KAIROS HADITHWe were meeting up in Spain to go on a surf trip. To improve our surfing, to spend time together and get away from it all. But, ultimately, there was one thing we couldn’t get away from. I drove to Bilbao and Robert flew there from Germany. From Bilbao, in the lush, coastal North-east of […]
Casablanca, Morocco «Bon soir et bienvenus.» The two tall men stepped back And opened the heavy wooden doors, releasing them like giant clams. A warm glow of orange light filters through. We approached a heavy desk surrounded by red curtains. Without looking up: «Avez vous une reservation?» «Nous avons déjà diné, merci. Seulement pour boire un verre.» […]
If you landed in Praia, you wouldn’t quite know where you are. On my first day, I spent the morning strolling around Praia before it became too hot. The old town is situated on the Plateau, overlooking the harbour and beyond that, open horizon where the old canons point to. The buildings here are old […]
As I walked along the narrow streets I passed a multitude of souvenirs shops, with their racks of fridge magnets and sunglasses and t shirts cluttering the pavement outside. I was strolling by one particular shop, when something caught the morning light and glinted a silent beckoning to me. As I approached the object I […]
Much of this land is no-man’s land. This is the Basque country. A no man’s land with many claims. Like Afghanistan, the mountainous area was impossible to control by any force. The mountains were a natural border for invading armies from either side but a permable membrane for determined individuals and their goods. A vast […]
The six of us (us two, two Americans, an Australian and a Zimbabwean) were en route from the airport to a B&B in sleepy Wiltshire – close to Bath – for a meeting. We were picked up from the train station by, interestingly, a South African taxi driver. The South African and the Zimbabwean immediately […]
Hey Is this the bus station? So There is a system to buying a ticket, I’m sure. I will ask him. He will surely know. Hey The bus will arrive when it arrives. It will surely arrive. So Will we have a seat? What does my ticket say? We will surely be able to sit […]
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”on” width_unit=”off” custom_width_percent=”60%” use_custom_gutter=”off” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Dockyard lights glowed in the evening haze of steam and low cloud. Rust coloured clouds, almost self luminous hovered like stingrays. The iron walkway overlooked the dredged-deep dark river port. But if […]
The Nissan Patrol was Saïd’s car of choice – but only the 90’s version – the turbo charged V12 engine. They don’t make them like that anymore. The muscle car of the wild outdoors, an alpha 4×4 – roaring up a desert dune like a heavy, slobbering Tolkienesque beast crawling out from the underworld. Half-deflated […]
“There’s a city in my mindCome along and take that ride[…]And it’s very far awayBut it’s growing day by day” Talking Heads Standing in a cultural airlock, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, anxious to be catapulted from my comfort zone, into a colossal neon-lit metropolis…. I pass through hours, through evening and morning, back into evening. […]