Category: Middle East & Africa 2009
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What’s Really Happening In Iran Right Now?
As I wait in Dubai for my Iranian visa application to be processed, I’ve been watching the events portrayed in the international media of Iran’s elections and subsequent demostrations with a certain amount of frustration. I have deeper ties than most to the country. Not only did I spent several weeks travelling in Iran last […] Continue reading →
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The End Of One Journey And The Start Of Another
Today marks the second anniversary of my departure from my family home in England, and my twenty-sixth birthday. “None of us have any experience of cycle touring before, so this is really going to test our mental and physical endurance”, I wrote on this blog on the morning of departure, and a couple of hours […] Continue reading →
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A Final Push to Dubai
I got off the bus in Muscat and noticed immediately that the crowds assembling to watch me reconstructing my bike were not Omanis. South Asians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka form a large underclass in Oman, working as labourers on construction sites and in date plantations, as mechanics, metalworkers and carpenters, and running […] Continue reading →
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Oman, Land Of Riches
From the southern city of Salalah I planned to ride through Oman towards the UAE. Arriving late at night in a new city is never fun when you’re travelling with a pushbike, and I had the added hindrance of being entirely unfamiliar with what made Oman tick. The streets were surprisingly busy with pedestrians at this […] Continue reading →
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Trying To Ride Through Yemen And Failing
Aden turned out to be an interesting place to spend a few days. What the city lacked in architectural grace it made up for with its laid-back, low-key atmosphere and friendly people. In fact, it felt more like a collection of quaint seaside towns strung around a small volcanic island than a former national capital. […] Continue reading →
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Southern Arabia And The Troubles Of Yemen
Until a few months ago, the Republic of Yemen fell into that embarrassingly large category of nations that I would struggle to point out on an unlabelled map. (Try it now. Yemen. Where is it?) Occupying the south-west corner of the Arabian Peninsular, this former British colony nowadays makes the headlines only for its continuing run […] Continue reading →
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How I Hitched A Boat From Djibouti To Yemen And Survived The World’s Most Pirated Waters
At seven o’clock one May morning, as the sun was just beginning to make felt its long ascent into the heavens, a wooden Arabian cargo vessel set sail from the Port of Djibouti for the distant shores of Yemen. On board were an eclectic and rowdy Arab crew, a handful of Somali passengers, six hundred […] Continue reading →
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That Time I Rode A Bicycle Across The Hottest Place On Earth
I gazed out across the plains from my vantage point by a military watch-tower at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands. I was about to leave the familiar craziness of Amhara and to cross the Afar desert, the site of the hottest air temperature ever recorded, and the home of the nomadic Afar tribes. […] Continue reading →
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Ethiopa: No Pain, No Gain
I waved goodbye to the Tele Café in the piazza of Gondar, where I’d enjoyed many a delightfully-spicy breakfast or pint of mango juice. I was about to experience a magnificent ride through the soaring highlands of north-central Ethiopia. As I rolled out of town towards the green valleys below, however, I was nervous. Aside […] Continue reading →
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Rest And Recuperation In Gondar, Ethiopia
I spent four days in Metema. The mild symptoms of malaria were the lesser of my concerns. More worrying was the stiffness and soreness that quickly appeared in my legs, as if somehow sparked off by the unexpected parasites. By the evening of my arrival, my lower calves were sore and stiff, causing some discomfort […] Continue reading →