At the end of 2010 I found myself in Dhaka, Bangladesh volunteering with peer counsellors at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, a spinal rehabilitation centre. After 4 months it was time to head back home. Thinking that the flight would be too boring I decided to take on the ambitious task of travelling home over land, using public transport.
It was a long 5 months. But using trains, buses and boats I travelled over 14’000 miles, passing through 19 countries and seeing some of the most incredible sights in Asia. Deciding that this could be more beneficial than some solo travel, I used my trip as a fundraising mission and raised over £5000 for the charity I was working with in Bangladesh which has enabled them to open up a new centre in Moulvibazar, Northern Bangladesh.
When I started to write for this page I unearthed a blog that I created at the time and had completely forgotten about. So I’d like to present a 24 year old me’s perspective on an adventure across Asia.
The idea of this blog is to keep details about my journey back home from Bangladesh where I’m doing some volunteer work at the moment, you can see more about the work at www.disabledindhaka.blogspot.com.
When I was on Expedia booking my tickets to come to Bangladesh I wasn’t that sure about the flight dates, I knew that I was going to be coming over here at the end of September but I didn’t have a clue when I wanted to get back to the UK since there was nothing to go back for. Now if the volunteer placement wasn’t what I expected then I could quite easily be leaving shortly after my arrival but equally if it was really great than I could stick around for longer, so with this in mind I thought the best action for me to take would be to get a one way ticket over here and book another when I decided to leave.
This is when I had an epiphany. Why waste a golden opportunity like this? I mean here I am about 5’000 miles from home, there must be so many amazing places that I would fly over without even realising it if I jumped on an airplane, so instead why not travel back across land? This epic journey would start early in January and would be made slightly more interesting as I’m a wheelchair user. This idea just sounds so good to me, every time I think about it I never fail to have a big grin on my face, it would be such an awesome adventure!
I imagine that the main methods of transport would be trains and buses but it would be a lot of fun to see what else I could find. There are some things I have to consider such as accessibility of transport, but I’ve never really found anything that I can’t haul myself on and off. Another important planning issue for this is the route back home; so far it goes something like India, China, Kazakhstan, Russia then off through the Scandinavian countries to get a ferry back to somewhere on the east coast.
So far I don’t have any of the visas, this is mainly because if I would have got them before leaving the UK then I would have had to pay for 6 month visas instead of the 3 month visa that I need. The plan now is to get them either here in Bangladesh or en route back home. I’ve applied for my Indian visa as I need to go there in a couple of weeks anyway, this was hard work when they didn’t believe that my visa for Bangladesh was real and now I have an interview with the high commissioner next Friday, so it’s a case of wait and see what happens before I can decide what my next move is.
This blog won’t be updated that often until I set off in January but I’ll be posting whenever I get any more ideas about places to go or anytime I manage to bag myself another visa.
Yesterday I went for an interview with the Indian high commissioner to get a 6 month multiple entry visa, to cut a long story short the interview was the day before, I missed it and as a result I’ve ended up with a single entry which means more work to get back into India come January.
Now there is an option of going back to the embassy in a couple of months to get another visa but this also means that I have to go to 3 more embassies to get all the paperwork I need. Instead, I’m thinking that I can send my passport to an online organisation and get all the visas fixed up in one fell swoop. Luckily I have dual nationality and my United States passport is still in the UK, I figure that I can get the visas in that and then get it couriered out to me in Dhaka which will make things much easier.
So after a trip up to New Delhi last week I’m feeling a lot more confident about getting home, I did fly for parts of the trip but I got on a lot of public transport as well with no problem which makes me think that going home in January is definitely possible.
I’ve decided to add Nepal to my places to go on the way home, I met someone from a spinal unit over there and I thought while it’s on the way home I might as well stop by. Visiting Mount Everest would be a cool sightseeing experience while I’m in the area; one of the people at the spinal conference in India told me that they do a flight around the peak. That’s the only way I’ll get up to the top these days and I’m okay with that.
I’ve decided the best plan for picking up visas will be to do it on route. I can get an Indian visa from Dhaka and the Nepalese visa on the border, once I get to Kathmandu I’ll collect the Chinese and Kazakh visa leaving the Russian visa until I get into Kazakhstan as I need to have my train ticket before I can get a transit visa. Very exciting plans!
I’ve decided that instead of just doing this trip for me it would be more worthwhile to do it for charity, while I’m already at the CRP it seemed like quite an obvious option. The just giving page is at http://www.justgiving.com/rollingbackhome, so please take a look, post the link wherever you can just to raise awareness of what I’m doing and please give whatever you can!
Today we had a visit from the people at DFID (Department for International Development) which is the UK government’s fight against world poverty (according to the business card). I told them about my journey back home and my attempt to raise £5000 for the CRP and they were impressed and offered to help me promote it and even hold a fundraising event in Dhaka at the ex-patriot club. This should be useful as they have offices in some of the countries I’ll be going through so if I come across any difficulties with visas then I’ll have some help on hand.
I was surprised again today when a camera crew from Deshi TV turned up to film a documentary about the CRP for next week’s national disabled day and they wanted me to tell them a little about my fundraising for CRP and I happily obliged, I got to briefly explain the outline of what’s going to happen and also plug the website (www.justgiving.com/rollingbackhome) which was unexpected but enjoyable. So I’m hoping that my bit of time on TV will spark some interest and some donations!
