The train trip to Dakar is a 36 hour trip through some very remote areas of Mali. As those on the truck found out, there really is no road through this area - the railway, two trains a week in each direction, is their link to Bamako or Senegal. On our train when we started, though there were plenty of seats, I noticed plenty of women sitting on their bags around the door area of the train. Actually, soon after we had started a couple of women the other end of the carriage started fighting over this space - big women really going at it, with lots of other people joining in! It soon became apparent what they were fighting over - luggage space. Once out of Bamako these women started buying things off people in the stations - boxes of mangoes, and as we got into the rural areas, cola nuts. Cola nuts are reddish nuts you can chew as a mild drug - very popular with muslims as there is nothing against it in the Koran. I am told they are a stimulant, I tried them but couldn’t get over the taste and texture.