There was a time during my travels in China when I did not write. I did not put pen to paper, did not type into these smart little machines, didn’t allow dialogue to bounce around in my mind or words that connected to...
Swindon scenes There are fewer things I understand about this place. I walk around the town centre in my lunch break and watch families inhale Greggs’ pastries with all the power and swirling grace of a Dyson upright. I watch...
So, here I am in Sri Lanka, in Colombo, sat in the bursting corridor of light that is the Katunayake International Airport, a veritable Hadron Collider minus the God particle. I have six more hours until I fly back to London...
Bus journey A holy man carrying a plate of offerings and what can only be described as religious paraphernalia pushes onto the overcrowded mountain bus. He winds his way through the bodies until he faces me. He then hits me on...
India is like having an American girlfriend, one of those blonde, fake-breasted high school cheerleading stereotypes, who happens to have the unfortunate habit of turning into a 48-year-old alcoholic drug-user at any moment when...
The majority of men in India between the ages of 10 and 40 wear some seriously funky threads: a skinny, dusty appropriation of seventies glam rock chic, future flouros, and faded retro paisley. Big-collared patterned shirts...
After endless fickle cycles of eating and sickness in India, I finally arrived at the point where curries, thalis, street snacks, dosas, paranthas, and chai all felt right in my belly. I had reached a state of nirvana. There was...
In the former Raj hill station of Shimla, where sweaty beetroot-cheeked Brits once flocked to escape the blistering heat of the plains, there exists an absolute gem of a coffee house. And not one of those fancy identi-kit modern...
Forget about licking the rainbow trunk of some rare tropical frog and wandering goggle-eyed around the Amazon. Don’t waste your time picking magic mushrooms from the turds of Finnish reindeers so you can spend days rolling...
I refuse to pay £12 a night for a room in India. It sounds ridiculous but it would be nearly twice the highest amount I’ve paid since arriving and I am a tight-arse. I am fully aware that at £12, the room I am in is by...