I met with Manik today who handles the PR side of things here, Zula and me wanted to see if he could help us with the launch event for ‘Rolling back home’ which is going to start at the national monument here in Savar. Zula is using her PR experience really well and knows exactly what to do to organise an event like this, unfortunately she is leaving this week but the help she has given me so far has been great.
I’m thinking about putting the start date back for my trip back home. Because of visa rules getting back in India can’t be done for 2 months after you leave the country, this means my earliest return will be 7th January. Another reason I’m considering moving the start date back is because I’m starting to realise how big this thing could be and if I do some more networking and tell more people about it then I’m sure it will grow. Getting more time to do work at the CRP is a bonus as I feel I’ve been neglecting certain responsibilities while working on RBH.
After deciding that this could be even better with some more planning I’ve decided to stay in Dhaka and leave just before my visa runs out. That means that I now have a launch date of SATURDAY 22ND JANUARY 2011!!
So while that does give me 6 weeks in which to try and get more planned to do on route it really isn’t a while lot of time and I can see myself being glued to my netbook for the majority of the time, but it’s worth it just to make the trip that much better.
I got an email from my dad this morning with an attachment of the front page from one of the local St Helens newspapers called the Reporter, the front page is all about my trek home.
Unfortunately they didn’t wait for me to email them back with information about the trip, instead they have used what I wrote on the just giving page and a picture that they dug up from archives when I did the Liverpool triathlon last year. The only thing they had to do was come up with a headline that reflects what an adventure this trip will be. Homeward Bound. Really? REALLY?!?
The main thing is that this time they have put the web address in the article so people can get online and donate which they managed to forget last time. This is only one of the local papers, I’m hoping that the other paper does a better job!
Last week I found myself going to a CRP centre in the north which could be done by bus or train and with the trip home starting next month I thought this would be a great time to get my first experience on a train over here.
I went up with Rumon who works here; it was useful to have a translator and someone to lift my chair up steps that I might come across. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the train but I already had the firm idea that it was going to be by no means an easy ride. When the train pulled up at the platform we quickly located our carriage and I lifted myself from my chair to floor of the entrance. As I sat down I noticed that the floor was wet, I thought this was strange as it was dry outside and had been for days. My eyes wandered to the door on my left. “Gents”! Gross.
I wriggled backward and Rumon lifted my chair on after me then asked me to move back so he could get on. I explained I couldn’t because people were walking past. “Just move back so I can get on” he continued. “Rumon, I can’t go anywhere. As soon as these people pass I’ll move back, just have some patience!”. Then without any warning the train started moving forward. Oh shit. I was on the train with my chair so it was hardly a worst case scenario but I would still like my bag and travel buddy to get on there with me. I saw Rumon make a fast move out of sight. I got back in my chair as Rumon popped his head round the door from the next carriage, “It’s okay Peter, I’ve got on”. That was a relief!
Rumon took the bags to our seat on the next carriage and then I broke my chair down for him to carry there as well. I dragged myself along to the seat and sat down (or up, depending on your perspective) with an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment!
The rest of the trip proved no more difficult than any other day here in Bangladesh, just transfers into CNG’s, getting around inaccessible towns and staying in inaccessible accommodation. Easy Peasy.
I’ve had 1000 business cards printed off with the ‘Rolling Back Home’ logo and slogan along with the website to hand out to people on my way back so when I tell them my story they have something to remind them to give a donation on the website. I’m still really proud of that little logo!
The best thing that has happened in the last week though was yesterday when I got my wrist x-rayed again. I’ve not been able to take it to the doctor yet but from what I can see there are clear signs of healing which I’m so happy about. This makes things simpler for me, I’ll feel more comfortable using it now and I won’t have to go into hospital for an operation when I get back that I have already mentally prepared myself for!
I got an early Christmas present today when I checked the national Bangladeshi newspaper the Daily Star and your humble narrator was doing some rickshaw surfing on his very own 2 page spread!
It was a really great article that I’m very proud of, written by a friend who works as a reporter for the paper, Shahnaz Parveen. The caption on the picture was my favourite of the article, it read “Peter Donnelly – an indomitable spirit”. I didn’t even know what that meant, to save you looking it up here is the definition, Adjective that cannot be subdued or overcome, as persons, will, or courage; unconquerable: an indomitable warrior. Wow.
The picture also shows me doing a bit of rickshaw surfing down one of the quieter streets in the city, but it doesn’t really give the full impression of just how much fun it can be – I think a video would do a much better job.
Yesterday I met up with retired Bangladeshi film star Ilias Kanchan who is heavily involved with road safety after his wife and daughter were tragically take away from him in a traffic accident over here. I asked him if he would come down to the launch on the 22nd January and he assured me that if he was in the country then he would do his best to attend.
I reached the £1000 fundraising milestone today and I think that is an achievement in itself. When I was first told to aim for five grand I didn’t think it was possible but now, well, I’m a believer!
