The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride Through Europe and the Middle East Paperback – 1 August 2023

Ela viaja pelo Oriente Médio. Em cada lugar, geralmente, explica a história recente e, as vezes, em mais profundidade. Eu sou interessada nos países da região e o livro foi esclarecedor sobre a situação atual dos lugares visitados. Ela tem um olhar humanista e simpatia pelo locais viisitados. O que aparece com frequência, assim como tenho lido em outro autores, é a hospitalidade e agentileza do pessoal local.

Great photos for a visual of this amazing adventure.

Because this book is so personal you get a look at the Middle East in a way you’d see no other way. Her descriptions are wonderful and the reality of how different Islam is from country to country is surprising.My only problem with the book is Rebecca sometimes uses words I’ve never heard of…was glad to have read it on kindle so I could get the meanings immediately LOL.

The author is a journalist who was reporting on the refugee crisis in Syria. In 2015 she decided to cycle from London to Tehran. Her route takes her across Europe, through Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan, and then to Oman ( as Saudi Arabia didn’t issue tourist visas), the UAE, and finally Iran.Her achievement is humbling and her grit and determination admirable. Not only does she nearly die out in the desert but in some of these countries a woman cycling on her own is unheard of and there are moments of danger.She’s a great writer, and humorous too. The cycling makes up only a small part of the book. A great deal of it is about the history, culture and politics of the countries she visits and the people she meets. I found it all very interesting but if you want a book about the cycling only, you’d likely be disappointed.The last third of the book is about Iran, a country I didn’t realise was so big - about the size of Europe. The people are hospitable, and even the religious ones seem unfazed when she tells them she is agnostic. She tries to determine support for the regime. Most appear to dislike it but equally Iranians of all persuasions tend to be suspicious of the West, and with good reason.In the early 1900s Britain used its power to establish an unfair deal for the country's oil, paying Iran little in return. In the 1950s, the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mossadegh, demanded better terms and, when refused, threatened to nationalise oil production. Britain with the help of the CIA organised a coup to install the Shah as their virtual puppet, ultimately leading to the 1979 revolution and his overthrow. The author speculates that if we hadn’t interfered, Iran might have become a stable, democratic country instead of the loose canon it is today. She probably has a point.The author concludes her account commenting that throughout the Middle East what has struck her most is the kindness of the people. She also notes the USA and Iran, despite their differences, share many characteristics - 'generosity, charity and gluttony, both are consumerist and materialistic, patriotic and proud. Both take their God seriously. Both are divided and insecure.' A really good read.

What a fascinating bike packing travel book! Rebecca Lowe describes her 2015 bike trip from London to Teheran – through as many Muslim countries as possible – with so much warmth, humor and knowledge. Having completed a bike trip from Holland to Istanbul in Patrick Leigh Fermor‘s footsteps myself last year this type of travel is dear to me. I very much enjoyed Paddy Fermor‘s account (in three books) of his journey in 1933 and also Nick Hunt‘s account of the same journey in 2011. What sets Rebecca Lowe‘s account of her journey apart is her focus on Muslim countries. The sheer courage to undertake such a journey on her own is impressive. Seeing these countries and their competently summarized histories through the eyes of a single woman on a bicycle is unique. Lowe describes her encounters with hundreds of different people – from poor families in remote villages to students and human and female rights activists – with such passion and a self-deprecating humor so that we see these countries not through the newspaper headlines but through the eyes and voices of the people that live there.