I'm often asked what's been the best, the most memorable part of the trip so far. Not an easy question, or even one that makes much sense - there are a thousand memories and the ones that keep coming back are not necessarily the dramatic big moments. Most are memories of small things, of a mood or atmosphere, of place or moment, difficult to explain or list out.
Bearing this in mind, here's a completely arbitrary list of some of the best bits.
- Rolling up to the Eiffel Tower, Paris. Merveilleux.
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Finishing the Camino Santiago, the pilgrim route across the top of Spain, and staring out over the Atlantic ocean at Cabo Finisterre.
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Experiencing the remarkable hospitality of the Atlas Berbers, Morocco.
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Crossing the Sahara. On a bicycle. On a bleedin' bicycle!
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Witnessing a Dogon lutte or wrestling tournament in Endé, Mali. A full moon, the sounds of the drums and the crowd echoing in the escarpment above, and overlooked by the eerie troglodyte dwellings of the Tellem.
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The encounter with a group of Tuareg in the middle of the desert in Mali, when they inspected the bike, the bags, the blackened steel mug I use for cooking, and the look, the smile of acknowledgement. Probably the closest a fat geek boy from west London is going to get to a moment of kinship with a desert nomad.
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Arriving in Timbuctu, Mali, after 6 days riding through (mostly) wilderness.
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Riding through Birifo country, in the border region between Burkina Faso and Ghana, east of Banfora. Remarkable mud castle architecture, and remarkable people.
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The slave castles of Elmina and Cape Coast, Ghana
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The African bush. Whether it's desert, the savannah of the Sahel or the semi-tropics of the coastal regions, camping out in ‘the bush’ has been for me one of the supreme experiences of Africa.
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Frozen bissap, the juice made from red hibiscus flowers and the best thing you can get in a plastic baggie.
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Arriving.