Under Asian Skies: Eye Opening Motorcycle Adventure Through the Cultures and Colours of Asia. This item is unavailable.Under Asian Skies: Eye Opening Motorcycle Adventure Through the Cultures and Colours of Asia

Novice biker Sam Manicom left his job and sold his house to ride a motorbike the length of Africa. But once the travel bug bit, he couldn’t stop.
‘Under Asian Skies’ is the sequel to his first book ‘Into Africa’, and just like that one this is packed with adventure. Sam narrowly escapes a serious wipe-out in the vast Australian Outback, falls critically ill in Thailand and is rescued by a prostitute, gets arrested in Madras, dodges the manic traffic of India’s Grand Trunk Road and rides sheet ice on the road home through Turkey.
To make ends meet, he works as a fruit picker in Australia. He meets hippies, aborigines and escapees from the law, gets involved with smugglers and falls in love. Woven into the story are the tales of people met and time shared, and of the landscapes and cultures. He says that this is the most culturally diverse region of the world he’s been lucky enough to travel. ’Every time you reach a border, life changes dramatically.’ That can be down to language changes but also the sounds, scents, foods, the road conditions, the clothes and even how quickly a smile is shared. He adds in graphic descriptions of how the landscapes change; from the wilderness challenges of Australia, to the white sand crystal clear waters of SE Asia, to the Himalayas and the deserts of Baluchistan and Iran.
Sam Manicom’s descriptions have been described as having the reader travelling there alongside of him, though at the more dire times, the reader might wish to be sitting at home in their armchair!
What shines through is his sheer joy of being on the road, and the pure adrenaline buzz that each day can bring. Every day holds an adventure and once again, those adventures demand that Sam’s Guardian Angel is on hand to work overtime. Just one man, a motorcycle and a dream being lived – every day.
He's been described as 'One of the foremost and most readable adventure motorcyclists writing about their adventures on two wheels.’ In 2018 Sam was presented with the 'Spirit of Adventure' Award by Overland Magazine in recognition of his contribution to overlanding and long distance motorcycle travel.

Ted Simon ‘A unique and wonderful adventure’
Horizons Unlimited ‘Sam has the skills of the story teller and this book easily transports you into three years of journey across Asia. He manages to bring the sounds, scents and heat of Asia to life without wordy overkill and he has obviously researched his historical facts carefully’
Motorcycle Monthly ‘Highly recommended’
Adventure Rider Radio ‘Escape into the world through Manicom’s words’
Motorcycle News ‘Why buy it? Inspiration!’
Australian Road Rider Magazine ‘Out of the usual mould and fun’
RiDE Magazine ‘He had plenty of mishaps, but has a wonderful way of making it sound like every experience, good or bad, is adding to life’s rich tapestry.’
Adventure Travel Magazine ‘Accessible and well written, this will prod anyone with a bike license to take off’
Motorcycle Explorer Magazine ‘A truly entertaining account’
Trail Bike Magazine ‘A great read’
Overland Magazine ‘A story that is full of honesty, humour and descriptive detail where the little events, thoughts and conversations are just as compelling as the pivotal points in the story’
Overland Live ‘Entertaining and informative‘

Sam Manicom, overlander, traveller and author of 4 motorcycle books, was born in the Congo in Central West Africa where his parents worked. His family returned to the UK when he was 10 and he has been travelling for much of his life. His first solo trip was age 16 by bicycle into Europe. Many backpacking, hiking, cycling and hitch hiking journeys later, and back in the UK but wanting to do something completely different, Sam learned to ride a motorcycle. Within 3 months of starting to ride, he set off to travel the length of Africa. This 1-year trip turned into an 8-year, 200,000 mile, around the world motorcycle adventure across 55 countries. Sam’s 4 books take the reader travelling through the different sections of the eight-year journey. Africa – ‘Into Africa’, Asia and the Middle East – ‘Under Asian Skies’, Southern Africa and South America – ‘Distant Suns’, and North America – ‘Tortillas to Totems’. He now works full time in the world of adventure travel. He’s a keen advocate of motorcycle travel in particular and when not writing his books, magazine articles and conducting multimedia travel presentations within Europe and the USA, he’s very much involved with travel related organisations. Sam is a co-host for Adventure Rider Radio RAW. In 2017 he was awarded the Overland Magazine ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Award for his contribution to Overlanding. When he isn’t writing or presenting, Sam and his partner Birgit are usually off riding somewhere. Sam’s latest book ‘The Moment Collectors’ - released in February 2022.