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Timeless On The Silk Road: An Odyssey From London To Hanoi
After riding her motorcycle across Africa, Heather Ellis rides the fabled Silk Roads of antiquity from London to Hanoi. What unfolds is a journey of courage, hardship and immense natural beauty as she rides through Central Asia to Australia.
Believing this is her last adventure, her one last search for meaning, Heather’s journey ultimately becomes one of destiny. Infused with a deep spiritual power, it is also a story that leaves the reader considering their own ‘time less’ journey called life.
Heather travels into Central Asia after the fall of the Soviet Union where she crosses deserts and is touched by the ancient world of Islam. She rides into the land of the heavenly mountains and discovers the ancient traditions of the nomads. She ventures into the vastness of Siberia’s Altai Mountains where she is welcomed into the homes of Kazakhs and Russians alike. And in China, she is repeatedly told there will soon be a new world order.
Timeless On The Silk Road is the story of what happens next when she is diagnosed with HIV in London. She is thirty years old and is given five years to live. It is 1995, when death from AIDS is inevitable. This is Heather’s eagerly anticipated second book and follows Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa (Nero, Black Inc. 2016). www.heather-ellis.com
Believing this is her last adventure, her one last search for meaning, Heather’s journey ultimately becomes one of destiny. Infused with a deep spiritual power, it is also a story that leaves the reader considering their own ‘time less’ journey called life.
Heather travels into Central Asia after the fall of the Soviet Union where she crosses deserts and is touched by the ancient world of Islam. She rides into the land of the heavenly mountains and discovers the ancient traditions of the nomads. She ventures into the vastness of Siberia’s Altai Mountains where she is welcomed into the homes of Kazakhs and Russians alike. And in China, she is repeatedly told there will soon be a new world order.
Timeless On The Silk Road is the story of what happens next when she is diagnosed with HIV in London. She is thirty years old and is given five years to live. It is 1995, when death from AIDS is inevitable. This is Heather’s eagerly anticipated second book and follows Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa (Nero, Black Inc. 2016). www.heather-ellis.com
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2019
17 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Heather Ellis
16 books22 followersHeather Ellis is the author of two travel memoirs. Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa (Black Inc. 2016) and Timeless On The Silk Road: An Odyssey From London To Hanoi (Phonte 2019). Both books detail my motorcycle travels from 1993 to 1997. Ubuntu is is as much about Africa’s most remote, beautiful and dangerous places as it is about having the courage to do it alone. It is about a life-changing adventure into the soul of Africa where I find Ubuntu— a Bantu word meaning human interconnectedness (‘I am because we are’).
Timeless On The Silk Road is what happens as I ride my motorcycle across Central Asia after I am diagnosed with HIV in London. It is 1995, when death from AIDS is inevitable.
While both my memoirs cover the narrative journey that is filled with 'survival-against-the-odds' adventures, each is also a journey of awakening to the guiding hand of a greater force realised through the influence of chance encounters, coincidences and trust in our intuition. ...a belief... a knowing.
I live with my three children near Melbourne, Australia and I still ride motorcycles, (Triumph Thruxton 900cc, Moto Guzzi V50 and my beloved Yamaha TT600). I'm also an advocate for women living with HIV and an advocate for motorcycle road safety.
Timeless On The Silk Road is what happens as I ride my motorcycle across Central Asia after I am diagnosed with HIV in London. It is 1995, when death from AIDS is inevitable.
While both my memoirs cover the narrative journey that is filled with 'survival-against-the-odds' adventures, each is also a journey of awakening to the guiding hand of a greater force realised through the influence of chance encounters, coincidences and trust in our intuition. ...a belief... a knowing.
I live with my three children near Melbourne, Australia and I still ride motorcycles, (Triumph Thruxton 900cc, Moto Guzzi V50 and my beloved Yamaha TT600). I'm also an advocate for women living with HIV and an advocate for motorcycle road safety.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 28, 2020
Timeless on the Silk Road by Heather Ellis is by no means your ordinary travelogue. While the book does describe Ellis’ odyssey from London to Hanoi (a subtitle which sucked me in, having just traveled much of the same ground myself), and is studded with beautiful photographs from her travels, Timeless on the Silk Road is also the story of a young woman finding her own place in the world, while grappling with her recent HIV diagnosis (something she discovered during the process of applying for a visa to Russia).
Heather’s diagnosis came in 1995, at a time at which there were no effective drugs available to control HIV and prevent the virus progressing to AIDS. Unable to offer any other form of hope, Heather’s doctor tells her about a couple who decided to travel, to spend up all their money before they died.