A few days ago after a meeting with a BBC journalist I decided to start sending out messages to really try and get the message out about what I’m doing. I emailed all the national papers in the UK which is a long shot, but I also emailed some of the smaller local newspapers especially focussing on the Bangla newspapers in London and yesterday I received a reply.
Emdad Rahman got back in touch immediately and was really interested in what I’m doing asking a couple more questions about what it is that I plan to do. Today I got an email from him telling me that he has put me on his blog http://tsu-doh-nimh.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-post.html and I’ll be in the Bangla media based in London next week.
If you’re reading this and you support what I’m doing then please post the just giving page (www.justgiving.com/rollingbackhome) and my story wherever you think people may be interested in it, this could be emailing it to friends, telling family members, having a chat with work colleagues or posting it on your wall on facebook – this is all about awareness raising now.
I’ve been meaning to visit my friend Moin in Barisal since I got to Bangladesh in October but have just been too busy to go. With his birthday falling on NYE this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a few days to see a new part of the country, say hello to a friend and make an interesting start for 2011!
I’ve done a bit of travelling during this trip to Bangladesh, venturing out to New Delhi, Sri Mangal and the Sundarbans. Each time I’ve gone it’s been a huge boost to my confidence in travelling on different types of transport. This time was going to be different though, in my previous excursions I always went with friends from here at the CRP but this time I was going to attempt it on my own.
I figured that it would be handy just to get a bit of help down to the bus station in Savar Bazaar as when I get on a rickshaw I need both hands to hold on and so I can’t take a bag as well. I’d sorted out some help a couple of days before with one of the tutors from the BHPI who assured me he could find a couple of his students to volunteer to give me a hand. My bus was due to leave at 9:30am so I figured if we met up at nine this would give us plenty of time to get there as its really not that far, maybe 1km.
I was waiting at the gates on time expecting my help to come plodding along in due course. They didn’t. Without any help it wasn’t possible to get a rickshaw down in to Savar and I’d waited until quarter past for the students so now I was in a rush to make a move. I asked the man who was at the wheel of a CNG by the gate if he could take me down but was reluctant to help. The only way I could get down there was to check with admin to see if there were any cars that were heading out, luckily a minibus was about to leave and I managed to jump on.
I got dropped at the bus stop at 9:35am and checked to see if I’d missed it. I was on time. It felt good having to rush to find a new way of getting down to the stop on time; it didn’t feel as great for the next 90 minutes as I waited for the bus to arrive incredibly late.
My hold all was put into the storage under the bus when it finally rolled up. I got on the first step of the bus and started to break my chair down when someone came to help me, he was after some money for his trouble but paid help is better than no help at all. I don’t like the bus rides over here. The drivers constantly accelerate only to slam on the brakes when they can’t go any further which makes for an uncomfortable ride that is impossible to sleep through.
I was unloaded at Barisal and gave my friend a call to let him know I’d arrived. When he came we got in an auto rickshaw and headed for the hotel that he had sorted for me. The hotel like so many other places over here wasn’t textbook accessible, but I managed to lift myself up the flight of stairs and using a plastic chair was able to bunny hop around the bathroom which posed a doorway too narrow for my fat chair.
It was a really great couple of days in Barisal and a fantastic way to bring in the New Year; I enjoyed getting another break from the noise and hustle and bustle of Dhaka. When it was time to come back I found it even better. My friend Moin was there to help me with my chair, the bus left on time and I enjoyed the extra space of a second seat that I had paid for in which to store my chair (I’m much more comfortable when I can keep my eye on it).
The driver on the way back wasn’t an improvement on the first one but he did remember that I wanted to get off at Savar Bazaar which was helpful as I didn’t want to trek back from Dhaka after being forgotten about! Getting off the bus went without a hitch and it was just a short CNG ride with a friendly driver before I arrived at CRP. This is all the practice I need, now I’m ready to roll back home!
There are a lot of difficulties that I’ll face on my trip home such as getting visas and the inevitable language barrier, but as I proved today at Newmarket in Dhaka my wheelchair skills letting me down won’t be a problem!
Today I had my second attempt at getting hold of a Chinese visa today and while it wasn’t completely successful (as in I didn’t get it), I did get further than I did last time (as in I got through the door because the office was open).
Before going down to the visa office I had checked with a few people who had visited China before and they were all adamant that I didn’t need a letter of invitation and unfortunately I listened to them. To get the visa for China you either need to have a letter of invitation or a plane ticket to show how you’ll enter, I had neither as I’m planning on entering by road.
There is however another problem in that 6 months ago a new law was passed which prohibits people from entering China by road (or rail in my case), I was blissfully unaware of this. You can pass if you get permission from the government gate keepers in Lhasa, but that isn’t going to happen until I get there.
Leaving the embassy without the visa my head was already working out the trip home with this new information. Would it be possible to get to Kazakhstan without entering China? Do I just head west through India , Pakistan and Iran? Then I realised that my original plan didn’t have to change that much, the only difference now is that I will get the visa in Dhaka then when I get up to Lhasa if I can’t get through by rail into China then I hop on a plane. This deviates slightly from the original plan but I need to adapt to the new situation.
After the visa information update I went around a couple of telecommunication companies to see if they would sponsor me with a phone so I can stay online when I am going back home, they both told me the information would be passed to seniors and would be back in touch.
