Bristol to Calais

[webofevil]

A man who planned to walk from Bristol to India without any money has quit, after getting as far as Calais, France.

Mark Boyle, 28, who set out four weeks ago with only T-shirts, a bandage and sandals, hoped to rely on the kindness of strangers for food and lodging. But, because he could not speak French, people thought he was free-loading or an asylum seeker.

He now plans to walk around the coast of Britain instead, learning French as he goes, so he can try again next year. [BBC]

Comments

[lifesizemonkey.livejournal.com]

Well i'm impressed that he managed to walk across the sea.

[robsoft.livejournal.com]

Hah haha!

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but that really made me chuckle.

I hope he makes it, all the same.

[offensive-mango.livejournal.com]

People thought he was a free-loader? How could they?

[nja.livejournal.com]

That was "the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about". I don't know how anyone could get the idea that he was a freeloader when he kept telling them he wasn't.

I also heard something recently about a couple of Indians who did the same journey in reverse in the fifties or sixties to promote world peace - one of them subsequently became moderately famous [Edit: Sathish Kumar] and was on Midweek about a month ago. They got to the UK and Bertrand Russell offered to pay for them to cross the Atlantic. The response was that they had taken a holy vow not to touch money (rather like Mr Boyle), but if he wanted to give them plane tickets that would be fine, plane tickets not being money.

I heard an interview with Mark Boyle when he was on his way to try to blag his way onto a ferry and thought he'd be lucky to get over the Channel, so he did better than I expected.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

So next year he'll get as far as Germany before coming home?

[lowlowprices.livejournal.com]

I really hate him. His parents should have sent him to work in a mine when he 2.

[lowlowprices.livejournal.com]

The sensible thing to do is snigger at this clown and then get on with one's life; but I'm afraid the more I think about him, the more paralysed with rage I become.

[therealjo.livejournal.com]

That seems somewhat harsh! But very funny. I love your userpic too. Genius!

[lowlowprices.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This seemed the right occasion on which to use it.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Has anyone told him that France does not connect directly to India?

[ruudboy.livejournal.com]

I dunno, it's more walkable than England to Calais.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Definitely less damp. On the other hand, nobody is going to ask you to speak a foreign language halfway across the Channel. Pros and cons, pros and cons.

[uniquefergus.livejournal.com]

What better way to pick up a working knowledge of French than walking the coast of Britain?