Podcasts by There Are Other Rivers

Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river. Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in the homes of welcoming strangers or in small towns and villages, he experienced the dusty enchantment of ordinary, real India on the smallest of budgets.

There Are Other Rivers tells the story of the walk through an account of a single day as well as reflecting on the allure of difficult journeys and the eternal appeal of the open road.

Further podcasts by Alastair Humphreys

Podcast on the topic Bücher

All episodes

Author Note from 2020-05-07T19:05

Thank you for making it this far!
I really hope that you enjoyed the story.

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The Last Day: to the Sea from 2020-05-07T19:00

The Last Day: to the Sea

“Each day looks as beautiful as the roads that lead to the sea.”

“Beep... beepbeepbeepbeep... BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP.”<...

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The Last Day: to the Source from 2020-05-06T19:00

The Last Day: to the Source

“I know that it might be better for you to come out from under your might-have-beens, into the winds of the world.”

<...

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Nightfall from 2020-05-05T19:00

Nightfall

“When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch... I don’t imp...

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Freedom from 2020-05-04T19:00

Freedom

“But the word timshel – “thou mayest” – that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open... W...
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Sunset from 2020-05-03T19:00

Sunset

“Better a thousand times that he should be a tramp, and mend pots and pans by the wayside, and sleep under trees, and see the dawn and the sunset every...
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Struggle from 2020-05-02T19:00

Struggle

“You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.”

It’s hard to ge...
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Challenge from 2020-05-01T19:00

Challenge

“You’re too young a man to be panning memories, Adam. You should be getting yourself some new ones, so that the mining will be richer when you come ...
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Afternoon from 2020-04-30T19:00

Afternoon

“I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard...
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Quest from 2020-04-29T19:00

Quest

“If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as de...
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Pilgrimage from 2020-04-28T19:00

Pilgrimage

“We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go Always a little further: it may be
Beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow, Across that angry ...
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Religion from 2020-04-27T19:00

Religion

“I have no bent towards gods. But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul.”

Religion is an integral part...
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Noon from 2020-04-26T19:00

Noon

“And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It...
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People from 2020-04-25T19:00

People

“I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”

The people I meet are a highlight of the journey. I meet good...
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Joy from 2020-04-24T19:00

Joy

“Every man has a retirement picture in which he does those things he never had time to do – makes the journeys, reads the neglected books he always preten...
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Landscape from 2020-04-23T19:00

Landscape

“And then – the glory – so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose, and dappling light under a tree...
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Learning from 2020-04-22T19:00

Learning

“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.”

My life real...
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Food from 2020-04-21T19:00

Food

“What does a man need, really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in and some form of working activity that will ...
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Curiosity from 2020-04-20T19:00

Curiosity

“I’ve never been content to pass a stone without looking under it. And it is a black disappointment to me that I can never see the far side of the m...
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Morning from 2020-04-19T19:00

Morning

“And again there are mornings when ecstasy bubbles in the blood, and the stomach and chest are tight and electric with joy.”

The w...
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Snapshot from 2020-04-18T19:00

Snapshot

“The Earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books in the world.”

All the clichés about India are true. Clichés alwa...
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Alone from 2020-04-17T19:00

Alone

“All great and precious things are lonely.”

Odd choice, India, if I wanted to be alone. But being alone is an important part of my j...
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Simplicity from 2020-04-16T19:00

Simplicity

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.”

A couple of years ago I was o...
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Escape from 2020-04-15T19:00

Escape

“For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas ...
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Sunrise from 2020-04-14T19:00

Sunrise

“And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. ...
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Routine from 2020-04-13T19:00

Routine

“It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routine life, even if you hate it.”

People looking at me walking through India might envisa...
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River from 2020-04-12T19:00

River

“Don’t you dare take the lazy way... Whatever you do, it will be you who do.”

I push through a bamboo grove to the river and sit ben...
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Go from 2020-04-11T19:00

Go

“The virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from here seems broad and straight and sweet.”

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Flabbiness from 2020-04-10T19:00

Flabbiness

“You know how advice is: you only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyways.”

There are three stages of flabbines...
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Dawn from 2020-04-09T19:00

Dawn

“It was a morning like other mornings and yet perfect among mornings.”

I walk quietly past the night watchman, bundled in blankets an...
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The Walk from 2020-04-08T19:00

The Walk

“You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.”

This book is no...
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Introduction from 2020-04-07T19:00

Introduction

“Beginning has the pleasure of a great stretching yawn; it flashes in the brain and the whole world glows outside your eyes.”

...
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Author's Note from 2020-04-06T19:00

“For I have discovered that there are other rivers. And this my boys will not know for a long time nor can they be told. A great many never come to know that there are other rivers.” ~ Joh...
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There Are Other Rivers from 2020-01-21T13:20

Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river. Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in t...
Listen