Even before her diagnosis, it seems Heather was determined to get more out of life than most people. Heather has done so much, the book feels as if it will give you whiplash at times. What would take up an entire volume, or at least a chapter, in other people’s lives, such as living on a canal boat, is in Heather’s tale no more than a few lines and a photograph – a footnote to an even more action-packed story. Heather’s story feels much like her description of Germany: “a country with no speed limits on its freeways”
Having recently watched “Fire in the Blood”, I was moved to read Heather’s account of having HIV back in the nineties. Her struggle with her own mortality was what inspired her to write her first book, Ubuntu: “I was thirty-one years old, and soon there would be nothing to show that I have ever existed on this earth”. (Timeless on the Silk Road is technically the sequel to Ubuntu, but I read it quite happily as a stand-alone book). The stigma of HIV is so great, she doesn’t want to tell her friends or family. She just wants to flee it all. But even then, Heather is concerned, worried about what the people she meets will think" “Did they innately know I was diseased, I asked myself?” During her darkest hours, Heather takes risks and fantasises about ‘disappearing’ so that she can have an “honourable end: clean and shameless. Not the death of emaciation from AIDS that awaited me.”
While the book does not dwell on Heather’s illness, and the picture of her that emerges is one of an incredibly strong woman – irrespective of, rather than in spite of her diagnosis – the spectre of AIDs looms around every corner. Equally, glimmers of hope shine here and there, but in her rush to get away from it all and live what remains of her life to the max, Heather finds herself cut off from the discoveries that eventually will save her life. Time and time again, she comes *this close* to reading about the discovery of new, better treatments, but thanks to her distance, and with internet communications only in their infancy, she hears nothing of them. The ‘Timeless’ Ellis references in the title, I imagine connects to her existence during this period outside of time, outside of life. Heather begins to think about her sexuality differently after her diagnosis – or rather, not to think about it. When she is offered a contract, she finds that it taunts, her, reminding her “that I was no longer part of this journey called life.” She is an outsider in more than one sense, and with that, brings a fascinating perspective to the page.
“Death releases us from time” realises Heather. “It is when we are dead that we can, on a whim, at any moment, be witness to the past, the present, and maybe the future too”. But Timeless on the Silk Road is by no means a depressing meditation on death. It is about life, about this big world we are all a part of, and about how we can get along together. Time after time, Heather comes across people who are welcoming, hospitable, and generous almost beyond belief. In Turkey, the waiter refuses payment, saying “No, no. It is all for you. Australians are good. You are welcome.” Heather is left humbled by his generosity: “It was strange, this camaraderie when we were enemies and so many died on both sides.”
Ultimately, Timeless on the Silk Road is a book about life. It is filled with mouthwatering descriptions of food, breathtaking vistas, and fascinating people, and the often challenging negotiations that take place between them. Heather’s travels in this volume begin in London, England, on to Greece, through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, before taking her to Turkmenistan, a country I’ve been fascinated by after watching another documentary. From Turkmenistan, Heather travels to Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Russia and Kazakhstan, before returning home to Australia via China and Vietnam. Having recently visited Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Vietnam myself, and as an avid viewer of ADVChina’s motorcycle adventures on YouTube, I was fascinated to read about what these places were like so soon after the fall of Communism.
As an outsider, and a female solo traveller on a motorcycle, Heather manages to see a different side to many of the places she visits, entering the largely segregated domains of both men and women. She describes well the sense of responsibility travellers feel, and the frequently unnoticed lens of race through which we view the world. “The solution to purging it comes first from awareness.” The same is, of course, true of the stigma which still exists in relation to HIV and AIDS.
The adventures Heather describes in Timeless on the Silk Road took place in the 1990s. Twenty-five years on, they are still as relevant as ever. One could even go so far as to say the lessons learned are timeless. As Heather points out in the Epilogue, when she was diagnosed in 1995, with no effective medications available, those living with HIV saw death as inevitable: “Just like it still is in 2019, for about fifteen million people in the developing world who are yet to receive these life-saving antiretrovirals.” Heather’s account gives us not only a beautiful, exhilarating, and sometimes heartstopping account of the world we live in, but a glimpse into what it is like to live with a disease that is still so unfairly and unnecessarily stigmatising. A highly recommended read.
Heather’s diagnosis came in 1995, at a time at which there were no effective drugs available to control HIV and prevent the virus progressing to AIDS. Unable to offer any other form of hope, Heather’s doctor tells her about a couple who decided to travel, to spend up all their money before they died.
