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Should you, one day, find yourself in the shady cobbled lane of the kasbah in Tangier where Barbara Hutton, the much-married Woolworth's heiress, created her glamorous home, Dar Hosni, you may discover hidden amongst the ivy-covered walls, a tablet with these words in Arabic:
Gar firdaus bar ru-e zamin ast
Hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast
Scholars can't agree whom to attribute
these immortal lines of Moghul poetry to, but they're famously inscribed upon the walls of Delhi's C.17th Red Fort, too.
It was from these chanced glimpses that the desire arose to link together, in ways more tangible than poetry, the two magnificent obsessions that have occupied a lifetime of travel ...
India and Morocco
It would be that other American in Tangier, the writer Paul Bowles, who would give the title to our endeavour:
The Sheltering Sky Project
Named to both honour the memory of this 20th Century author, and to conjure the great, star-filled dome of the Saharan sky to which he referred in his beautiful, unsettling prose.
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If there was
Heaven on
Earth,
it is this,
it is this,
it is this
We have created here, a road journey of some 21,000km from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan to the Sahara Desert of Morocco.
Thar to Sahara
120 days from India's Pink City of Jaipur, to the red desert city of Marrakech. Discover our journey here and be part of it with the stupendous new Google Earth Route Map.
Anna Kwiecinska
Sri Lanka, Sept., 2021
Audacious? Yes. ... Impossible? No!
Is it today's paradox that with faster communication than ever before, mutual understanding of one another across our planet appears diminished?
While 21,000 kilometers traversed in 120 days may not be the epitome of Slow Travel, Thar to Sahara 2022 is a journey offering an alternative to the world of 'instant', as global travel tentatively reclaims its place. Thar to Sahara 2024 is not a tour seeking participants; it is an endeavour seeking support.
Drawn from history and shaped by millennia of civilizations, our exploratory journey showcases 52 UNESCO World Heritage destinations and others of astonishing beauty and historical significance.
An endeavour not of endurance, but empathy. The Sheltering Sky Project.
Our Purpose is to Raise Awareness, Funds and advocate for the principles we strongly believe in:
Specifically to assist our globally-recognised NGO partners working to end sex trafficking in India, in Morocco fostering fair trade and beyond, and with the Australian NGO, Walk Free, ending Modern Slavery everywhere.
Communities benefit when women and girls are safe and empowered to reach their full potential.
Our Vision and Mission
Rising to the challenge.
Anna has combined enduring passions for art, history and off-the-beaten-track travel into a career which, beginning with a B.Sc., in Medical Technology eventually found expression as director of her own commercial art gallery following post-graduate studies in Florence and London, where she received her M.A. in Early Sienese Art from The Courtauld Institute, University of London.
A life-long engagement with India, including textile designing in Jaipur, expanded into Spice Voyages private tours in India, Ethiopia and Morocco, a country in which she has spent much time.
,Anna currently divides her time between presenting the Creative Living Art and Yoga Retreat programs she developed in Bali and Sri Lanka, with extended stints of adventurous travel. more
Anna designed the Thar to Sahara route and is managing the Partner Program, photography, design and writing.
Khaver’s passion for travel began during university. Hospitality Management studies completed, he worked with hotels in England and later joined The Oberoi Group in India.
With travel never far from his mind, it was not long before his attention and energies turned towards starting Secrets of India, his Delhi-based company dedicated to creating amazing travel experiences with exceptional service, and a commitment sustainability at all levels. more
On Thar to Sahara, Khaver is chiefly managing logistics, procurement and trouble-shooting.
In the
Driving Seats
of this
4-person
fund-raising
endeavour
Crew
George Polycarpou
George has spent the last 25 years in visual communications and corporate marketing at senior executive level delivering successful outcomes on a wide variety of communication & branding projects, from the creative direction to the production of major infrastructure tenders, corporate ID, exhibition displays, digital marketing, advertising campaigns and media buying.
During the last 3 years he has rolled out and managed the growth of AUSIDE4WD.com.au through digital marketing and social media channels.
On Thar to Sahara, George is our off-road 4X4 expert, social media marketer, and resident Greek speaker.
Anshul Gupta
Anshul has been constantly working since graduating in Documentary Film-Making from La Femis, Paris 18 years ago. He worked as an Assistant Director at CLCF, Paris, before taking on various international projects in 18 countries over the last 17 years.
