Sat, Mar 1 12:22 AM
A British peace campaigner aiming to walk to India with no money turned back in France when he realised his inability to speak the local language made it impossible to convince people to help him on his way.
Relying on the kindness of strangers for food and lodging, 28-year-old Mark Boyle picked up two companions on the way from western England to the English Channel who shared his vision of a world without money. But support disappeared when they reached the French port of Calais.
"Not only did one not speak the language, they also see us as just a bunch freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about," Boyle wrote in his blog. "That really scared us, and given that we now were pretty much out of food, hadn't slept in days and were really cold, we had to reassess the whole situation."
The local French they were able to communicate with said they did not believe France would embrace the trio in the same way as Britain without a common language, and recommended they head for Belgium where more people might speak English.
But with nothing to sustain them but three tins of soup, a bag of nuts and fruit and a bar of chocolate, one of the group bought tickets back to England for the other two.
Undaunted, Boyle said he would walk around Britain to raise awareness before setting out again for the Indian birthplace of his idol Mahatma Gandhi.
"Whilst walking in the UK I intend to learn French and to hit the continent again as soon as we feel we are ready," he said on his website http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/index.php.
The world's current crop of billionaires has plenty of money but not much youth.
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