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Last broadcast on Sat, 4 Jul 2009, 10:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Synopsis
Couch surfing is a recent travel phenomenon of the internet age. Travellers use a website to contact people all over the world who will put them up and give them an introduction to local life which the ordinary tourist would miss. Sandi Toksvig finds out from journalist Fleur Britten about her experiences couch surfing in Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, and what it's like to play host to a complete stranger in her own home.
It is nearly 30 years since Jimmy Savile proclaimed, 'This is the Age of the Train', but is it still? Sandi talks to columnist Matthew Engel and guide writer Benedict le Vay about the pleasures of chugging along some of Britain's lesser-known branch lines, compared with the problems of inconvenient timetables and high prices.
Fleur Britten
Fleur Britten is a freelance journalist and a commissioning editor for the Sunday Times. Her latest book is entitled On the Couch. Couchsurfing is an internet run scheme which puts people with floor or couch space in various parts of the world in touch with travellers looking for a place to stay for two or three nights.
Fleur had known about the scheme and wanted to give it a try. With her friend Ollie they planned to spend ten weeks in Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. After eleven days Fleur had to continue the rest of the journey alone. Her experiences were varied from sleeping in the kitchen of a scruffy flat to sharing with the host’s pet rat. Ten weeks and four countries later Fleur had slept on a total of 25 different ‘couches’ including 1 airbed, 1 bunk bed, 12 train compartments, 2 gers. The cost varied from boxes of chocolates, to traditional Mongolian slippers, bumper pack of toilet rolls and one wall map…
On the Couch: Tales of Couchsurfing a Continent.
Publisher: Collins
ISBN-10: 0007310994
ISBN-13: 978-0007310999
Matthew Engel
Matthew Engel has spent his working life in journalism, covering more than seventy different sports, reporting the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the last seven British general elections. He is currently a columnist on the Financial Times.
In the spring of 2007, after years of getting cross at the vagaries of Britain’s railways Matthew decided he had enough. He went on a quest to find out why after inventing railways the British had gone on to run them so badly. He travelled the country from Penzance to Thurso and explored the history of Britain’s bizarre relationship with its trains. His adventures are chronicled in his latest book Eleven Minutes Late.
Eleven minutes late: A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN-10: 0230708986
ISBN-13: 978-0230708983
Benedict le Vay
Benedict le Vay is a subeditor on a national newspaper and has written the Bradt Eccentric Guides to Britain, London, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge. He has just published Britain from the Rails in which he contends that railway journeys are worthy aims in themselves not just a method of getting from A to B. Benedict did about ninety journeys by rail over the last three years. He advocates taking less direct routes or cross country journeys to really appreciate what the network has to offer.
Britain from the Rails: a Window Gazer’s Guide
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN-10: 184162277X
ISBN-13: 978-1841622774
Broadcast
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Sat 4 Jul 200910:00
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