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Harvesting Perfection

Harvesting Perfection

A few years ago, before its streets were awash with violent anti-government protests and doctors and journalists were being jailed, I went to Bahrain to learn about their pearl trade. For a long time, pearl diving had been the tiny island-nation’s main industry. When the season was in full flow,..
The Wall

The Wall

I grew up north of the Wall, where we speak with broad accents and it’s often cold. To the south it’s warmer, drier and people tend to speak clearer. So in the Game of Thrones world, that would make me a wildling and York would approximate to Winterfell. King’s Landing,..
The Winds of Change

The Winds of Change

I am sitting in a restaurant, in coastal resort of El Gouna, Egypt, watching a flock of huge tropical birds hovering over the Red Sea. Most of them have enormous, multi-coloured wings that droop only slightly at the tips, harnessing as much of the wind as possible. Their flight paths..
A Boneyard Romance

A Boneyard Romance

First of all I should say we married for love, and only after three years of being engaged. But in the end we wanted to marry in a hurry and I was already visiting Nevada anyway so Katy, my fiancée, decided to fly out to Las Vegas, the world capital of..
The Lost City

The Lost City

History seems only to commemorate those who achieve the greatest triumphs, or commit the most heinous deeds. Falling between the gaps – or accidentally straddling them – often leads to obscurity. Take the nameless souls who discovered Colombia’s Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) in 1973, men who spent weeks in the..
There is a Light and it Never Goes Out

There is a Light and it Never Goes Out

My grandfather was in it from the very start, lying about his age so he could join up early. His first missions in the Second World War came on the notorious Russian Convoys, when British ships would navigate icy North Sea, around the Norwegian coast, sneaking past German forces to..
Le Greed Michelin

Le Greed Michelin

I’m sitting in Benoit, France’s only Michelin-starred bistro, dipping a profiterole into a primordial tar of dark chocolate when I experience two emotions. They occur simultaneously, as the little globe ruptures against the roof of my mouth forcing thick cream and chocolate through my teeth and into my greedy cheeks...
The Laotian Loop

The Laotian Loop

If I knew him better, perhaps I would interpret the triumphant look on Mr Ku’s face as something other than smugness. The little Laotian has obstinately bested my haggling efforts and I must hand over 600,000 kip (about $35) for three days use of two Honda Wave 100cc motorcycles. His..
Cruel Runnings

Cruel Runnings

Day One “The last Ice Age moved quicker…” That’s the verdict of Scott Allaway, an overly honest bobsleigh brakeman, having witnessed my sluggish 30m sprint trial. Bobsleigh training starts with this assessment of speed and though I have some excuses (cruciate ligament surgery for one; zero natural pace for another)..
A Rallying Cry

A Rallying Cry

By definition a road trip should feature at least one road, but given their woeful condition in Tajikistan, it’s probably not a fit term to describe the driving surfaces there. Last year I spent 10 days travelling around the region’s smallest country as part of the inaugural Central Asia Rally,..