The ride to Djenne

From Mopti to Djenne is around a 130 km drive. We arrived in the morning at the bus depot as everyone said the transport would leave by 7-8 am. After arriving at around 6:30 am, we were led to a sitting area to wait. Coming on 11 am, they ushered us into the back of the pick up truck shown below. There were 10 adults in the back portion sitting on wooden benches and we thought this will be a little tight but we'll manage. By the time we left, the back of the pick up was filled with 13 adults and 5 children, plus the spare tire, two 70 kg bags of some food product, and everyone's small bags.



So by 11:30 we were off, put put put at a max speed of probably 30 km/h, as the ride took around 5 hours. As the truck was probably built in the 50's, around every 10-15 km, they had to stop the truck to pour water over the engine. Unfortunately, when they turn the engine off, you couldn't start it again unless you got it rolling. So yes, about half hour the guys closest to the back had to jump out and push the truck to get it going, as you see in the photo.

With so many people Dave was squished so much his legs kept on falling asleep. A handy tip for travellers stuck in this situation: take your shoes off and sit on them! Instant cushion!