Project Moderation ended up being a roaring success. (Though I am uncomfortably aware that the only way I could finally manage to achieve moderation was by turning it into something…
Any other business
Life’s looking pretty exciting these days. In about a week, I’ll be flying (ahem) back to Hong Kong, because the Royal Geographical Society want me to talk about cycling round…
A road runs through it
When I say I had no meaningful encounters during my ten-day dash to get out of China, that’s not strictly true. It’s impossible to avoid meeting people in China, because…
Where are all the women?
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of lunching with Rob Lilwall (famous for Cycling Home From Siberia) and his wife Christine. (In true Chappell style, I forgot to take photos.)…
A bit more of Qinghai
I think the reason I fell so heartily in love with Qinghai is that, at every moment, it managed to give me exactly what I needed. For the first few…
Another global village
One of the things I loved most about being a cycle courier was that it turned the massive impersonal metropolis of London into a village, where several times a day…
Homesick in Kong Kong
The last few days have seen a bit of a sense of humour failure. I’m currently in Hong Kong, after parking my bike with a friend-of-a-friend in Lanzhou and sitting…
A school for change
Just after we descended from Sri Paye, a cool 2962m above sea level, and the highest any of us had even been, Mum and Dad and I were accosted by…
A reassuring update
Since I posted last night, I’ve received a great deal of sound advice and wisdom from a great many people. (Thank you.) And perhaps I should have realized that, after…
Indecision
Last night’s meeting with Col. Fazeel was productive and encouraging. He started off by recommending categorically that I take the bus, but during the course of the conversation, once he…