At the end of the day in Dhaka I wound up at the BAGHA club for what I thought was a well earned beer. As soon as I got settled I bumped into someone who used to work for Nokia and has also offered to help me with a phone, when he heard about the visa trouble he said that he knew people who could help. So at the end of the day the plan might not actually have to change that much.
After further research on the Tibet/China visa situation I have come to a startling conclusion. I was wrong. My new understanding is that it’s not a visa I need to enter Tibet but a ‘PERMIT’ on top of the Chinese visa that I will also acquire in Kathmandu.
It doesn’t really explain what they told me when I was applying for the visa in Dhaka a couple of days ago, but in all fairness my question didn’t make any sense so why should their answer?
I’ve have a couple of meetings up to now with people who have experience in the media field advising me to record my journey back home, I thought that this wouldn’t be that great and have a bit of a ‘Blair Witch’ effect but the when I was given the idea of fixing the camera to the frame of my chair I reconsidered and it could definitely work.
I picked up a smart little Sony SR68 camcorder at Computer City in Dhaka yesterday that has a huge 80GB hard drive able to record 30 hours of film and with my new 750GB external hard drive there’s plenty of storage to record all my adventure. Tomorrow I’ll take the camera down to the wood workshop to make a lightweight stand that can be fixed to my chair, this may give it a bit of an amateur filming appearance but it should be good to watch.
I tried to get my Indian visa slightly early yesterday and turned up before my appointment date, that didn’t work at all and I just got sent packing. This does come down to the culture of following the rules over here, when people are shown one way to do something then they very rarely deviate from the set routine.
My appointment is on Monday though and with a 3 day turn around time for visa processing I should get the visa 2 days before I leave, it is cutting it fine but I was emailed a letter yesterday from the British High Commission that will support my application for a visa so I’m hoping there won’t be any problems.
I went to the travel agent in Savar yesterday to book my ticket up to Siliguri. The office was upstairs so I got my friend Sharif to go and make the booking for me; he came back a couple of minutes late with the bad news that they won’t sell the ticket until I have the visa.
This was no good to me, I’m only getting the visa on Thursday and then the seat I want at the front (the easiest seat to get to) could be taken which would mean me hauling myself to the back of the bus, not impossible but an inconvenience. If I left it until I got the visa then I also run the risk of the bus being sold out. I sent Sharif back up to tell the guy that he could sell me the ticket and I would show them the visa before I got on the bus, the ticket was 12 quid so it’s not the end of the world if I didn’t get this bus and lost the money.
I got the ticket but due to the bus needing repairs on the Saturday my journey has encountered its first delay before it even begins. I’m now heading up to Siliguri one day later on the 23rd January at 8pm, the launch will still take place the day before as its main purpose is trying to raise awareness of what I’m doing and get the patients involved.
First thing this morning I went down to the wood workshop with my camera, one of the guys there helped me make the frame that attaches to my chair so I can use the camera hands free while I’m pushing about. I’ve made a couple of adjustments to it already today and now it seems like it will do the job.
There seems to be one surprise after another at the moment while I’m planning this trip. I was on facebook chat and my friend Nathan who I was working with appeared online. He lives in the US so soon after I had my accident he went home, so it’s been a good 4 years since we last met.
I was explaining my trip to him and found out he is now working in South Korea and offered me a place to stay if I go. I know that this is just going further in the wrong direction but it’s an opportunity that I can’t (and won’t) turn down. Now the plan has been extended to Japan and South Korea, with no visas required to either of these places it makes it an easy part of the journey.
I was examining the globe and realised that once I get there I am getting dangerously close to the point where it makes more sense to come back the other way round. I think it’s a shame that the Pacific Ocean isn’t more populated with land mass.
As soon as I got into the office I met an excited Valerie who couldn’t wait to tell me about the first message she had received on her new phone, a good omen as she took it. It was the CEO from Brac Bank telling her that he was willing to sponsor me just over £3000 to get back home. With this new addition to the route it could be slightly more expensive but I have a meeting on Tuesday with the CEO of another organisation that is coming down in person. Fingers crossed.
The main thing I have on my mind right now my appointment at the Indian visa office tomorrow, they really love to make applying for visas difficult and I know a few people who have been knocked back which doesn’t inspire me with confidence. On the other hand, I’m going with a letter from the British High Commission supporting my application so that makes me think that, yeah, things will work out. No worries.
Today I went to drop off my application for a tourist visa for India, come Thursday I should be holding it in my hand. Just in time.
Later on I had another meeting with a documentary maker and picked up some really good tips about how to record my trip back home, how much to record, angles and what not.
Tried to get another battery for my camera so I can use it for 13 hours without recharging but we got there too late, guess I’ll get back on that tomorrow.
I got a new phone today which I’ve been sponsored by Nokia for! It’s an E5 which has got all the stuff I need to keep the blog and tweets updated while I’m returning back home, all I need now is a roaming SIM card which I’m working on.
Yesterday I managed to get on the Bangla ATN news channel with Rolling Back Home, this was my first time being interviewed on TV and not sure how I performed. Luckily for me this is a country where no one knows me and by the time I get back to the UK everyone will have forgot what I’m doing or I’ll have improved on my interview technique.
