This book is not a chronological narrative about walking across India. I did that as I went, sharing my experiences through Twitter. It’s like adventure haiku and a few excerpts should suffice to recount the walk.
Show Notes
The Walk
“You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.”
This book is not a chronological narrative about walking across India. I did that as I went, sharing my experiences through Twitter. It’s like adventure haiku and a few excerpts should suffice to recount the walk.
- > I’ve arrived in the glorious madhouse of India. Excited and daunted about beginning the walk.
- > Munched by mosquitoes, sweating a lot and a bit overwhelmed. Tomorrow morning I begin.
- > Ridiculously hot. Dreaming of lovely fresh mornings on my way to the South Pole.
- > Played village cricket. Maintained England’s reputation: caught in the deep for 0.
- > Passed an elephant on the road today!
- > I now have a stick for whacking evil dogs.
- > Think I was guilty of underestimating this trip...
- > Sleeping in a rice field tonight. Rice for dinner.
- > A moon shadow, bats and the stars: a peaceful side to India at last.
- > 300km down and no blisters – yet.
- > BEEP! BEEP! Indian drivers driving me mad.
- > Slept in a temple. Coracle fishermen at dawn.
- > Hand washed my clothes. How long after returning home before loading the washing machine becomes a hassle again..?
- > Policeman told me I was beautiful. I replied, “No, Sir, it is you who is beautiful.” He liked that! Different to conversations with UK police...
- > First blister.
- > Filling a popped blister with iodine hurts a disproportional amount.
- > Water crisis until teenagers drove 20km to fetch some for me.
- > In an internet cafe using Google Maps to plot a route into the mountains: easily the best map of India I have found.
- > Spent last night with a lovely family. Best curry yet. Thank you for your kindness!
- > Watching policeman try to control traffic. Chaos! Too many chiefs..?
- > I’m getting old and soft: the weight saving gained by cutting my toothbrush in half is now outweighed by its irritation factor.
- > Enjoyed watching cricket on TV at the tea stand this evening: Pietersen (Bangalore) v Flintoff (Chennai).
- > Beautiful hiking today, climbing up through coffee plantations. On foot beautiful usually = hard though. Tired.
- > The road is behind me. The beach is empty and white past the palm trees. Ahead, only the sea. I can walk no further. The sun sets. The End.
- @al_humphreys #ThereAreOtherRivers
What is There Are Other Rivers?
Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river. Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in the homes of welcoming strangers or in small towns and villages, he experienced the dusty enchantment of ordinary, real India on the smallest of budgets.
There Are Other Rivers tells the story of the walk through an account of a single day as well as reflecting on the allure of difficult journeys and the eternal appeal of the open road.