Ananova
Home News Entertainment Sport Business

Corrections


 Ananova: 
Man quits India trek - at Calais

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

Mark Boyle in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst, during his planned walk from Bristol to Gandhi's birthplace on India's West Coast /PA pics

Mark Boyle, 28, who set out with only T-shirts, a bandage and sandals, hoped to rely on the kindness of strangers for food and lodging.

But, because he couldn't speak French, people mistook him for a freeloader or an asylum seeker, reports the BBC.

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

Mr Boyle, a former organic food company boss, belongs to the Freeconomy movement which wants to get rid of money altogether.

In his online diary at the start of his journey to Porbander, Gandhi's birthplace, he said he was given two free dinners on his first evening away in Glastonbury.

Later, he was joined in Dover by two companions, and the three managed to get to Calais.

But in one of his last entries, he wrote: "...not only did no one not speak the language, they had also seen us as just a bunch of freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about."

Mr Boyle said he could not explain in words the disappointment he felt at abandoning the journey and he apologised to his supporters.

But he added: "Whilst walking in the UK, I intend to learn French and to hit the continent again as soon as we feel we are ready."

Home - News - Entertainment - Sport - Business
Copyright © 2009 Orange Personal Communications Services Limited
Terms and conditions of use - Privacy policy - Corrections - Contact Ananova - About Ananova