India is an intricate place; every facet of life is embellished with meaning and myth. The pantheon of Hindu gods and the epic scale of the scriptures, makes my western Christian-educated mind reel. The tale of Mary, Joseph and their son Jesus (even if they did throw in a couple of donkeys and a bit …
Travelling by bike is really annoying - it's slow, often exhausting, frustrating and limits what you can see and do. It also happens to be one of the best ways to travel if you want to fully experience a land and meet its people. Cycling however is not enough, you have to learn to say …
Pushkar to Osian - 250km (3 days) The road to the edge of the Thar Desert is straight, dead straight, it stretches forward into our imaginations. The road is flat and the winter sun not so punishing, so we are able to push on until darkness falls at 5.30pm. We create a dot-to-dot across this landscape, sleeping …
Tourists bristling with cameras, livestock traders and Hindu pilgrims flock to the holy town of Pushkar during the full moon of the month of Kartika. Humans congregate here, in one of the oldest places in India, for the world famous Camel Fair and to pay homage to Lord Brahma. We arrived a few days before the …
India is a land anointed with many myths and before touring here we were warned of pestilence, pestering and pandemonium. The Himalayas tested us but also sheltered us, however they could not hold us long before our curiosity edged us southwards to the tribal lands of Rajasthan. From Manali we cycled 220 km to Swarghat, the …
20 Sept 2016 - Old Manali (2,050m), India I write this from a winter vacated hippie-hole in the foothills of the Himalayas. London youth shout profanities at each other in the neighbouring rooms and swagger around with an umbilical-arrogance that only the English seem to profess. I look at myself in a flecked mirror set jauntily on …
I didn't know much about Armenia when I cycled across her border one month ago and if I'm being honest I still don't. I can recite a few facts gleaned from the internet: the first country to adopt Christianity; she is at war with her Eastern neighbour Azerbaijan and has a deep wound inflicted by Turkey …
We hid in the Georgian capital for almost 3 weeks, burrowing ourselves away from the searing heat. When we ventured out we sizzled in the 40 degrees pan, our rind crisping and minds short-circuiting. Our days were spent formulating, then discarding onward plans. Researching, calculating, we composed alternative scores for month long symphonies that would carry us across the Caspian sea, to Kazakhstan's …
Georgia is a spectacular country that has held us enchanted for 7 weeks in which time we have clocked up over 750km. After our adventures in the Svaneti mountains and time with our generous hosts in Tsageri we made our way to Tskaltubo. It is a thermal spring resort where Stalin used to come for rest and recuperation, so we figured …
Once upon a time, near the Georgian town of Tsageri, two weary cycle tourists sat down beside a roadside spring to prepare a feast (well a salad). They were tired but elated after cycling for many miles and months across countries and most recently over majestic mountains. As they ate, a carriage pulled up and out jumped …
