In some peculiar way, indeed, the rules were now beginning to seem quite logical. It was then I knew that I had been in India long enough.

Visit Cape Town and history is never far from your grasp. It lingers in the air, a scent on the breezy, an explanation of circumstance that shaped the Rainbow People. Stroll around the old downtown and it's impossible not to be affected by the trials and tribulations of the struggle. But, in many ways, it is the sense of triumph in the face of such adversity that makes the experience all the more poignant.

With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.

I was no longer troubled when he pulled out a machete in a crowded bar, tried to pick up schoolgirls, or threatened to scalp us, then rip off our heads and scoop out our brains.

As a travel writer I've specialized in gritty, fearful destinations, the kind of places that make a reader's hair stick on end.

The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.

Through bitter experience I have learned that it is best to promise little and then to reward hard work with generosity.