Even before her diagnosis, it seems Heather was determined to get more out of life than most people. Heather has done so much, the book feels as if it will give you whiplash at times. What would take up an entire volume, or at least a chapter, in other people’s lives, such as living on a canal boat, is in Heather’s tale no more than a few lines and a photograph – a footnote to an even more action-packed story. Heather’s story feels much like her description of Germany: “a country with no speed limits on its freeways”
Having recently watched “Fire in the Blood”, I was moved to read Heather’s account of having HIV back in the nineties. Her struggle with her own mortality was what inspired her to write her first book, Ubuntu: “I was thirty-one years old, and soon there would be nothing to show that I have ever existed on this earth”. (Timeless on the Silk Road is technically the sequel to Ubuntu, but I read it quite happily as a stand-alone book). The stigma of HIV is so great, she doesn’t want to tell her friends or family. She just wants to flee it all. But even then, Heather is concerned, worried about what the people she meets will think" “Did they innately know I was diseased, I asked myself?” During her darkest hours, Heather takes risks and fantasises about ‘disappearing’ so that she can have an “honourable end: clean and shameless. Not the death of emaciation from AIDS that awaited me.”
While the book does not dwell on Heather’s illness, and the picture of her that emerges is one of an incredibly strong woman – irrespective of, rather than in spite of her diagnosis – the spectre of AIDs looms around every corner. Equally, glimmers of hope shine here and there, but in her rush to get away from it all and live what remains of her life to the max, Heather finds herself cut off from the discoveries that eventually will save her life. Time and time again, she comes *this close* to reading about the discovery of new, better treatments, but thanks to her distance, and with internet communications only in their infancy, she hears nothing of them. The ‘Timeless’ Ellis references in the title, I imagine connects to her existence during this period outside of time, outside of life. Heather begins to think about her sexuality differently after her diagnosis – or rather, not to think about it. When she is offered a contract, she finds that it taunts, her, reminding her “that I was no longer part of this journey called life.” She is an outsider in more than one sense, and with that, brings a fascinating perspective to the page.
“Death releases us from time” realises Heather. “It is when we are dead that we can, on a whim, at any moment, be witness to the past, the present, and maybe the future too”. But Timeless on the Silk Road is by no means a depressing meditation on death. It is about life, about this big world we are all a part of, and about how we can get along together. Time after time, Heather comes across people who are welcoming, hospitable, and generous almost beyond belief. In Turkey, the waiter refuses payment, saying “No, no. It is all for you. Australians are good. You are welcome.” Heather is left humbled by his generosity: “It was strange, this camaraderie when we were enemies and so many died on both sides.”
Ultimately, Timeless on the Silk Road is a book about life. It is filled with mouthwatering descriptions of food, breathtaking vistas, and fascinating people, and the often challenging negotiations that take place between them. Heather’s travels in this volume begin in London, England, on to Greece, through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, before taking her to Turkmenistan, a country I’ve been fascinated by after watching another documentary. From Turkmenistan, Heather travels to Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Russia and Kazakhstan, before returning home to Australia via China and Vietnam. Having recently visited Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Vietnam myself, and as an avid viewer of ADVChina’s motorcycle adventures on YouTube, I was fascinated to read about what these places were like so soon after the fall of Communism.
As an outsider, and a female solo traveller on a motorcycle, Heather manages to see a different side to many of the places she visits, entering the largely segregated domains of both men and women. She describes well the sense of responsibility travellers feel, and the frequently unnoticed lens of race through which we view the world. “The solution to purging it comes first from awareness.” The same is, of course, true of the stigma which still exists in relation to HIV and AIDS.
The adventures Heather describes in Timeless on the Silk Road took place in the 1990s. Twenty-five years on, they are still as relevant as ever. One could even go so far as to say the lessons learned are timeless. As Heather points out in the Epilogue, when she was diagnosed in 1995, with no effective medications available, those living with HIV saw death as inevitable: “Just like it still is in 2019, for about fifteen million people in the developing world who are yet to receive these life-saving antiretrovirals.” Heather’s account gives us not only a beautiful, exhilarating, and sometimes heartstopping account of the world we live in, but a glimpse into what it is like to live with a disease that is still so unfairly and unnecessarily stigmatising. A highly recommended read.
January 11, 2020
Reviewing another book recently that aimed to capture an epic journey along the Silk Routes west to east, that one on foot no less, I lambasted the book for being translated from French almost a generation after it was first published, making everything almost two decades out of date. And here we have this, which conveys the mid-1990s, yet came to us in 2019. Our author, fresh (well, as fresh as you can be) from motorbiking the length of Africa south to north, wants to take her two wheels and herself along to Asia and head back down south to her native Australia. So we see her travelling through Europe and Turkey, and then across all the freshly-independent Stans, all the while nearing the Orient.
Here, however, there is a twist. For this narrative is a two-fold one, where we see the travels offset against the other story here, namely her coming to terms with having been made HIV positive. The culprit for that has to remain unknowable, but it's interesting that the devil-may-care life she finds briefly in London between journeys is given such a nasty slap in the face. Slightly awkwardly the disease's biography is given details written in hindsight, such as 'if only I'd been an Internet user I might have found drugs were coming on to the market that might have negated my being told I'd five years to live', and things to that effect. But this side of the book is actually much more interesting and richer than I'd expected.
