The Title Of The Book

The title I gave the book stems from the most important aspects of any adventure. The people, thoughts and sights which packed my days. The achievement of cycling from Ireland to India, became less important with the passing days as the experience taught me more than I could have imagined.

Curious Companions firstly relates to the people who kept me company throughout the four months. They were a varied bunch of hairy homeless beggars, war veterans, street kids, truck drivers, vain posers, flirtatious young women, bruising big bellied brutes, religious conservatives, sexual deviants, conformists, confrontational police, hospitable extremists and brainless imbeciles. They were as curious of me as I was of them.

These people in turn provided me with a narrative of experiences which both enriched and disturbed my thoughts. My in-mind companions changed by the minute as with endless hours alone without company tends to stretch the imagination. I found my mind unable to settle, flicking channels from an innocuous situation to an unrealistic dream. One minute I entertained myself with a funny past incident but before I knew it I had become irritated without knowing why. I was curious about my mind.

The third companion was the landscape. Although not seemingly as curious as the above I found myself hypnotised by my surroundings. They were unmoved by my presence. I stared at folds in hillsides, shapes in rock faces, the contours of mountain tops, the forms of rivers, conjuring up images in my mind which I later developed into an exhibition of semi-abstract oil paintings.