Is it foolish for a woman to cycle alone across the Middle East?

When Rebecca Lowe set off solo from the UK for Iran by bicycle, her friends thought she had taken leave of her senses. But although she had to endure gropers, extreme heat and heavy-handed police, most of the people she met were a long way removed from stereotypes [read more…]

In pictures: How one woman cycled from London to Iran

Rebecca Lowe’s friends thought she had taken leave of her senses when she set off on an 11,000km, year-long cycle from the UK to Iran. Her article for the BBC News website attracted a huge amount of interest from readers. Here she tells the story of her journey in pictures [read more…]

I cycled to Iran and found a warm, hospitable country – but women’s rights has a long way to go

‘Iran is a prison,’ the woman told me as she showed me around her small, sparsely decorated flat. ‘Women have no value here. I desperately want to leave, but I can’t.’ [read more…]

Cycling the Middle East: the kindness of strangers and the desperation of refugee camps

I’m very much of the Ranulph Fiennes school of thought: “plod forever” and take one step at a time. I began my trip on 29 July last year from my flat in London. I’ve now made it to Jordan, via France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon. [read more…]

The virtues (and hardships) of travel journalism.

Six months ago, I was a full-time journalist in the City, doing a job that I loved. I specialised in international justice and the law, and enjoyed considerable freedom to choose my own stories and travel [read more…]

Al-Sudani newspaper

Al-Tayyar newspaper

Assayha newspaper

Sudan Daily newspaper