As for the journeying, this is standard fare, but is pretty agreeable all the same. We get just the right detail about the peoples, the foods, the roads and scenery, and this is a writer who pretty much likes to say it as she feels it. This bluntness causes a few unfortunate blips – she clearly picked up the Turk's racism for Georgia by being in that first country too long – but the matter-of-fact style matches the guts needed to do such a journey in those conditions. However I would definitely agree with anyone who says there is ultimately too many pages of detail – a huge chunk where, I think I say without spoilers, that her plan A fails to materialise is just annoying in the end. But early words coming back from other netgalley readers I've seen included people who gave up on the book, or at least thought ill of the first few chapters. And I can see that becoming a trend, yet I would urge the travel reader to stick with it – it does become an intriguing journey of both the personal and travelogue kind, and people here for the exotic pilgrimage-style motorbike trek are ultimately rather well served.
Three and a half stars, however – the chunk you could excise did nudge this towards overstaying its welcome at times.
Here, however, there is a twist. For this narrative is a two-fold one, where we see the travels offset against the other story here, namely her coming to terms with having been made HIV positive. The culprit for that has to remain unknowable, but it's interesting that the devil-may-care life she finds briefly in London between journeys is given such a nasty slap in the face. Slightly awkwardly the disease's biography is given details written in hindsight, such as 'if only I'd been an Internet user I might have found drugs were coming on to the market that might have negated my being told I'd five years to live', and things to that effect. But this side of the book is actually much more interesting and richer than I'd expected.
As for the journeying, this is standard fare, but is pretty agreeable all the same. We get just the right detail about the peoples, the foods, the roads and scenery, and this is a writer who pretty much likes to say it as she feels it. This bluntness causes a few unfortunate blips – she clearly picked up the Turk's racism for Georgia by being in that first country too long – but the matter-of-fact style matches the guts needed to do such a journey in those conditions. However I would definitely agree with anyone who says there is ultimately too many pages of detail – a huge chunk where, I think I say without spoilers, that her plan A fails to materialise is just annoying in the end. But early words coming back from other netgalley readers I've seen included people who gave up on the book, or at least thought ill of the first few chapters. And I can see that becoming a trend, yet I would urge the travel reader to stick with it – it does become an intriguing journey of both the personal and travelogue kind, and people here for the exotic pilgrimage-style motorbike trek are ultimately rather well served.
Three and a half stars, however – the chunk you could excise did nudge this towards overstaying its welcome at times.
May 12, 2019
A compelling, moving and poignant read, Timeless on the Silk Road is a geographic and spiritual journey against the backdrop of majestic mountains, nomadic pastures and ancient cities - some of them dating back as far as 3000 BC - along the 4000-km Silk Road from Europe through Russia and Central Asia to South East Asia. But this is no ordinary traveller's tale. Following a solo motorbike trip across Africa in 1993, Heather is diagnosed with HIV. The book starts in 1994 when she is working as a motorcycle courier in London and learns of her diagnosis. Overcoming periods of doubt and despair, she is determined to embark on this her last journey - she is given five years to live - and to trust in the same universal energy that guided and protected her in Africa (I highly recommend the author's previous book, Ubuntu: One Woman's Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa).
The author is an extraordinarily resilient woman and takes the reader on a very visceral and courageously candid journey through the 'Stans - countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. She gets into some narrow scrapes fending off vodka-fuelled men in Georgia, sleeping (unknowingly) atop deadly spiders in Turkmenistan, coming close to being shot by a border guard, almost running out of food in Kazakhstan and playing cat and mouse with Chinese Government officials. And yet, miraculously, something always turns up - whether it's the Turkish sheepdogs protecting her tent, the warm hospitality of nomadic people's in Krygyzstan and Siberia, or three Russian horsemen in the Altai mountains. At times, it reads almost like a mythical tale. And that's what makes this book so gripping - she engages all your senses as she describes some of the world's most scenic roads, landscapes and mountains, at the same time taking you on a journey of self-discovery. Inspiring, uplifting and life-affirming, this is a book that will prompt you to question your own journey through life.
The author is an extraordinarily resilient woman and takes the reader on a very visceral and courageously candid journey through the 'Stans - countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. She gets into some narrow scrapes fending off vodka-fuelled men in Georgia, sleeping (unknowingly) atop deadly spiders in Turkmenistan, coming close to being shot by a border guard, almost running out of food in Kazakhstan and playing cat and mouse with Chinese Government officials. And yet, miraculously, something always turns up - whether it's the Turkish sheepdogs protecting her tent, the warm hospitality of nomadic people's in Krygyzstan and Siberia, or three Russian horsemen in the Altai mountains. At times, it reads almost like a mythical tale. And that's what makes this book so gripping - she engages all your senses as she describes some of the world's most scenic roads, landscapes and mountains, at the same time taking you on a journey of self-discovery. Inspiring, uplifting and life-affirming, this is a book that will prompt you to question your own journey through life.
