News from Jupiter
From My Notebooks In 1973: Ethiopia
January 25, 2026
The five hundred or so miles from Gedaref to Gondar were the toughest five days of my entire journey – in part because I was still new to the game. When I returned 28 years later it was virtually unchanged. Then the Chinese came. Today, I’m told, it is paved. December 17th By the fourth day I was ready to contemplate the possibility that […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Sudan to Ethiopia
January 18, 2026
From the desert to the mountains. Those days crossing the desert in Sudan were among the most influential of my life, an apotheosis. After my abject performance on that first day, running out of fuel and water and burying myself in sand, the schoolteachers of Kinedra lifted me up and made a hero of me, and from that day on I was treated with the […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Sudan continued
January 11, 2026
After two more days as a guest of the boys’ school in Kinedra the teachers finally gave me permission (because that’s what it felt like) to continue my journey. I was confided to the care of a government official on his way to Kassala, 200 miles away, from the neighbouring village, Sedon. Wednesday, December 12th From Kinedra in morning. Thermos flask of tea prepared. […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Sudan
January 4, 2026
On December 5th the ferry from Aswan came ashore at Wadi Halfa or, more correctly, at a ramshackle assemblage still growing to replace the town, which now lay below the waters of the lake. I had hoped to get back on the bike but was refused permission and petrol, so I had to take the train. With the Dutch couple I had befriended, I […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Aswan and Lake Nasser
December 21, 2025
Thank You Very Much First of all, I want to acknowledge the response to my offer of a One-time Subscription. It has released a small flood of generosity which makes it plain that over time I have established a place in many lives. Not just through this series of travel notes, but in some cases going back through decades. Although I deliberately avoided pinning my […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Cairo
December 14, 2025
To my readers… My quixotic notion to offer you an opportunity to reward me for the pleasure you have already enjoyed has provoked some interesting confusion. A few seem to feel it’s almost immoral. “If I’d known I was going to be asked for money I would never have started reading your pieces in the first place.” Well, nobody actually said that, but I got […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Alexandria and Cairo
December 7, 2025
Before we get to the notebooks… Listen, I know you’ve been enjoying these notes. At various times I’ve asked for feedback, and some of you have been very articulate. I don’t have a very large email list but it’s stayed fairly steady for the three years I’ve been doing this – and of course a lot more people have been reading me through social media. […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: November
November 30, 2025
Here’s a portion of the Michelin map I used at the time: Against the odds I’ve got through to Egypt, and in Alexandria put myself though a crash course in engine repairs. But there were papers I wanted, still coming to Benghazi from the Sunday Times. The owner of the garage was going to Benghazi and said he would get them for me. Tuesday, […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Egypt
November 23, 2025
Despite all warnings and expectations I came through the frontier from Libya with ease. Far from being shot on sight, I was treated like royalty. A valuable lesson. When it comes to borders you never know until you get there. But now I was in Egypt, at night, totally unprepared. My Michelin map has little to offer. Sidi Barrani, Mersa Matruh, El Alamein, Alexandria – […]
From My Notebooks In 1973: Out of Libya?
November 16, 2025
We left our hero (that’s me) stewing in Benghazi, hoping to get help. My visa forbids me to enter Egypt overland. Egypt is at war with Israel. After waiting uselessly for some news from the Sunday Times, my sponsor, I decide I might as well try anyway. Meanwhile I know that between Benghazi and the frontier are famous Roman ruins, not to be missed. These […]