It started waking up under the road and ended camping in a far flung desert in a remote part of far Western China. As with the journey, it was what happened in between that defined it. The previous afternoon, I had rolled my sleeping mat out in the confines of a concrete culvert. It was [...]
READ MORE »Posts tagged Thoughts
Lady Luck
Everything happens for a reason. At least, that’s what I’ve come to believe. Actually, without trying to sound arrogant, I don’t actually believe I sort of ‘know’. That’s not to say it makes things any easier; it’s not part of any great philosophy to simply become apathetic. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Perhaps [...]
READ MORE »Fighting against a surging tide of pessimism …
I had exhausted just about every option. A bureaucratic roadblock stretched from the Indian Ocean, 3500 kilometres northward, all the way along the mighty Indus River to the highest peaks of the Himalayas. This was a hurdle that, no matter how much strength I could muster, would be difficult to overcome. There’s only one way [...]
READ MORE »Sweeping Generalisations
Perhaps one of the prerequisites for visiting India should be a question such as, “Are you prepared?” It would be a good question. “For what?” they would naturally reply, to which there is no answer worth explaining. If you say “Yes”, you get the visa. India needs to be felt to be experienced. It [...]
READ MORE »Doctor, Doctor give me the news!
Early one morning, almost a month after Goa, I went to see another doctor at a local hospital about the continuing stomach and intestinal problems I was having. It was a small clinic and yet crowded with people coming and going, both sick and seemingly healthy. There was little order, but somehow through a [...]
READ MORE »Happiness is.
The first night in Bhutan was spent among tall broad pines. A small grassed area on the edge of the road provided the setting for a picturesque forest and place to rest. I rode into the late evening and managed to find this beautiful spot at about the time my body was willing to pull [...]
READ MORE »Life, hope and a new change
Sometimes the garbage in Kathmandu gets picked up; sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes power is available throughout the day; sometimes it’s not. Sometimes life plays out the way you want; perhaps more often than not, it doesn’t. In recent years the small Himalayan country of Nepal has experienced turbulent times. Only six years ago, a decade-long [...]
READ MORE »On the Roof of the World
It was a joyful event to reach the Geermu – Lhasa highway. I could have kissed the smooth asphalt. We’d spent the last week cycling alone in a vast plateau that appeared to never end. The day before reaching the highway we managed to set up camp moments before a thunderstorm front rolled through. During [...]
READ MORE »The Key to Lhasa
Getting into Tibet is tricky business. Actually, it’s not so tricky if you have money, something which I needed to spread very thinly for the long journey ahead. I learned the difference between what I actually needed (which turned out to be very little) and what I wanted (which was to become less and less [...]
READ MORE »The ugly side of tourism
Luang Prabang was an interesting place. The town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, cycling around, it was easy to understand why. The city has a charm all of its own. It was also easy to see why the UN was contemplating taking the title from them as it was changing very quickly. It seemed [...]
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