December 24, 2019
Wow! I almost stopped reading this after a few chapters. I wasn’t really getting into the first little bit
But then I kept going and couldn’t stop. I was intrigued mostly by the detail in her travels. I loved hearing about all the families she encountered.
But then I kept going and couldn’t stop. I was intrigued mostly by the detail in her travels. I loved hearing about all the families she encountered.
September 26, 2020
I could not have loved this book more if I tried! As a fellow female travel writer I am often disappointed in the lack of women's voices in adventure travel. Heather Ellis weaves a tale so profound, so rich in cultural learning that we almost forget she is on two journeys: one overland from the UK to Australia by motorcycle, the other a story of personal discovery and coming to terms with a near-fatal decision made on a previous trip to Africa.
The reader is right there with her as she is offered food and accommodation in some of the most remote communities on earth. The people she meets, many of whom sustained her physically and emotionally, will tug at your heart strings. A must read.
The reader is right there with her as she is offered food and accommodation in some of the most remote communities on earth. The people she meets, many of whom sustained her physically and emotionally, will tug at your heart strings. A must read.
April 24, 2025
Hello Friends,
There’s a new addition to the Tiger Coward Adventure Motorcycle Library: Timeless on the Silk Road by Heather Ellis .
Let me start with a splash: this is the most important book in the collection. I mean it.
Timeless on the Silk Road is the second half of Ellis’ epic motorcycle odyssey, which began and ended in Australia. It follows her journey through Africa (as told in her first book, Ubuntu), a pause in England, and then a ride across the storied Silk Road back to Australia.
Like Ubuntu, the writing is superb and the storytelling is brilliant. But what sets Timeless apart is that it goes beyond travel and transformation—it makes a difference.
In the world according to Tiger Coward, there are three dimensions to an adventure motorcycle book. Let me break them down:
The Journey – the essential dimension to a good adventure book is the journey itself—places visited, people met, roads taken. The ones that stick with us usually involve risk and adversity.
The Transformation – the next dimension occurs when travel becomes an odyssey—when the traveler learns, grows, and is transformed.
The Impact – Dimension Three is rare. It’s when a journey makes a difference—not just to the rider, but to the world.
Timeless hits all three—but it nails the third. And that’s rare.
In Timeless, Ellis discovers she has HIV and begins the long ride home believing she won’t survive it. She rides with a death sentence. She describes the fear and shame of her diagnosis with heartbreaking honesty. She nearly dies. But she doesn’t. She receives life-saving treatment from newly developed antiretrovirals—and she lives.
This book isn’t just a story. It’s a message. It educates. It empowers. It matters. Please read it.
Here are the five things I loved most about this book:
1. The Writing
Heather Ellis is a phenomenal writer. Her language is vivid and immersive. She paints scenes so well you feel like you're right there with her. I did—and I hope you will too.
2. The Storytelling
Good writers craft beautiful sentences, but not all of them pull you into the journey like Heather does. She’s an exceptional storyteller. You don’t just read her story—you feel it. The fear. The pain. The strength. The human connections. You’re not just a reader. You’re her paperback pillion.
3. The Motorcycle Journey
Even without the deeper layers, this is an epic ride. Overland from England to Australia. Dodgy and sometimes illegal border crossings. Fuel shortages. Backcountry challenges. And most importantly—the people. The good. The bad. The unforgettable. And through it all, she learns about herself.
This is adventure motorcycling at its finest.
4. The Darkness
Riding with a death sentence isn’t unheard of, but writing openly about it? That’s rare. Riding across the world expecting to die before you make it? That’s unimaginable. But Ellis did it. She rode. She worked to fund the ride. She kept going. And somehow, even with the darkness, she found light.
5. The Hope
At its core, Timeless is a story of hope. Ellis makes it home—just barely. She heals. She thrives. She becomes a journalist, an HIV advocate, and, remarkably, the mother of three sons.
Heather Ellis is a hero. She brings hope to those who need it, and she leaves readers believing that anything is possible. That, to me, is heroic.
In summary: This is a beautifully written book with a remarkable story. A raw, honest, epic journey that delivers hope by the bucketful. A book that makes a difference in the world.
Timeless on the Silk Road absolutely stands on its own, but I highly recommend reading Ubuntu first. It adds depth and context to Ellis’ journey, and makes Timeless hit even harder.
