Category: Janapar
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Each day was filled with acts of heroic defiance and fortitude
Now I’m on my own I should probably start doing a few more video diaries. And talk a bit about what’s been going on the last few days. Where to start … erm … So today was a very long and eventful day. This morning, after I got up, I had an email from the embassy – […] Continue reading →
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‘By the way – sorry – what was your name again?’ ‘Tenny. I am Tenny.’
In Yerevan, Artur and I walked down the long, sloping boulevard, three lanes wide in each direction, the pavements lined with brittle, empty trees. Frozen slush crunched beneath my feet, a grey mess of footprints captured by the plummeting temperatures of night. I was talking to Artur about Andy, who I’d heard had gone back to […] Continue reading →
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The scars on my face were slowly beginning to heal
I rediscover the glory of fresh fruit juice, abundant in Egypt but missing in the parched deserts of Sudan. Mango, orange and pale green avocado puree are the staple beverages here. I happen upon the quite heavenly combination of mango and avocado together in the same glass, and, with my new friend and fellow hotel […] Continue reading →
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What happens to me on this journey is mostly outside my control
I promise you this camera is on its way out. I give it another … I give it another three weeks. Having now cycled in temperatures approaching fifty degrees Celsius, and comparing it to cycling in temperatures of around minus thirty degrees Celsius two winters ago, I have to say – it’s definitely better to be […] Continue reading →
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I had lost my way so badly that I risked losing everything
The north-east coast of Turkey was famous for its unique take on the national cuisine; also for its tea and hazelnut plantations. Huge cheese-filled pizzas swimming with molten butter and chunks of spicy sausage; great platters of grilled meat with rice; stews of aubergine and tomato and green peppers and chickpeas: these delights sat tantalisingly […] Continue reading →
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It was almost as if the very land conspired to help us on our way
The riding continued, slowly and methodically, but the days ended too early: December had arrived. Turkey wasn’t quite as warm or exotic as I’d imagined, and the available daylight hours were shrinking fast. One night, setting up a makeshift bed beneath a table in an abandoned summertime beach complex, my ailing head-torch finally broke from […] Continue reading →
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The route was going to be every bit the challenge we’d imagined
I followed Andy north along the Asian bank of the Bosphorus Straits, then – when the city started to recede – we headed east on the smallest through-road we could find. My dormant leg muscles brought the world into movement once again; the simple pleasures of fresh air and perpetual motion mine once more. Soon […] Continue reading →
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With a casual gesture along the top edge of a map, Selen sealed the fate of Ride Earth
I rose at sunrise, packed my makeshift bivouac on the quayside and began to cycle behind Andy along the hard shoulder of the enormous coastal highway towards Istanbul. The road signs indicated that it was still over seventy miles distant. Today would be a long and gruelling day. Sometime after midday, the signs for Istanbul […] Continue reading →
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Europe passed into history with the wave of a soldier’s hand
Europe passed into history with the wave of a soldier’s hand, and smiling officials beneath big red and white Turkish flags welcomed us to their country and gave us permission to stay for three months. We’d never need that long, of course, but it felt good to have been given plenty of breathing space for […] Continue reading →
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The world needs trailblazers. For people to stop treating places and experiences as products to be consumed
The last time I’d looked at a map of Sudan, no road had been shown on the Nile’s west bank. Nothing, it seemed, existed over there at all. But now I can see palm trees and foliage on that distant shore, just as over here. And anyway, I figure, the world needs trailblazers. For people […] Continue reading →