The slow road to Tehran

One woman, an unreliable bike and a richly entertaining, stereotype-busting journey of discovery. In 2018 Rebecca Lowe – driven by a desire to experience and understand better the Middle East and Islam – set off on a solo 11,000 kilometre bike ride through Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and to Iran. This is her account of that year long journey, which paints a living portrait of the Middle East through its people, its politics and its history, and challenges much of the perceived wisdom about this region of the world.