Bankas Travel Guide

 sachara Says:  But at second sight you find your way to go up, climbing this part the escarpment at the southern end. There are natural footsteps.So it's easy to do for everyone, only the heat can give you some problems. 

 sachara Says:  Walking up from the plain to the plateau you find after the stream a steep wall to overcome... At the first sight you think it's impossible going up. 

 sachara Says:  If you make the climb from the plain to the plateau, you will see an idyllic stream. Here you can find some shade and coolness, so it's nice to take a little rest here, because the largest part of the walk and climb from the plain to the plateau is in the burning sun. 

 sachara Says:  When you climbe the escarpment at the southern end, you will have breathtaking views at the plains. To see the plains with the scattered green trees is wunderfull, with the steep cliffs your back. 

 sachara Says:  Every Dogon village has a To Guna. This is the meeting place for men: to discuss the village matters or just to sit, have a chat, drink or smoke with the other men.The To Guna has wooden pillars representing the ancestors. The thick roof of dried millet stalks makes it a... 

 sachara Says:  A little more to the north -east along the escarpment, coming from of Telli, is Ende.There is also a road directly from Bankas to Ende.Ende looks very scenic because of the big baobab trees along the road.At the background you can see the escarpment. 

 sachara Says:  From the abandoned old village of Telli at the cliffs you have a fantastic view of new Telli, built in the plain. You can see very well the pattern of the new village. It's a pity, this village is not built in the antropomorphic way ... 

 sachara Says:  After you climbed up, it's easier to walk between the different buildings than you expected down at the plain, looking up.It's so amazing to walk around this place, it's like you walk in history, in another era. Old Telli is one of the most wonderful ''museums in open air'',... 

 sachara Says:  And this was the house of the beerbrewer in old Telli. There were a lot of scales, pots and cups, just unguarded everywhere around.I wonder ...In 1989 we were that day the only visitors and could walk freely between the old buildings and artefacts....Is it still that way? Or... 

 sachara Says:  In old Telli, the inhabited village at the cliffs af the Bandiagara escarpment, you can also recognise very well the house of the hunter. This house has many skulls of all kind of animals at the wall. 

 sachara Says:  Walking around in old Telli, our guide told us how we could recognize the former house of the chief. It was a beautiful building with nicily decorated walls in wonderful geometrical patterns, painted in the colours white, black and red.To see, how this wonderful building was... 

 sachara Says:  The old village Telli is not longer inhabited. When we visited in 1989, there still lives only one man of 125 year in Dogon years. Watch out, a Dogon year is only nine months instead of twelf.The houses and the granaries in the Dogon villages are laid out in a complex scheme... 

 sachara Says:  From Bankas we visited the Bandiagara escarpment.we arrived in new telli down on the plain. From here you have a fantastic view at the old village above at the cliffs. The buildings with the natural colours form an perfect unity with the surroundings.Breathtaking ! 

 sachara Says:  In Bankas you can find a lot of open spaces everywhere in the village, even in the centre.At many places you have nice views at these open spaces with many scattered green trees. All this causes the very relaxed rural atmosphere of Bankas and its surroundings. 

 sachara Says:  In the centre of Bankass near the marketplace is the mosque with the typical conical forms and quadrangular patterns on the walls.It's one of the nice examples of adobe-architecture you can find in the region. 

 sachara Says:  In the centre of Bankas is a small market place. There are shelters against the burning sun of of wooden pillars with a roof of millet stalks.When we visited the marketplace, there was nobody around and no trade. The only thing we saw, were a few goats, wandering around on... 

 sachara Says:  Bankas is a very easygoing place. It's nice to walk around, watch the daily life, like women fetching water, pounding grain or visiting the small market. Bankas has a very rural atmosphere and is very relaxed.Allthough we watched also a very exciting volleyball game. 

 sachara Says:  In Telli, the new village at the plain, at the foot of the Bandiagera escarpment, our guide showed the compound, where the weavers do their work. The weavers were very friendly and helpful to explain and show us, how they do their job still in the traditonal way.