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