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Kiffa has a lively town centre, especially around the market area. There are a lot of small shops and streetstalls.
Kiffa is famous because of its multi-coloured glassbeads, the so-called Kiffa beads. Though I was very interested -I have allready some ancient Kiffa beads at home-, I did not have the time to check the market or shops, where the beads are made and sold.
We lost a lot of time in the first days of our trip because of problems with the car and we had to reach Tidjikja -another 400 KM- the same day before dark. Leave a Comment Address: KiffaDirections: 820 KM east of Nouakchott.
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En route from Chinquetti to Atar we passed through the Adrar Plateau. Coming from the east and descending into the plains, we had breathtaking panoramic views at the lunar-like landscape. Also the gorges, leading into the plateau, are of a rough beauty.
When we took this route at the end of 2004 there was a new tarred road leading over the New Pass. It was not possible to take the old scenic road more north, according to our guide. Leave a Comment Directions: En route between Atar and Chinquetti
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On the way between Chinquetti and Atar you can find rock paintings (peintures rupestres) at the north side of the road.
The paintings are not very clear. The cows are still easily to recognize, but it´s more difficult to recognize a griaffe and dancing people. The guards of the archaeological site can show you the paintings. They have also a book with the paintings and some explanation. Leave a Comment Directions: Just east of the New Pass between Atar and Chinquetti at the north side of the road. Look for a tall rock formation some 100 metres from the road.
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In the Middle Ages Chinquetti became an important religious and scholarly centre fro islamic culture and thoughts.
Nowadays there are In Chinquetti still a few ancient libraries, housing more than thousand ancient manuscripts, some dating from the 13th century and concerning different scientific discplines. The dry desert climate had preserved them for centuries. Leave a Comment Address: ChinquettiDirections: 120 KM east of Atar in the Adrar region
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Tidjikja has a lifely market. Also in the alleyways around the market it was busy. We saw people selling their products, like vegetables.
According to some resources slavery still exist in Tidjikja in spite the government stopped it. White Mauritanians should still hold black Mauritanians as slaves. We were too short in Tidjikja to learn more about it. We saw a lot of black Mauritanians around in the market alleyways, but we had no idea if they had something to do with slavery.
The next part of our trip, the incredible desertcrossing from Tidjikja to Chinquetti is described in the ''off the beaten path'' tips. Leave a Comment Directions: Tidjikja is 610 KM from Nouakchott and reachable by car or plane.
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Atar ( 18.000 inhabitants) in de Adrar Region is the major market centre in the north of Mauritania. After so many days in the desert with only a few smaller sleepy villages, Atar looked rather lively to us. Especially the area round the market was busy. At one side of the market is the smaller old section of the town with narrow streets. At the other side is the larger new section with wider and rectangular streets.
In Atar we did our shopping for the next part of our desert trip, we bought diesel, we visited one of the two internetcafés (opening hours 6pm till 12pm) and also a welding atelier to fix something of one of the cars. Leave a Comment Address: AtarDirections: Atar lies in the Adrar Region about 440 KM north east of the capital Nouakchott.
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Zouérat, an important iron-ore centre in the north of Choum, and Nouadhibou the harbour at the coast are connected by a railway. There are two trains every day in both directions. They told us the train can be 2 or 3 KM long.
The train brings the iron-ore from Zouérat to the coast. It's also possible to make this traintrip of almost 20 hours as passenger or with your car from Noaudhibou to Choum. It is a dusty and cold journey. You have to stay in your car. And you don't know for sure, if your car can descend immediately from the wagon in Choum. Sometimes you have to wait long before a locomotive can drag the wagons to a platform.
We didn't take the train, but drove with our own cars the track of 400 KM from Choum to Nouadhibou just south of the railway. We spent the night not far from the railway. In the night we could hear the approaching trains allready from very far. When the train came near, it was like we had our tents at the rails.
For more pictures and information have a look at the travelogue. Leave a Comment
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In the old town of Chinquetti around the mosque you will find, like in all ksour, houses built around inner coourtyards. At the side of the narrow twisting lanes the houses have walls with low doorways as their only openings.
The town and houses illustrate the traditional way of life of the nomadic culture of the people of the western Sahara. Most houses are organized to suit the requirements of nomadic people, who used them as no more than storehouses for much of the year.
After the caravans disappeared most houses in the old town are abandoned and ruined. Leave a Comment Address: ChinquettiDirections: 120 KM east of Atar in the Adrar region
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 Kiffa in the south of
Mauritania by sachara
Kiffa is the capital of the southern Assabe region and has about 50.000 inhabitants. In Kiffa we saw a lot of other traffic again on the roads, mostly 4 WDs and donkeycharts.
The trip from the Malinese border to Kiffa is described at the ''off the beaten path'' tips. Leave a Comment Address: KiffaDirections: Kiffa lies about 800 KM south-east from Nouakchott. The most easy way to reach Kiffa is from here by tarred road.
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 view at Moudjeria by sachara
From the mountainroad we had a splendid view at the town, surrounded by sanddunes. We could clearly recognize the rectangular patterns in the town and the houses built around inner courtyards. Leave a Comment Address: Moudjeria and Khang d'AcheftDirections: 65 KM north-east from Sangrala and ''the road of hope'' to Nouakchott.
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