In fact, this book is so powerful I considered quitting adventure motorcycle books altogether afterward. I thought, If I’m ever going to break my addiction to this genre, this is the book to end on. But, like my promises to get in shape or stop buying bike gear, that idea didn’t last long.
It’s that good.
P.S. I’m currently reading The Moment Collectors by Sam Manicom and Friends. Stay tuned for that review soon.
P.S. x2 You can find my other reviews by searching Tiger Coward Adventure Motorcycle Library on Facebook or visiting Goodreads and searching Tiger Coward Moto Reads.
There’s a new addition to the Tiger Coward Adventure Motorcycle Library: Timeless on the Silk Road by Heather Ellis .
Let me start with a splash: this is the most important book in the collection. I mean it.
Timeless on the Silk Road is the second half of Ellis’ epic motorcycle odyssey, which began and ended in Australia. It follows her journey through Africa (as told in her first book, Ubuntu), a pause in England, and then a ride across the storied Silk Road back to Australia.
Like Ubuntu, the writing is superb and the storytelling is brilliant. But what sets Timeless apart is that it goes beyond travel and transformation—it makes a difference.
In the world according to Tiger Coward, there are three dimensions to an adventure motorcycle book. Let me break them down:
The Journey – the essential dimension to a good adventure book is the journey itself—places visited, people met, roads taken. The ones that stick with us usually involve risk and adversity.
The Transformation – the next dimension occurs when travel becomes an odyssey—when the traveler learns, grows, and is transformed.
The Impact – Dimension Three is rare. It’s when a journey makes a difference—not just to the rider, but to the world.
Timeless hits all three—but it nails the third. And that’s rare.
In Timeless, Ellis discovers she has HIV and begins the long ride home believing she won’t survive it. She rides with a death sentence. She describes the fear and shame of her diagnosis with heartbreaking honesty. She nearly dies. But she doesn’t. She receives life-saving treatment from newly developed antiretrovirals—and she lives.
This book isn’t just a story. It’s a message. It educates. It empowers. It matters. Please read it.
Here are the five things I loved most about this book:
1. The Writing
Heather Ellis is a phenomenal writer. Her language is vivid and immersive. She paints scenes so well you feel like you're right there with her. I did—and I hope you will too.
2. The Storytelling
Good writers craft beautiful sentences, but not all of them pull you into the journey like Heather does. She’s an exceptional storyteller. You don’t just read her story—you feel it. The fear. The pain. The strength. The human connections. You’re not just a reader. You’re her paperback pillion.
3. The Motorcycle Journey
Even without the deeper layers, this is an epic ride. Overland from England to Australia. Dodgy and sometimes illegal border crossings. Fuel shortages. Backcountry challenges. And most importantly—the people. The good. The bad. The unforgettable. And through it all, she learns about herself.
This is adventure motorcycling at its finest.
4. The Darkness
Riding with a death sentence isn’t unheard of, but writing openly about it? That’s rare. Riding across the world expecting to die before you make it? That’s unimaginable. But Ellis did it. She rode. She worked to fund the ride. She kept going. And somehow, even with the darkness, she found light.
5. The Hope
At its core, Timeless is a story of hope. Ellis makes it home—just barely. She heals. She thrives. She becomes a journalist, an HIV advocate, and, remarkably, the mother of three sons.
Heather Ellis is a hero. She brings hope to those who need it, and she leaves readers believing that anything is possible. That, to me, is heroic.
In summary: This is a beautifully written book with a remarkable story. A raw, honest, epic journey that delivers hope by the bucketful. A book that makes a difference in the world.
Timeless on the Silk Road absolutely stands on its own, but I highly recommend reading Ubuntu first. It adds depth and context to Ellis’ journey, and makes Timeless hit even harder.
In fact, this book is so powerful I considered quitting adventure motorcycle books altogether afterward. I thought, If I’m ever going to break my addiction to this genre, this is the book to end on. But, like my promises to get in shape or stop buying bike gear, that idea didn’t last long.
It’s that good.
P.S. I’m currently reading The Moment Collectors by Sam Manicom and Friends. Stay tuned for that review soon.
P.S. x2 You can find my other reviews by searching Tiger Coward Adventure Motorcycle Library on Facebook or visiting Goodreads and searching Tiger Coward Moto Reads.
April 6, 2021
Timeless on the Silk Road tells the moving story of Heather Ellis’s journey, riding her motorbike alone, through some of the world’s most dangerous and desolate countries in the mid-1990s.
When we meet Ellis, in this her second memoir, she has already ridden her motorbike through Africa alone, so working as a motorcycle courier in London to get money for her latest adventure doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Her mission is to save enough money to ride her bike along the Silk Road all the way home to Far North Queensland. At her interview for the courier job, Ellis’s new boss is incredulous: ‘Who are you? Mad Max’s (expletive) sister?’
