SILK ROAD ADVENTURE
COMING SOON
TEA & GRIT by HELEN WATSON
In 2010, while the US Government is hunting down Osama bin Laden in the Middle East, Helen Watson and her husband Ed set off on a cycling expedition from Glasgow to China. Driven by a desire to understand the world beyond the media portrayal of the ‘Axis of Evil’, the couple pedal 15,000 km along the Silk Road – ancient trade routes undergoing rapid modernisation. Crossing deserts and mountains, minefields and military zones, they reach Muslim China via Syria, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia.
Plagued by sandstorms, overzealous officials and endless punctures, Helen and Ed camp with Bedouin, sleep in farmers’ houses, and are hosted by students and local dignitaries. They are waylaid with hundreds of cups of tea and interrogated about Western culture… and marriage. Soon after the couple return home, the Arab Spring breaks, and the world Helen and Ed have visited is plunged into war and unrest.
Tea and Grit is a rich and compassionate exploration of cultures too often misrepresented. Featuring privileged glimpses into the lives of women rarely given a voice, it is a unique account of the 21st-century Silk Road – and the importance of drinking tea with strangers.
“EMBODIES the essence and value of slow travel … a valuable addition to contemporary travel writing, especially for Central Asia.”
— Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan’s Ambassador for Tourism and the author of Bradt Travel Guides’ Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“beautifully written - colourful, vivid and poetic.”
— Helen Moat, Author of While the Earth Holds Its Breath
“ASKS POWERFUL QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY WE TRAVEL AND WHAT WE BRING HOME AFTERWARDS.”
— Jon Lorie, Author of The Travel Writer’s Way
About Helen
Born in Scotland and raised in Switzerland, Helen Watson is addicted to travel that is both physically and culturally challenging. In 2010, she cycled fifteen thousand kilometres from Scotland to China, inspired by the hospitality of people along the Silk Road – and later dismayed by the subsequent refugee crisis following the Arab Spring. Watson has captured the experiences in her first book, Tea and Grit: A Bicycle Journey along the Silk Road. She has previously won travel-writing competitions in The Telegraph, twice been shortlisted for the Bradt Guides / Independent on Sunday New Travel Writer of the Year Award and contributed to Bradt’s Tajikistan guidebook. Living in the Scottish Highlands with her travel companion and husband, Ed, she works in wildlife conservation.