Fifty Miles Wide: Cycling Through Israel and Palestine
BY THE AUTHOR OF INTERSTATE, WINNER OF THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Ten years after breaking a world record for cycling around the world, award-winning travel writer Julian Sayarer returns to two wheels on the roads of Israel and occupied Palestine.
His route weaves from the ancient hills of Galilee, along the blockaded walls of the Gaza Strip and down to the Bedouin villages of the Naqab Desert. He speaks with Palestinian hip-hop artists who wonder if music can change their world, Israelis hoping that kibbutz life can, and Palestinian cycling clubs determined to keep on riding despite the army checkpoints and settlers that bar their way.
Pedalling through a military occupation, in the chance encounters of the roadside, a bicycle becomes a vehicle of more than just travel, and cuts through the tension to find a few simple truths, and some hope. As the miles pass, the journey becomes a meditation on making change – how people in dark times keep their spirit, and go on believing that a different world is possible.
Reviews
"Sayarer's thoughtful, meditative travelogue feels very important . . . An exploration of how people persevere in the darkest of circumstances." Ben East ― Guardian
"His book took courage on the road and is adventurous on the page. It conveys powerfully what life is like for people on both sides of "the world's most entrenched impasse". At the same time, it's full of free spirits and the joys of freewheeling." Michael Kerr ― Telegraph
"Vivid and meditative . . . Hope is found, again and again, nowhere more so than in this wonderful book" ― Buzz Magazine
"A great read by a great travel writer. Takes me right back to some very special places" - Levison Wood
"Sayarer is a brilliantly thoughtful writer ... One can't help thinking that the future of travel writing lies in this adventurous, post-modern genre" -Sara Wheeler
"Sayarer has made something of a specialism of reporting on the world from the roadside." -Daily Telegraph
"On the Road for the Occupy Generation" ― Open Democracy
"Sayarer's love of the open road and his ability to evoke the beauty of travelling by bike are a potent combination that makes you itch to go cycling" ― Cycling Active
