Cycling to the Sahara
Spring 2012: 1,279 miles by bike from London to the Sahara, through France and post-revolution Tunisia.
28 parts, 2012, in order.
- Part 1
Cycling to the Sahara
It is 1,279 miles from my house in London to the Saharan desert. I know what you’re thinking – not far, eh?
- Part 2
Cycling to the Sahara: London (ish) to Paris (ish)
No I haven’t got a drinking problem (ish), it’s just that I’m lazy and couldn’t be bothered to cycle all the way through London.
- Part 3
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Paris
I never meant to go to Paris. I never really meant to stay in any one place for more than a day or two and I certainly never meant to do a lot of walking.
- Part 4
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Hamburg
I wasn’t supposed to be here, really. Not until the Sunday before I left England. I then wasn’t supposed to be here so early. Not until I had dallied in Paris…
- Part 5
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Trains
Over the past few days, the universe has been telling me loud and clear: “You should be on a bicycle, not on a train.”
- Part 6
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Marseille
Marseille has been voted European Capital of Culture for 2013. Something to be proud of perhaps, but there are so many building works, road works, sewage works…
- Part 7
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Boats
Getting hit over the head by a palm tree is new for me on this trip. But one thing isn’t: public transport delays. You read my earlier piece about trains ,…
- Part 8
(Not) Cycling to the Sahara: Marseille 2
The town of Marseille is dishonest. That’s how it seems to me. And I don’t mean that as you might think. I don’t mean it because a friend of mine got…
- Part 9
(Finally) Cycling to the Sahara!
I have a few early observations about cycling in Tunisia, which I shall set down here as amusement for those wise enough never to do such a thing and as…
- Part 10
Cycling to the Sahara: Beards and the Shabaab
For the sake of my future security on this trip I think I need to grow a big manly beard. You know, the kind that big manly adventurers are wont to port.
- Part 11
Cycling to the Sahara: Two Coffee Cups
I arrived in Hammamet exactly the way I expect to arrive in every single town that I come to: sweaty, tired and slightly bewildered.
- Part 12
Cycling to the Sahara: Farmyard Animals
Yesterday was supposed to be a short day. Starting early from Sousse, I should have arrived at my destination by about lunchtime with plenty of time to mosey…
- Part 13
Cycling to the Sahara: The Vanishings of Kasr el-Jem
Was it an elaborate hoax, devised to ensnare gulled travellers? Or could it be a mirage in the minds of weary-sickened tourists? And yet The Internet insists…
- Part 14
Cycling to the Sahara: On Killer Guard Dogs and Courage
For those of you following closely my twitter feed ( ahem ), you will know that yesterday I took an unmarked country track from el-Jem to Sfax. This was a…
- Part 15
Cycling to the Sahara: Matmata Motobylette Man
Story goes: I cycled to Matmata, a small town dug into the ground on the way to the Sahara. In the seventies, George Lucas sprinkled tourist-gold over the town…
- Part 16
Cycling to the Sahara: To MP3 or not to MP3?
Long-distance cycling will always, at some point, become an arduous task. Whether it’s Tunisia’s flat expanses of eye-watering desert or the hard shoulder of…
- Part 17
Cycling to the Sahara: The Road to Ksar Ghilane
Matmata: another man with a 4×4 offers me a desert Safari. ‘No, thanks,’ I reply. ‘I’m cycling to Ksar Ghilane on my bicycle tomorrow.’ ‘Oh,’ he says. ‘You…
- Part 18
Cycling to the Sahara: Ksar Ghilane (Moany)
This should be some sort of triumphant Saharan-arrival post, but I forgot to take a photograph of me and my bicycle in the sand, so you’ll just have to wait a…
- Part 19
Cycling to the Sahara: Ksar Ghilane (Happy)
So without further ado, and before you all start thinking that I’m having a miserable time worrying about the hideous environmental impact of tourism, here is…
- Part 20
Cycling and the Sahara: Ksar Hallouf
Things I’ve learnt today: a prostitute in Medenine costs approximately 78 dinar per hour (about £33). That’s 13 dinar for ten minutes, which is apparently all…
- Part 21
Cycling to the Sahara: Dinosaurs in the Rain
If you’re ever cycling from Ksar Hallouf to Tataouine, look out for dinosaurs. They can really nip your ankles.
- Part 22
Cycling to the Sahara: Freewheelin’ Jerba to Tozeur
This is going to be one of those fun round-up posts that you all love. Mainly because I’ve got horribly behind on posting. You all think I’m in Jerba still…
- Part 23
Cycling to the Sahara: On Speed*
After flying cross country – Jerba to Tozeur, three days, 15mph average – I was starting to think that I’d earned that kind of speed. My feet were spinning…
Part 24Cycling to the Sahara: Cemeteries of Civilisation
A grave is sacrosanct. A graveyard, hundreds of individual lives marked by their death, even more so. But most sacred of all are the ruins of an ancient city.…
- Part 25
Cycling to the Sahara: Tunisia after the revolution
The louage driver slaps my hand and gives me a toothy smile. “Ahh, 2011!” he says, then gives me directions to the giant hand-cart.
Part 26Tunis: Police Attack Peaceful Martyrs March
I was walking around the central market in Tunis this morning, when I passed by a peaceful march. They carried banners proclaiming: “Never forget why they died…
Part 27Tunis Martyrs’ Day Violence: Why and What Next?
Last Monday, I followed a protest in Tunis that was violently dispersed by police, using tear-gas and baton-beatings.
Part 28Refuelling: The Food of Tunisia
Tunisia is a wonderful country to cycle around, but it’s an even better place to eat around. One of the beauties of long-distance cycle touring is the capacity…