The Indian visa arrived yesterday which I was a bit surprised about. I really didn’t think I was going to get it and had quite happily resigned myself to the fact that I would have to get a plane to Kathmandu instead, and that wouldn’t be cheating because it would be out of my control!
Today was the official launch of ‘Rolling back home’ and people from the CRP along with other organisations headed down to the National Monument to make a presentation on what I am about to do. A couple of speeches were given by Valerie Taylor and MP Taranna Halim who lost her nephew in a RTA last year.
I gave a short talk on why I’m doing RBH and what it is that I hope to achieve. It felt a bit weird. Not speaking to the press but the fact I was holding a pigeon in my hands! I was given it to release as a mark of the start of the journey, when I did it just fell to the ground. Epic fail.
I made contact with the country director of Handicap International as well which was really good as he can give me contacts in Kazakhstan which is one of the places that I’m still trying to reach people.
The BBC turned up and interviewed me for world service and for the local radio stations back in the UK as well. All in all, quite a good day!
After a day and a half on buses I’ve made it up to Kathmandu, Nepal. The start of the journey got me a little stressed when rushing onto the first bus I got separated from my bag which a friend was holding onto. It was the second most important thing that I could lose, with the wheelchair being the first I put my passport as a very close second.
I thought that when I got to Siliguri that I might face some difficulty finding my way to Kathmandu, this couldn’t have been further from reality. I got off the bus feeling good after a decent kip the night before and was immediately offered a taxi to the Nepal border. I got to immigration and 5 minutes and $40 later I had the visa stamped in my passport. That has to be the easiest visa I’ve ever got.
I waited for 4 hours for the next bus and that wasn’t as good as the one I’d taken the night before. First I had to drag myself to the back seat and then the bus driver spent the entire 15 hour bus ride with his foot down. I was being thrown around inside the bus like salt shaker. It made sleep more difficult but not impossible, I slept in some really uncomfortable positions though. I probably should have spent the extra cash on a taxi as it wouldn’t have broke the bank.
I got myself a hotel for the first night here and I’ll get in touch with some couch surfers for tomorrow. I need to figure out what it is that I’m going to do for my time here now since it looks like I’m heading to Nepal on the 6th February.
Last night I was feeling quite content with the way things had moved forward so far. I’d made it to Kathmandu without any problems and I was happy with this.
Sat in my room I happened to glance at my wheelchair and noticed that something wasn’t right. Why did the footplate look so odd? I examined it a little closer and saw that there were 2 big tears in the frame! No. This was not supposed to happen, not this early anyway. I knew that without my footplate then I wouldn’t get very far dragging my feet across the floor. I was in a slight state of panic. I was exhausted from the previous days travel and decided to sleep on it.
Today I spoke to the hotel manager to find out where someone could weld my chair back into a usable condition. They were really helpful and got me a taxi to several garages, most of whom wouldn’t even attempt a repair. I found one that did try and in that attempt they took the footplate off completely, I knew this was comong so it really didn’t bother me. They then decided to drill a few holes and stick in a couple of screws, it’s holding well so far.
Although I wanted to go couch surfing here in Kathmandu I think I’m going to stay at the hotel, the people are friendly and really helpful when I needed to get the repair done today – what more can I ask for?
I arrived in Pokhara, Nepal a couple of days ago not feeling at my best. I’d had something to eat (or possibly drink) the night before that hadn’t agreed with my stomach which meant I had unloaded the contents of my stomach next to the wheel of a bus early that morning. It didn’t get much better through the day and with me not eating I was feeling low on energy so I crashed out when I reached Pokhara which I wasn’t happy about.
I’ve had a good couple of days here, I got a tour round the British Ghurkha Camp from Major Rick Bevan. It was nice set up they have there, unfortunately I decided to visit on a weekend when nothing was happening. Also got the chance to sample some local brew from the mountains in east Nepal, it was trying the home brew they have over here but it was slightly to bitter for my taste, I was assured that this was an unusually bad batch so maybe I’ll try it again next time I pass through.
Today I woke up still not feeling on top of my game but I had a booking to go paragliding at 10am and I would be damned if a bad stomach was going to stop me doing that!
I thought that I’d messed up big time today. I went for a jeep safari this afternoon and as I got into the car the driver from the hotel told me there was no need for me to take my chair as we wouldn’t get out. I didn’t have a massive problem with that, he could take it back to the hotel and bring it back later.
The safari was really good. Going on a track through some dense jungle I got to see a couple of crocodiles and even a rhino, I missed out on seeing a tiger that apparently ran past when I was looking in the opposite direction.
I was sat in the canoe on the riverbank waiting for the driver to bring my chair back. When he brought it back it came without the cushion. I told him to go and get it, he disappeared to the jeep and came back without it. “Are you sure there was a cushion on there?”. I flipped at the guy, “YES, there was a f*&king cushion on there. Now go and FIND IT!”. There was a bit of messing about but to cut it short it had fell off the back of the jeep and we found it 20 minutes later.
I honestly thought leaving it with someone from the hotel would be a safe option but I was taught a lesson instead, at a relatively cheap price. I won’t make that same mistake again, although it wouldn’t mean the end of my trip it would make me work a lot more than I need to in order to get a suitable replacement. From now on the chair stays with me!