With enough money saved for her trip, the road warrior, a woman who has up until then believed in making her own luck and that everything will work out well in the end, she was forced to confront her own mortality. HIV back then was still a potential life sentence.
Ellis’s road trip takes her first to an exclusive Austrian ski resort, ‘her head held low in front of the beautiful people,’ as she struggled to breathe, one of the dreadful side effects of her medical condition.
After taking life-saving medication, Ellis is barely well enough to ride across the Alps. In a blizzard, wanting to give up at every turn, she wills herself to push on to Greece. Alone and lonely, Ellis has no one to turn to and carries with her the stigma of her diagnosis. At Delphi she confronts her own mortality.
But still, she pushes on, riding through Turkey, Georgia and the countries which were once part of the Soviet Union. A woman alone riding a motorbike attracts admiration, curiosity and unwanted attention. In village after village, the author shares meals with generous hosts who barely have enough to eat themselves, but who refuse payment as hospitality to strangers is intrinsic to their culture.
Ellis is a gifted storyteller and writes beautifully. When in Azerbaijan, a fatherly British truck driver offers to escort her through dangerous terrain. ‘When day turned to night, the road stretched over desert-like saltpans, and I rode beside Alan’s rig using the full beam of his powerful headlights to light my way.’
Like the best travel memoirs, this one is both a physical journey and at times, a heart-breaking personal one. The themes of a shared humanity in the most remote corners of the world, and what it is like to confront mortality at such a young age, left a lasting impression on this reviewer, long after I read the last word. Ellis was determined to write her memoir, ‘to leave a legacy, to have something to show that I had existed on this earth.’ I’m so glad she did.
When we meet Ellis, in this her second memoir, she has already ridden her motorbike through Africa alone, so working as a motorcycle courier in London to get money for her latest adventure doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Her mission is to save enough money to ride her bike along the Silk Road all the way home to Far North Queensland. At her interview for the courier job, Ellis’s new boss is incredulous: ‘Who are you? Mad Max’s (expletive) sister?’
With enough money saved for her trip, the road warrior, a woman who has up until then believed in making her own luck and that everything will work out well in the end, she was forced to confront her own mortality. HIV back then was still a potential life sentence.
Ellis’s road trip takes her first to an exclusive Austrian ski resort, ‘her head held low in front of the beautiful people,’ as she struggled to breathe, one of the dreadful side effects of her medical condition.
After taking life-saving medication, Ellis is barely well enough to ride across the Alps. In a blizzard, wanting to give up at every turn, she wills herself to push on to Greece. Alone and lonely, Ellis has no one to turn to and carries with her the stigma of her diagnosis. At Delphi she confronts her own mortality.
But still, she pushes on, riding through Turkey, Georgia and the countries which were once part of the Soviet Union. A woman alone riding a motorbike attracts admiration, curiosity and unwanted attention. In village after village, the author shares meals with generous hosts who barely have enough to eat themselves, but who refuse payment as hospitality to strangers is intrinsic to their culture.
Ellis is a gifted storyteller and writes beautifully. When in Azerbaijan, a fatherly British truck driver offers to escort her through dangerous terrain. ‘When day turned to night, the road stretched over desert-like saltpans, and I rode beside Alan’s rig using the full beam of his powerful headlights to light my way.’
Like the best travel memoirs, this one is both a physical journey and at times, a heart-breaking personal one. The themes of a shared humanity in the most remote corners of the world, and what it is like to confront mortality at such a young age, left a lasting impression on this reviewer, long after I read the last word. Ellis was determined to write her memoir, ‘to leave a legacy, to have something to show that I had existed on this earth.’ I’m so glad she did.
July 5, 2021
I have read two non-fiction books about the silk road in the years that I have been reading and reviewing advance copies. Both were different, and this third provided a whole other outlook to the journey, especially given the author's mode of transport as well as her own health issues.
At the start of the book, the author spends a lot of time laying the groundwork for this to be a memoir. She talks of her previous journey and the time between the two trips as she gets terrible news about her health and the partying and the work that she does when in London. This part seemed to stretch out for a while, and I found it hard to get through, it was unexpected, and I was not in the frame of mind to read about the various kinds of people that she encountered in the city and the lifestyle that she participated in. I almost gave up at this stage (I talk of this because it might be something that might happen to other readers, too!), but I decided to give it a bit more time before I actually gave up.
I am glad I stuck with it because the emotional and mental journey that the author traces in the book once she starts was fascinating. She had near misses with regards to badly behaved people, which was somewhat balanced out with the strangers with big hearts who helped her survive the drive. The epilogue that follows the story of the journey (which took place in 1995) and how she lived with her HIV diagnosis helped put the entire book into perspective.