Clients include Decathalon, TF1, National Geographic, Imagination TV, University of North Carolina and Stink Films and Creative Living Retreats
Our Carbon Footprint
We've estimated that this journey with 4 people
and two vehicles will produce around 15 metric tons of CO2e
1.5 metric tons:
4 x Economy class direct O/W flight from BOM to DXB
3.70 metric tons:
4 x Economy class O/W flight from CAS to DEL via DXB
8.7 metric tons:
21,000 km in two 4x4's
India 2020 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. KUV100 NXT (K6+, K8)
tbc metric tons:
112 nights
tbc metric tons:
8 nights under canvas
and how we're off-setting it
We've chosen to contribute to projects managed by
Our NGO Partners and Beneficiaries
©Anna Kwiecinska
INDIA
End Sex-Trafficking
AUSTRALIA
End Modern Slavery
©Anna Kwiecinska
MOROCCO
Fair Trade and Beyond
Great Endeavours Need Great Patrons
We are currently seeking patrons
... we would love to see you here
IBN BATTUTA
" Travelling! - it offers you a hundred roads to adventure, and gives your heart wings "
Instead of returning home to Tangier, having completed the usual rituals of a Muslim pilgrim, the C.14th Berber traveller Ibn Battuta continued eastwards, eventually covering about 120,000 km - about 44 modern countries - before the Sultan of Morocco finally commanded his return 30 years later.
His manuscript, A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling, became one of the most famous travelogues ever written.
The One and Only
IBN BATTUTA PATRON
MARCO POLO
" I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed "
Leaving Venice in 1271 aged 17, Marco Polo became the Westerner whose travels on the Silk Road surpassed all others in determination, writing and influence.
His journey of 96,000 km, lasting 24 years, took him further than any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China, where he became a confidant of Kublai Khan.
The Description of the World or The Travels of Marco Polo, his account of Cathay’s Mongol Empire, Africa and India, instantly made it one of the most popular books in medieval Europe.
THE MARCO POLO
PATRONS
FERDINAND MAGELLAN
" The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round. For I have seen the shadow of the Earth on the moon, and I have more faith in the shadow than in the Church "
Battle-hardened knight and hardy sailor at a young age, Portuguese dare-devil, Ferdinand Magellan, never would have imagined he would be the one to make the key contribution to travelling around the globe.
With an explorer's ambition, tenacity and sheer will power, the three year voyage of 24,000 Km from Spain with 5 ships in 1519 made him a pioneer of circumnavigation, immortalised in the naming of the Western Passage as the Strait of Magellan.
THE FERDINAND MAGELLAN
PATRONS
This and similar journeys must be supported because they will enable us to better converse and dialogue with each other, a precious art that we seem to have lost
Project Thar to Sahara is a journey that will connect the Asian and European landmass in a route less known than the more famous Silk Roads. It has the potential to inform us about the network of relationships that has knitted peoples together on this land route.
The "itinerary" is well-known, of course; but what we must look forward to is the knowledge it will bring to our tables and minds from the stories and experiences to relationships along the route.
Dr Siddiq Wahid
Dr Siddiq Wahid
Dr Wahid received his Ph.D. in Inner Asian and Altaic Studies from Harvard University, his M. Ed. from Harvard University, and his B.A. in Philosophy and Political Theory from Gustavus Adolphus College Minnesota.
He has taught Central Asian Studies and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and at Metropolitan University in London. and was Vice Chancellor of the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir State, India.
He has authored a book on Ladakh, and articles on Central Asia, Tibetan Civilization and the Kashmir context.
Dr Shashi Tharoor
Dr Tharoor is MP for Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala, India. Ex-Minister of State, Govt.of India., and Former Under Secretary General, United Nations.
An acclaimed writer, having authored 22 bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction since 1981, which are centred on India and its history, culture, film, politics, society, foreign policy, and related themes. He received the Sahitya Academy Award for his book An Era of Darkness in 2019.
He's authored hundreds of columns and articles in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek, and The Times of India, amongst many others.
Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, yet everything happens only a certain number of times. and a very small number really.
How any more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that.
How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty, and yet it all seems limitlessles.
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
1949, Tangier, Morocco
GOOD COMPANY and INSPIRATION
Thar to Sahara 2024
is designed around 52 UNESCO World Heritage Destinations
and more than 100 individual UNESCO sites
We'll report daily
The story of the journey will be reported directly across all social channels and our blog site here, directly from Google Earth each day, and the details of each destination will then include the photos and footage that we capture from each place. Meanwhile, you can get involved ....
Have you got some
truly awesome photos
of our UNESCO
destinations you want
the world to see ?
GET INVOLVED!
Send your 3 best pics of any of our UNESCO destinations and we'll publish the ones we love with your name on our Google Earth map and notify you !
Maximum 3 pics per site @ 1 MB each picture location| site name | Your name
to :
anna@thartosahara.com