Since I’ve got to this hotel they’ve dissuaded from doing pretty much all of the activities due to inaccessibility and today was no different with the elephant safari on the cards, I was determined to do this one though as it was something that sounded like a lot of fun.
I got told that there were a set of ladders that I had to get up in order to reach the elephant. In reality, there were just set of stairs leading to a platform where you boarded the elephant. I’ve gone up 2 flights of stairs before just to get some fries so I wasn’t going to question one flight for an elephant safari!
I knew that I was going to be off facebook in China but had no idea that there woiuld be a problem with twitter and blogger as well, that’s why I’ve been away for a while. But now thanks to a friend, Tony, giving me access to a VPN (virtual private network) I can get around the firewall that they have set up over here.
Tibet was a good fun, accessibility wasn’t fantastic but luckily I ended up with a really decent group of people who helped me out with getting into the monasteries that we went to in each place we stopped. Got to stop and take a look at Mount Everest as we were driving through the Himalayas which was an awesome sight, not as big as I expected though.
As we were driving through the Himalayas I was reading Paulo Coelho ‘The Alchemist’ thinking ‘Was this book written for me to read right now?’, amazing book that I think everyone should read before they do a journey like this.
Also got convinced to go and find work in Australia, it sounds like it would be a good way to spend a year or so. When I say convinced, it was little more than a suggestion that I needed to hear and is something that I’ll look into a bit more when I get back home.
The train journey to Shanghai was relatively accessible with the only time I needed to get out of my chair was getting into my room to break it down for the night, 2 days of relatively easy travel.
Since getting to Shanghai things have been going well. The weather isn’t as warm as I’d like it to be (about 6 deg C) but it’s a lot warmer than parts of Asia right now. I’m hoping that by the time it takes me to get to Beijing it will have warmed up considerably.
My host Sujata (a friend of Valerie from the CRP) has been so helpful since I got here, helping me make contacts and organise a fund raiser on Saturday at the Shanging Loft. All welcome.
I picked up my new footplate from the British High Commission yesterday after it was posted there, so just as this one looks as if it’s about to fall off it gets replaced. Almost fate-like.
Even though I’ve only been in Shanghai for a couple of days, with the help of my amazing host Sujata and her friends here I managed to organise a fundraising event at a local bar, Shanging Loft. There was some music played by Michael of a local theatre group, a quiz and a raffle. We managed to raise £325 which was a decent effort considering how long there was to put an event together. I never would have managed to do anything like this without the help of people here so there is massive thanks to them.
As well as doing a bit of a presentation as these fundraising events I thought it would be good to make a promo video. Yes, its cheesy. But it seemed to go down quite well and if it gets the message across then I’m happy with it, if it makes people smile then all the better!
I’ve spent a couple of weeks in China but it’s finally time to leave, later on today I’ll be heading down to ferry terminal where I’ll be going overnight to Keelung, Taiwan and then on to visit my friend, Florence, in Taipei from there.
China has been fun, accessibility has been hardly any problem at all which is one of the benefits of staying in a big city especially one that had an expo last year and did so much development work.
The ex-pat crowd is huge in the places I’ve been around so far, not a tourist bunch but mainly people working in Shanghai and students here in Xiamen. The fact that I am staying so close to a uni made finding a bar really easy last night and had a couple of drinks with some guys studying Chinese, I don’t envy them learning a 5000 character language.
It was a smooth overnight ride going from Xiamen across to Taiwan, with a boat that was fairly accessible and a bar on board the 12 hour ride flew by.
Teipai is ace. I’ve only been here for a couple of days but I could see myself needing an extension on my 90 day visa under different circumstances. It’s easy to get about this place with the MRT (rail service) in the city centre where every stop is accessible. The food is different to everything I’m used to but I like the fact that I can just stop at the side of the road and pick something from a street seller that looks tasty.
My wrist has been aching more than usual over the last few days and I know that it’s down to last summer’s scaphoid fracture. I thought it had started healing after the x-rays that I had done at the CRP but I was warned when I did it that it could lead to arthritis. I hope it’s not.
I applied to do a flying scholarship before I headed to Dhaka last year and to qualify I had to return to the UK to face the selection committee in April. I sent them an email to see if it was possible to sort it over the phone or by skype but I got a negative reply. I guess there’s always next year, unless something else comes up of course.
I was at the top of Taipei 101 a couple of nights ago, at 508m it stands as the worlds 2nd tallest building. After I went to the financial centre in Shanghai the week before it means that I’ve been to 2 of the top 3 tallest buildings in the world. This doesn’t matter without going to the number 1 in Dubai though which dwarfs the others at over 800m! Not sure when I’ll get there.
I finally got to have some really unusual food yesterday when I tried snake soup. It had little pieces of snake in there which was tasty but had way too many bones in. They also made a couple of drinks from venom, gall bladder and blood. I drank them all and worryingly blood was my favourite. Possibly showing signs of vampire-like tendencies!
I got interviewed by a Taiwanese TV news station today which was great, I’ve only got a camera pointed at a TV to show but it’s better than nothing.
