When the cabbie asked me where I wanted to go in Mopti, I gave him the name of the „Ya pas de problème“ hotel, the loudly-touted place to stay in in the „Lonely Planet“ guide book. The guys who had written it seemed not to be able to have enough of it, and if the prices they had quoted in the book were still right, I figured I had no reason to look for a kip elsewhere. The cabbie nodded, indicating he knew where he was taking me to and soon we were navigating a maze of unpaved and narrow streets – or even passages – in Mopti. But yes, the driver knew the place, and soon enough I was there.
Once out of the car, I saw the French couple again. Who had just arrived with the same idea as me.
„Where were you?“ the young lady said. „We were looking for you at the station in Sévaré, but you disappeared.“
Really?! I honestly didn’t know that. They had never exactly told me they were headed for Mopti. Even if it should not have been much of a feat to conclude. Well, we could have saved each other some money by sharing the taxi fare, but now it was too late. I guess it was more my fault. I really could have asked.
Anyway, we all entered the hotel. Which was quite crowded. There was a white guy, probably a Frenchman, working the reception, but he spoke a pretty good English, too. After all, tourists from all over the world were coming here, so it wasn’t surprising. Unfortunately, it didn’t take us long to find out they were fully booked. And he just couldn’t help us. Where else could we go?
„There’s a hotel called „Le fleuve“ just a few hundred metres from here,“ he advised us.
„Do we need a taxi?“ the lady asked.
„You can walk,“ he said.
And so we walked.
Indeed, „ Le fleuve“ was just two bends away. And compared to „ Ya pas de problème“, it just felt like a sleepy den. The reception was poorly lit, almost dark, but people manning it were very nice, telling us that, yes, they had free rooms and if we wanted to see them, we could go right away.
The rooms were in the neighbouring building which you entered through a separate gate and a small, but cosy garden. They led me to a room in a corridor at the ground level and the French couple were taken somewhere upstairs. My room was quite bright – for African standards, at any rate – had a large bed, an air-conditioner, a mosquito net and a bathroom with hot water. OK, there was a TV, too, but I didn’t care much about it anyway. All in all, it was fine for me. So I decided to leave my stuff immediately and go back to the reception to book it and pay.
Back in the garden, I saw the French couple.
„Are you staying?“ I asked the guy.
„No,“ he shook his head.
„No? You didn’t like it?“
„She didn’t like it,“ he shrugged.
„So where will you go now?“
„She wants to go to „ Ya pas de problème“ and stay on the roof terrace for the night.“
This time we didn’t make a mistake of not informing each other about plans in the immediate future. It turned out we all wanted to go to Djenné tomorrow morning.
„When did you plan to go?“ I asked them.
„I don’t know,“ the guy shrugged. „Maybe in the morning. You?“
„I’d like to go early in the morning. Tomorrow is the market day there and they say the best time to go there is early in the morning. So perhaps I’d like to catch the first connection.“
We asked one of the guys at the reception when the first connection to Djenné would leave the town and where it would be from. He said that shared taxis usually started leaving around six from bâché gare. Wherever it was.
Six o’clock in the morning was not the thing to really look forward to, particularly after a bus ride like I’d had today. But I had not arrived in Mali to sleep. And the day to go to Djenné was Monday. So it would be either tomorrow for me or no day at all.
„Six is fine for me,“ I said. „How about you?“
They looked at each other, nodded and assured me that six was fine with them, too. So we agreed to meet tomorrow at five in the morning in front of the „Le fleuve“ gate and then we would take a taxi to bâché gare. Then we shook hands, wished each other a pleasant evening and a good rest until next morning.
By the looks of it, I was going to have a company in Djenné.
And then I set to settling the bill here in the hotel. While I was waiting for the receptionist to complete the paperwork, another guy approached me, all smiles, and exclaimed:
„Hello! Welcome to Mopti!“
„Thank you,“ I smiled back.
„How are you?“
„Fine, thank you. How about yourself?“
„Fine, too. Do you need a guide?“
„Well, I just arrived,“ I said. „Right now I don’t need anyone. I’ll just go to my room and sleep.“
„I can organise everything for you in Mopti,“ the guy marched on undaunted. „You know, I work here.“
„In this hotel?“
„Yes.“
I turned to the receptionist:
„Does he work here?“
The receptionist gave him only a half-interested look and merely said:
„No.“
Well, so much for the fellow’s credibility. Having basically written himself out of my plans forever by starting out with such a fib, he immediately and completely faded out of my radar. But then again, I didn’t feel I needed a guide anyway. What for? Besides, being at last in Mopti, I finally had a feeling that from here on out things would only go smoother for me. No matter what my plans would be, I knew everything would turn out just fine.
Yes, I was tired. Sitting on the plastic container or standing in the bus for more than five hours did show in my muscles and bones. But it was the twilight time when I settled my bill and I wanted to take a walk before I finally retreated for the night’s kip. So I went out and just followed my nose. People outside were friendly, shouting hello my way in this warm evening from all sides. Few minutes later I even arrived at the Bani river and saw several 4x4’s in the shallow water for the car wash. The day was gradually wrapping itself up, but I did manage to catch a few final scenes.
In fact, I lingered outside for almost an hour. By then it was completely dark. Actually, the stroll along the river did me well. I felt much better after I had stretched my legs. But I couldn’t afford to stay out for too long. If I wanted to be at the „Le fleuve“ gate on time next morning, and I did want that, I would have to wake up at four thirty. So, it was time to go back to my room, take a shower, read a bit, and go to bed.
