Tourist hotspots come and go but until recently, Timbuktu had been holding its own as the world’s leading destination for metaphoric travel. But I fear that globalisation is causing a steep decline in its popularity.
Once upon a time, you couldn’t get through a week without someone mentioning the ancient Malian city. Teetering on the edge of the Sahara desert, it was, of course, a byword for the most remote and distant place imaginable. So if your mother was taking a long time to return from the shop with the messages, you might have wondered if she had travelled to Timbuktu for the Wibbly Wobbly Wonders. Or, if you couldn’t find a missing sock you might have declared that you had searched from here to Timbuktu for it.
But today you might have to journey from here to Timbuktu to find anyone born in this century who understands the metaphor.
Back in 2012, when it was reported that the region was overrun by the jihadist group Ansar al-Din and a Tuareg rebel group, many people took to social media to express their surprise that Timbuktu actually existed. In their minds, it was a mythical land, like Narnia, or El Dorado.
From here to Timbuktu – Alison Healy on a byword for the most remote and distant place imaginable
Arsenic and Old Books – Frank McNally on a reader’s literary cry for help
Physician, soldier, explorer and naturalist – Marc McMenamin on Maj Richard WG Hingston
The beat goes on – Alison Healy on Holocaust survivor and musician Saul Dreier
Thanks to globalisation, Timbuktu is not so remote any more, which may explain the decline in its usage as a byword for inaccessibility. According to Google Maps, it would take a mere 96 hours to drive from Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge to Timbuktu, with the help of a few ferry crossings. And if you chose the fly-drive option, you could be there in just 45½ hours, including the final leg, which is a 19½-hour drive from Nema in neighbouring Mauritania.
It’s a hop and skip, really. Although the US State Department currently cautions against travel to Mali due to the risk of crime, terrorism and kidnapping.
Timbuktu was once a world centre of Islamic learning and is revered for its rich historic and cultural history, so it’s a bit of a jolt to see it being casually reviewed by travellers on Trip Advisor. Especially when some of them have no appreciation of its ancient cultural heritage. Take, for example, the reviewer from Tennessee who complained that Africa was poor and the accommodation was trash. But the founders of this city may rest easy, as the other Trip Advisor reviews were more positive – Djinguereber Mosque was “simply extraordinary” for one UK reviewer, while the Mosque of Sankore was “quite picturesque”, according to an Australian visitor.
I worry that if no one under the age of 20 uses the Timbuktu metaphor, then the vital signs are even worse for Outer Mongolia – number two in the top two destinations for travelling by metaphor. When was the last time you heard someone using Outer Mongolia as a byword for a faraway place?
But while Outer Mongolia – now just Mongolia – may be remote, it’s still not too remote for an Irish pub – or 10. It seems that UlaanBaatar, the coldest capital city in the world, is a magnet for anyone with a few spare shillelaghs and a desire to open an Irish pub.
Timbuktu hasn’t fallen prey to any Irish pubs yet, but it did come close to forging a strong Irish connection more than a decade ago. Carlow historian Michael Purcell led an attempt to have Carlow town twinned with Timbuktu. After all, if Ireland is supposed to be closer to Boston than Berlin, couldn’t Carlow be closer to Timbuktu than Toulouse?
The town twinning plan is not as outlandish as it first sounds. Carlow is already twinned with Tempe in Arizona, which in turn is twinned with Timbuktu, so it seemed logical to join Carlow and Timbuktu. Michael Purcell met the mayor of Timbuktu and the Ambassador to Mali and got the support of some local councillors in Carlow but unfortunately the conflict in Mali ramped up and the plan was put on ice.
The twinning with Tempe was good for Timbuktu as the Americans donated funds for schools and wells and sent medical supplies such as wheelchairs. The destruction caused after the rebels invaded in 2012 set back their efforts but the humanitarian work continues. Michael Purcell is still hopeful that the good denizens of Carlow town and Timbuktu can be brought together in a more peaceful time.
And then we might be able to finally discover what people from Timbuktu say when they want to describe somewhere at the end of the earth. One person online suggests that Honolulu is the faraway destination of choice when Malians wish to travel metaphorically. But perhaps one day our Carlow townsfolk will be able to definitively answer that question.