I’ve been in Ulsan, South Korea for about a week now visiting my friend Nathan who I’ve not seen since just after my accident 5 years ago. We were working together in the same bar that summer and shortly after he went back home to the states so catching up with him has been quite a nostalgic experience.
Ulsan doesn’t have a lot to offer in the way of tourism but I’m enjoying the Korean food that they have, plus I get a decent exchange rate which makes everything really cheap. The food here is served raw then you cook it yourself on a grill that is in the centre of the table, the spicy foods that they have are really tasty as well. My favourite drink is a 20% sweet alternative to vodka that is drunk from a shot glass, usually playing games.
After what happened in Japan last week I’m still undecided as to what my next move out of here will be. It should be safe to go to Osaka and Kyoto but I have a passport that I need to pick up from the embassy in Tokyo as well, I think that I’ll give it a couple more days here in Ulsan to see if the advice for travelling around that area changes before I decide what to do next.
I headed us to the capital Seoul a couple of days ago with sole intention of going for the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) tour which is the area that borders North Korea, there’s a 4km gap at the border where no one is allowed to build on or live in with the exception of one village on either side.
Since I first tried to book the tour I was getting told by people that they the UN Command (at the border) wouldn’t let me go on the tour for security reasons (N.Korea attacking) but I thought that surely they couldn’t stop me because I’m in a chair especially after they did write a convention about my rights. Why would I be in a worse situation than anyone else? If they fired a missile then we’re all screwed. If they started shooting I know I can move faster than the fat guy who was on the tour, he’s a bigger target as well!
The tour was really cool and I got to explore the 3rd tunnel (100m underground) which the North Koreans dug to try and sneakily attack Seoul but it was discovered before they could use it, they say that they could have brought 30’000 soldiers through that tunnel every hour.
My favourite picture (right) of the day is at one of the bridges that actually crosses the border to North Korea because it has been given the name ‘The Bridge of No Return’, how fantastically evil. Unfortunately because it is such a highly guarded area (which we had to sign a declaration stating that we understood the risks of us getting injured or worse) we were unable to get off the bus for the majority of the tour but it was really good all the same just to see these places.
I’ve been in Osaka, Japan for 4 days now and nothing around here suggests that they had a major (and ongoing) disaster just one month ago. From what I’ve been told there are massive shortages and rolling blackouts in Tokyo but I haven’t seen anything down here.
I met up with Kiji a couple of days ago and his parents were good enough to let me stay at their place for the weekend. Kiji has been in a wheelchair for 21 years and in that time he’s visited 108 countries which has really raised the bar for me.
As with the rest of eastern Asia the transport is really good and fully accessible allowing me to explore no problem. I looked around the 1970 expo today and in the Japanese gardens there manage to back wheel down 64 steps which is a personal best, unfortunately no one was there to record it for me.
My timing to come and check out the more scenic areas of Japan could not have been better, it’s currently time for the cherry blossoms to come through and so I get to see this annual event in all its glory in one of the best places to see it, quite lucky really.
Spent some time in Kyoto and then took a day trip to Nara which was excellent, it was great weather and was fun just to wander round the parks and lakes there. They have a lot of wild deer that just freely roam around Nara but every time I tried to get close to one it would just run off. Either they’re scared of the wheelchair or I smell bad. I hope they’re scared of the chair!
I collected my Chinese visa on Monday, I was a bit concerned about getting this visa as I couldn’t give them all the information that they normally require i.e. my return ticket out of there, but the letter that I have from the British embassy explaining what it is that I’m doing worked like a charm and I can stay for 30 days (probably won’t need that long).
Dropped by the British consulate to pick up my new passport that I ordered way back when I was in Kathmandu, now there’s no chance of me running out of pages no matter how much I extend this trip. Also booked my ferry to China which will leave this Friday on a 48 hour cruise to Shanghai where I plan to get a train up to Beijing. This is an exciting part of the trip because now, for the first time since I left Bangladesh, I’m actually going in the right direction!
The crossing by ferry wasn’t ideal, it was a bumpy ride on a boat that wasn’t accessible. Stairs and elevators, bathrooms that took some tricky navigating but on the plus side they did bring me breakfast in bed as the restaurant wasn’t accessible and they had a karaoke party that was funny to watch even without understanding what it was they were singing.
After a rough crossing of the East China Sea I got back into Shanghai yesterday morning 2 months since I was last here. I’ll be here for a day or so before moving up to Beijing and last night I got to go and watch the play that I auditioned for last time I was here which was a great, I even got the job as camera man for the evening which was a first.
Today was my first full day in Beijing and I took advantage of what it had to offer by booking myself on a tour of the Great Wall. I heard that it was possible to access the wall as there was a lift there, the wall wasn’t accessible just the cable car station. I needed help to get up the hill that lead up to the station which was really steep and full of cobble stones making an ascent on my own impossible. Getting out of the cable car at the top I was gutted to see more steps leading up to the viewing platform, I wasn’t about to give up on this though so I lifted myself up about a fifty steps to get some access to some incredible views!
On my way to Kazakhstan I’ve made a quick stop in Xi’an as it was on the way and as it gave me the chance to see the Tearracotta Army, the army made by the first Qin emperor to protect him after he died. I think that part is a bit mental.
