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The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
One woman, one bike and one richly entertaining, perception-altering journey of discovery.
In 2015, as the Syrian War raged and the refugee crisis reached its peak, Rebecca Lowe set off on her bicycle across the Middle East. Driven by a desire to learn more about this troubled region and its relationship with the West, Lowe's 11,000-kilometre journey took her through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and finally to Iran.
It was an odyssey through landscapes and history that captured her heart, but also a deeply challenging cycle across mountains, deserts and repressive police states that nearly defeated her. Plagued by punctures and battling temperatures ranging from -6 to 48C, Lowe was rescued frequently by farmers and refugees, villagers and urbanites alike, and relied almost entirely on the kindness and hospitality of locals to complete this living portrait of the modern Middle East.
This is her evocative, deeply researched and often very funny account of her travels - and the people, politics and culture she encountered.
'Terrifically compelling ... bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes
In 2015, as the Syrian War raged and the refugee crisis reached its peak, Rebecca Lowe set off on her bicycle across the Middle East. Driven by a desire to learn more about this troubled region and its relationship with the West, Lowe's 11,000-kilometre journey took her through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and finally to Iran.
It was an odyssey through landscapes and history that captured her heart, but also a deeply challenging cycle across mountains, deserts and repressive police states that nearly defeated her. Plagued by punctures and battling temperatures ranging from -6 to 48C, Lowe was rescued frequently by farmers and refugees, villagers and urbanites alike, and relied almost entirely on the kindness and hospitality of locals to complete this living portrait of the modern Middle East.
This is her evocative, deeply researched and often very funny account of her travels - and the people, politics and culture she encountered.
'Terrifically compelling ... bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Editorial Reviews
"Lowe, whose winningly self-depreciating tone persists through adventures and misadventures alike, is no naif. A veteran journalist with a focus on human rights, Lowe is clear-eyed about the fraught history of Western adventurers in the Middle East, with a reporter's knack for depicting the vivid characters she encounters." -- Washington Post
"[A] funny and freewheeling account ... Lowe, a freelance British journalist, has a forthright confidence that brings to mind those earlier Middle Eastern adventurers Freya Stark and Gertrude Bell." -- James Barr, The Times
"Beautifully capturing the joys of solo adventuring ... highly entertaining and impressively valiant." -- Financial Times
"[Lowe] is a perceptive writer who finds new ways to think about the complex peoples, histories and politics of the countries she journeys through." -- Observer
"Illuminating, gripping and often funny." -- Wanderlust Magazine
"A terrifically compelling book, bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer." -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes
"By cycling solo across the Middle East for 11,000 kilometres, Rebecca Lowe has achieved a remarkable feat. Her account of this grand journey is admirably observant, unfailingly humane and humorously self-aware to just the right degree. She shows sensitivity to the uniquely Middle Eastern lives she encounters while also maintaining an eye for their chaotic opera of quotidian dramas. This is a book that makes you laugh, gasp, cry and learn something about the many peoples of the Middle East." -- Arash Azizi, author of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, The US and Iran's Global Ambitions
"The idea of cycling from England to Iran seems to me completely barmy - heroically barmy, magnificently barmy, in the style of the great travellers of the past who walked on foot to the South Pole or rode on camels to China. Not even straight to Iran, but by way of Egypt and Sudan, the Sahara and the Persian Gulf - 11,000 kilometres - a whole year balanced on two wheels, held upright and propelled only by her own muscle-power. Over impossible mountain ranges, on uncyclable roads, through states where being a foreigner or a woman is discouraged. She writes about it with wonderful vividness and self-mockery. And she is a real traveller. She stays, eats, and drinks, one way or ...
"[A] funny and freewheeling account ... Lowe, a freelance British journalist, has a forthright confidence that brings to mind those earlier Middle Eastern adventurers Freya Stark and Gertrude Bell." -- James Barr, The Times
"Beautifully capturing the joys of solo adventuring ... highly entertaining and impressively valiant." -- Financial Times
"[Lowe] is a perceptive writer who finds new ways to think about the complex peoples, histories and politics of the countries she journeys through." -- Observer
"Illuminating, gripping and often funny." -- Wanderlust Magazine
"A terrifically compelling book, bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer." -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes
"By cycling solo across the Middle East for 11,000 kilometres, Rebecca Lowe has achieved a remarkable feat. Her account of this grand journey is admirably observant, unfailingly humane and humorously self-aware to just the right degree. She shows sensitivity to the uniquely Middle Eastern lives she encounters while also maintaining an eye for their chaotic opera of quotidian dramas. This is a book that makes you laugh, gasp, cry and learn something about the many peoples of the Middle East." -- Arash Azizi, author of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, The US and Iran's Global Ambitions
"The idea of cycling from England to Iran seems to me completely barmy - heroically barmy, magnificently barmy, in the style of the great travellers of the past who walked on foot to the South Pole or rode on camels to China. Not even straight to Iran, but by way of Egypt and Sudan, the Sahara and the Persian Gulf - 11,000 kilometres - a whole year balanced on two wheels, held upright and propelled only by her own muscle-power. Over impossible mountain ranges, on uncyclable roads, through states where being a foreigner or a woman is discouraged. She writes about it with wonderful vividness and self-mockery. And she is a real traveller. She stays, eats, and drinks, one way or ...
Readers Top Reviews
Tony Frobisher
The Slow Road to Tehran is a book that encapsulates the very best of travel writing. A book that resonates with place and people, combined with the challenge of an ambitious solo exploration of a huge region, The Middle East, 11,0000km over a year by bicycle. Add to the mix an impartial and excellent exposition of the political, geopolitical, social and cultural problems and contradictions of this hugely significant global area, as well as an appreciation of how the historical context has shaped each country (not least the colonial ambitions and meddling of Britain, America et al) and The Slow Road to Tehran is entertaining and informative. The book has a perfect balance of the journey itself, the landscapes, climatic conditions and challenges of cycling alone in challenging terrain, as well as myriad human interactions, well researched historical context, and a treatise on the state society and government. Rebecca Lowe writes with honesty and humour, clarity and insight, capturing the humanity and kindness inherent in the overwhelming majority of people she meets. The generosity of spirit, the compassion of strangers to help unbidden. But she does not shy away from the uglier side of humanity. The oppressive, suspicious regimes, the misogynistic attitudes that prevail, the unwelcome sexual overtones and unwelcome attention that she encounters being a lone woman cycling through a resolutely male dominated region. This is not a superficial examination. There is bravery and tenacity in the places she visits, and the people she spends time with, from marginalised communities, activists and those seeking political change - always at risk of state persecution. I travelled through Iran in 1996, as well as Turkey and have visited Egypt and the UAE also. Rebecca Lowe ignited my memories of these beautiful countries. Faith pervades all aspects of Middle Eastern societies, and is apparent throughout the book. Yet Islam, is only part of what defines the region. It is a complex, challenging, changing and diverse area of the world. Confusing and frustrating, but rewarding and satisfying. In conclusion, after reading this superb book, I feel The Middle East has been a little demystified and I am grateful to Rebecca Lowe (and Maud) for that.
ReesPeterMr. D. Smit
This book is more about the history of religion, what religion got where 1st and what replaced the religion with another. The author meets more people along the way, that are also keen to share history.
Lowell B FeinsteinMB
It was more of a history book and left wing at that.
