“ A thrilling roller-coaster of a book! Gripping from start to finish” – Joanna Lumley , British actress, TV presenter, and travel writer Just why hadn't anyone motorcycled from India to Burma before - and how hard could it actually be? Against his better judgment, woefully unprepared, and eager to impress his new aristocratic girlfriend, Andrew Benfield sets out to find out. The ensuing adventure takes the couple across the Himalayas and through some of the wildest parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma. Along the way they contend with suicidal roads, tribal head-hunters, an alarming number of men with guns, and a border that hasn't been crossed in fifty years. The Wrong Way Round is the true story of 4,000 miles of hilarious and sometimes terrifying adventure as the odds become increasingly stacked against them making it to their destination with themselves, their motorcycle or their relationship in one piece. "What a thrilling roller-coaster of a book! Gripping from start to finish: madcap, funny, evocative, daring...A spectacular journey!" Joanna Lumley British Actress, TV Presenter, and Travel Writer I laughed the first few times that I told people about my misadventures trying to motorcycle to Burma and they responded with "That should be a book!" . But eventually I wondered if maybe they might just have a point....and, like the journey itself, I realised that I just wouldn't know until I tried...
A second parallel between the adventure and the book about it is the less than full consideration of the consequences of my actions: in the latter case that being putting my private life, feelings, fears and insecurities right out there for all the world to see. And then comment on in Amazon reviews.
But all-in-all I have to say it has been a cathartic experience - and I hope it provides you with some entertainment and food for thought too! Andrew Benfield quit his first proper job in an investment bank in London to go to live on a communal farm in the Middle East instead. A variety of odd jobs followed, including teaching English in the Sudan, interning at the British Embassy in Spain and training people how to grow rice in rural Madagascar. A subsequent stint in Hong Kong learning Tai Chi was followed by a couple of years as an itinerant consultant, roving across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Andrew eventually wound up working for an embassy in India where he learned to ride a motorcycle, igniting a love of two wheels and the open road. Positions in Ethiopia, Namibia and Nepal followed, before he attempted to settle down by setting up a boutique hotel in Bali. But it wasn't long before he heard tell of a secret Asian land hidden from the world for decades and so set off again for magical Burma - which is how his first book "The Wrong Way Round: How Not to Travel to Burma by Motorcycle" was born. Andrew subsequently embarked on an odyssey across the Himalayas in search of the truth behind the legend of the abominable snowman. His adventures were picked up by the BBC and turned into the acclaimed podcast and radio series "Yeti". Andrew is now based in Thailand and writes regularly for Nikkei Asia as well as teaching Tai Chi and meditation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.
A second parallel between the adventure and the book about it is the less than full consideration of the consequences of my actions: in the latter case that being putting my private life, feelings, fears and insecurities right out there for all the world to see. And then comment on in Amazon reviews.
But all-in-all I have to say it has been a cathartic experience - and I hope it provides you with some entertainment and food for thought too! Andrew Benfield quit his first proper job in an investment bank in London to go to live on a communal farm in the Middle East instead. A variety of odd jobs followed, including teaching English in the Sudan, interning at the British Embassy in Spain and training people how to grow rice in rural Madagascar. A subsequent stint in Hong Kong learning Tai Chi was followed by a couple of years as an itinerant consultant, roving across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Andrew eventually wound up working for an embassy in India where he learned to ride a motorcycle, igniting a love of two wheels and the open road. Positions in Ethiopia, Namibia and Nepal followed, before he attempted to settle down by setting up a boutique hotel in Bali. But it wasn't long before he heard tell of a secret Asian land hidden from the world for decades and so set off again for magical Burma - which is how his first book "The Wrong Way Round: How Not to Travel to Burma by Motorcycle" was born. Andrew subsequently embarked on an odyssey across the Himalayas in search of the truth behind the legend of the abominable snowman. His adventures were picked up by the BBC and turned into the acclaimed podcast and radio series "Yeti". Andrew is now based in Thailand and writes regularly for Nikkei Asia as well as teaching Tai Chi and meditation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.