The size of the army is impressive with over 7000 items being discovered and each of the soldiers with its own unique face.
I’m feeling better as I get closer to Europe as I see that as the place where things will just become much simpler for me, my only concern now is getting the last few visas that I need to get back.
I arrived in Urumqi a couple of hours ago and found myself an accessible hostel, one that is up 2 flights of stairs. Nevermind. Check out my route so far as I’m close to passing the 9000 mile mark RBH Route
For some reason I thought there was going to be some problem getting this visa for Kazakhstan, probably because when I dropped off the application the guy there was asking for a detailed itinerary and wanted to see the hotel reservations when I came back, I brought them and he didn’t bother to look which is okay because I got the visa all the same. So, that means just one more visa for Azerbaijan then it’s going to be a visa-free trip from there or plain sailing as I like to think of it (fingers crossed).
After getting the visa yesterday I was ready to make a move over the border in Kazakhstan today but when I tried to book the bus ticket I found out that the border is closed on weekends! That’s something I wasn’t expecting and means that I’ll be in Urumqi until Monday when the next bus leaves for Almaty. I guess it’s lucky that I found this out before buying the ticket as opposed to finding out at the border.
I reposted the RBH video on Vimeo so that the music will work after it was removed by youtube. See it in all its glory here >>>> RBH Video
I got to Kazakhstan on an overnight bus ride from Urumqi on the 10th May, stayed in Almaty for a couple of days as I tried to get hold of a train ticket then took the 3 day train to Aktau. The train ride passed relatively quickly with the people on board friendly enough and getting food for me from the vendors when the train stopped.
It wasn’t very accessible but I had a lower bunk and the toilet was about 10m away so it didn’t take very long even though I was on the floor. The thing I was relieved about was that it was a western toilet on the train and not the typical eastern hole in the floor as I knew that would get messy.
We passed through the mountainous landscapes of Almaty before the desert-like stretches where camels were getting herded by a man on a donkey. It got hot on the second day of train travel and all I did was sleep, after leaving the step (desert place) on the third day I was feeling like the majority of the travel was over with 2 of 3 nights having passed.
My stay in Aktau was a lot shorter than I anticipated and in down to my friend Artur. This guy is something else. I couldn’t find the Azeri consulate and deciding to take a break I went into a cafe to ask directions, Artur heard and offered to drive me. When we got to the consulate it was closed for lunch, he had free time so he said we could hang out and we’d go to the consulate when it opened.
To cut a long story short in the space of 5 hours I went from not being able to find the consulate to being sat in the waiting room for the ferry and it was all thanks to help from Artur.
It was a long wait (24 hours) before I left Aktau but after a night of drinking vodka with the crew I’ve made it to Baku and into country number 10. Not long left now.
The day after writing the last blog entry my body completely gave up on me, I’ve never had that before, it was just a huge wave of exhaustion and I didn’t feel up to doing anything. I have to put it down to a week of travelling and the lack of sleep that comes with it, out around the inaccessible Baku must have been the final straw before my body had enough and went on strike.
I’ve been taking it easy for a couple of days now and feeling much better for it. I’ve made my way to Tbilisi, Georgia where I’ll be staying until the weekend when I have a bus ticket to a town called Agri in Turkey which is close to the Iranian border.
Today is independence day here in Georgia and all week there have been protesters outside parliament which is at the top of the road where I’m staying, even last night when I passed there at about 9pm on my way back to the hostel there was a big crowd there but it was quiet. I woke up this morning to see hundreds of riot police on standby for the parade and saw this report on events last night: Police clash with protesters in Georgia
Leaving T’bilisi and trying to get to the small town I was aiming for in Turkey near the Iranian border took longer than I thought it would and it meant that I had to spend a night in Kars which wasn’t so bad as one of the guys working there resembled Manuel from Fawlty Towers.
I made it to Diyadin the next day to meet Gokce who I’ve not seen since we worked together in South Carolina back in ’05! It was great to catch up
After Istanbul I made another very brief stop this time in Sofia where I caught up with Monica who I’ve not seen since working in Wildwood, NJ back in ’08. Catching up with people after all this time is great but unfortunately my stop was brief with Monica sitting her MA exams and energy levels draining faster all the time, guess this 8 month stint is finally catching up with me, not to worry though should be back in London by the end of the week. Given that nothing exceptional happens…
My friend Monica lived on the second floor in her apartment block, I took the lift up to the fifth for more of a challenge.
After over 8 months out of the country I made it back from France today on the Eurostar (on a free upgrade while drinking wine) to London. I’m thinking of staying in London for a couple of days then heading back up north where the journey will officially end when I reach the Albert Docks. So, so close to the end now…
After 150 days and 14’246 , miles (roughly) I’ve arrived at the Albert Docks to finish Rolling Back Home. Impossible is nothing.
I’ve been back for a while now and while I’m enjoying living in London, I’ve already got my eye on the next challenge. Funnily enough, I first heard of this race from another volunteer when I was at the CRP in Dhaka last year. Honestly, I put this to the back of my mind as I wasn’t expecting to be here in the UK for so long, but as fate closes a door, it opens a window. Here is mine…. https://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally/
More info will be released in due course!!!