It was getting to be more of a mess. I’d seen nothing of the city. I met with old friends, made new ones, went to the same bar to watch the world cup, and generally out-stayed my welcome. Driving a girls Jaguar down winding mountain roads while getting a blow job was definitely a new experience. …
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Sofia, old friends, theft and drink
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Hitchhike to India leg 31; Bucharest to Sofia
And so we continue down the annuls of history, with the hitch to Sofia, around mid July. I’d made many new friends, spent time with old ones, lamented places which held fond memories, been thrown out of a bar for rounding on some stupid American girl giving me abuse, and climbed into a …
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Hitchhike to India leg 30: Chisinau to Bucharest
Hello once again dear readers. It has been a while. For one reason or another I have disinclined to continue writing, choosing instead to procrastinate with horses. And other such shady characters. As a result, I am somewhat behind in regaling my adventures, so for the next few entries, we shall wind the clocks back. Come with me on …
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A poem for my father and for yours too
Shortly after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I penned the following words as a gift for my dads birthday. It seems fitting to share it with you today. Mum thought it would be too much to read it at his funeral, but we printed a copy out, and slipped it into the breast pocket of …
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Hitchhike to India; leg 29: Lviv to wherever.
As beautiful and as welcoming as Lviv was, events were taking a turn for the drunk. It was time to move on. Otherwise I’d get stuck in a wonderful dive bar called Bukowski’s. Those who know me fully understand how that man is my hero, so it was a dangerous place for me to be …
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Hitchhike to India leg 28: Kiev to Lviv and The Tunnel of Love
Oh lordy where do I begin. At the beginning I suppose. It was time to move on. Russian separatists, Canadian alcoholics and depression were getting the better of me. I don’t know what was making me lower; my recent romantic loss, or the last Game of Thrones episode. I dragged my carcass to the roadside at …
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Kiev today
“Oooooh don’t go to Ukraine!” Said everyone. “It’s dangerous!” Well so is your kitchen. After spending a couple of days aclimatising to the local vodka, I’ve ventured into the centre of this beautiful city, and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Now I’m not a political genius, or profess myself to have any actual …
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Hitchhike to India leg 27: Minsk to Kiev
Well now this wasn’t going to be easy. It’s some 600KM to Kiev, around seven hours without traffic, and of course the area is currently unstable. I plan to hitch down to a place called Gomel, then strike for the Ukrainian capital from there. On paper it looks straighforward, in reality it could be a …
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Belarus, Minsk and the National Ice Hockey Championships
I’ve crammed more cultural and tourist stuff into the past two days than I’ve managed in months of getting pissed up in bars around the world. This is due in no small part to traveling with my Czech friends, who of course have their own car. So up and down the country we zip, visiting …
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Hitchhike to India leg 26; Vilnius to Minsk and beyond…
This should be pretty easy. So easy that I break my usual tradition of getting up at the crack of dawn to catch the morning traffic, and I lazily make my way to the first hitch spot for around midday. I’ve a nice big MINSK sign, added to that a little drawing of two hockey …
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