also had a little office in town with a bunch of DVDs and a fridge full of beer.
Luke: For a while it seemed that it might be practically impossible to get where we were going. Finally, we found this van, which was headed to Bamako via Nioro (to the north). They had replaced the original seats with enough hard benches to allow each of the 18 passengers about 10 inches of bench space. It was a physically damaging 24-hour ride. Daniel: How do you prepare for a 24-hr. ride? We didn't leave ourselves much time. On our walk to the bâchée park, we picked up a six- or eight-pack of bottled water and kept some Power Bars close at hand. Dave: Credit goes to Luke for the Power Bars. He gave one to another passenger, who took one bite and then tried to pass it off to someone else.		Photograph by Luke Klein
Photograph by Luke Klein		Luke: We had to pass through breaks in the miles-long brush fires to stay on course. As we approached a brush fire, the van would fill with thick smoke, which made it difficult to breathe. It was a rather frightening experience. Dave: Living in California, I've seen brush fires of this sort, and I figured we were at a safe distance. The assumption was that someone threw a butt out a window. Luke: Well, I suppose that we were safe enough when I snapped this shot. (I mean, as safe as driving in an overcrowded old van on pitted dirt roads in the pitch dark in the middle of nowhere.) But when we had to pass through breaks in the fire as the van filled with thick smoke, it didn't exactly feel safe.
Luke: Around midnight, the driver stopped and honked his horn. The pitch black was broken by a lantern being lit in a hut on the side of the road. A man came out with a large can of diesel and they siphoned it into the tank. During another such stop, we followed everyone else into a large tent, where we listened to some Malian music and ate some delicious--if a little gritty--country bread (pain de campagne).		Photograph by Luke Klein
Photograph by Luke Klein		Luke: The driver stopped for a short nap after 12 hours of driving. We sat by the fire with Alhassane, the apprenti, talking about politics and plans for the future. Dave: While they hung out by the fire, I lay back and saw more stars than I've ever seen. There was a meteor shower, too, so it was exciting and peaceful at the same time.
Dave: I was the only one smart enough to bring a sleeping bag and thus the only one to get any sleep. Almost.		Photograph by David Scholnick
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Higher quality versions of the photographs on this web site may be available for publication. Please contact info@kleinmail.com to request permission.