The book comes with photos, some of which added a layer to the narration of the place. Heather works hard throughout the journey, and although it may not have turned out the way she hoped, there is definitely a story worth telling within it.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
At the start of the book, the author spends a lot of time laying the groundwork for this to be a memoir. She talks of her previous journey and the time between the two trips as she gets terrible news about her health and the partying and the work that she does when in London. This part seemed to stretch out for a while, and I found it hard to get through, it was unexpected, and I was not in the frame of mind to read about the various kinds of people that she encountered in the city and the lifestyle that she participated in. I almost gave up at this stage (I talk of this because it might be something that might happen to other readers, too!), but I decided to give it a bit more time before I actually gave up.
I am glad I stuck with it because the emotional and mental journey that the author traces in the book once she starts was fascinating. She had near misses with regards to badly behaved people, which was somewhat balanced out with the strangers with big hearts who helped her survive the drive. The epilogue that follows the story of the journey (which took place in 1995) and how she lived with her HIV diagnosis helped put the entire book into perspective.
The book comes with photos, some of which added a layer to the narration of the place. Heather works hard throughout the journey, and although it may not have turned out the way she hoped, there is definitely a story worth telling within it.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
May 22, 2020
Timeless on the Silk Road
This is a wonderful reading experience. The account by the author, Heather Ellis, of her experience of riding a motorcycle unaccompanied from London to Hanoi, is nothing short of amazing. The book is billed as a travel memoir, but it is so much more than that… If it wasn’t a true story it could be an entertaining fiction novel.
The book is beautifully written. With just enough detail to provide you with a clear picture of her experience without getting bogged down.
I was so impressed by this book that I will be procuring a copy of Heather’s other book “Ubuntu”. So, look for my review of this book.
I highly recommend Timeless on the Silk Road for your reading pleasure.
This is a wonderful reading experience. The account by the author, Heather Ellis, of her experience of riding a motorcycle unaccompanied from London to Hanoi, is nothing short of amazing. The book is billed as a travel memoir, but it is so much more than that… If it wasn’t a true story it could be an entertaining fiction novel.
The book is beautifully written. With just enough detail to provide you with a clear picture of her experience without getting bogged down.
I was so impressed by this book that I will be procuring a copy of Heather’s other book “Ubuntu”. So, look for my review of this book.
I highly recommend Timeless on the Silk Road for your reading pleasure.
October 1, 2020
I had a case of travel envy when I first saw this book. I love motorcycles, but can't drive, so much for motorbike travel. But bicycle might do someday! Anyway, I just wanted the travelogue part, and there is way too much other filler. I'm sorry her time in London ended so poorly, I had to look up her homepage to see how that went. Still I'm a solo traveler, too and it's always great to read or hear about someone else's solo trips. Mine certainly aren't as ambitious as hers, though. Ended up skimming a bit (sorry) , just to read about the adventure. Not a bad read, just not the best.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a far review.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a far review.
October 3, 2023
Incredible, inspiring journey of a woman’s motorcycle trip across central Asia in the 90’s - while succumbing to the AIDS virus. At times I was agog at the risks she took and her ability for extreme frugality, also the patience of trying multiple border crossings. It was written many years after the fact, which makes sense but does feel a bit dated. There is a tendency to include a paragraph of thoughts regarding race, economics, history, humanity. etc. which may have survived from her original notes, but tacked on in amongst the travel details makes it feel like an afterthought and maybe in need of a bit more editing.
February 13, 2020
To read Heather’s story is to bare witness to an extraordinary example of human spirit. Diagnosed with HIV - a death sentence in the early 90s- and filled with uncertainty and fear, Heather musters the courage to voyage home to be with her family and travels solo on her motorcycle through some of the most inhospitable places on earth for women. This isn’t a feminist story but a human story and one that should inspire everyone to keep going!
November 5, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book – as a travel memoir it took me back to several countries I’ve visited, and many that I have not. Travelling from London to Hanoi on a motorcycle is a daunting concept for most people, but Heather Ellis describes her journey and her reasons for taking the trip, in glorious detail, without trying to gloss over the difficulties she faced while travelling and those related to her failing health.
A remarkable voyage told in an engaging yet honest way.
A remarkable voyage told in an engaging yet honest way.
December 13, 2019
This was a good read but somehow I just couldn't sink into it the way I usually can. As a veteran of doing 'The Overland' route to the UK when I was 13 I've always loved these grand adventures.
I can't pinpoint why this one didn't do it for me.
It was well-written and quite descriptive of her grand journey.
I got a copy via Booksprout
I can't pinpoint why this one didn't do it for me.
It was well-written and quite descriptive of her grand journey.
I got a copy via Booksprout
December 19, 2019
I am intrigued by visiting the Silk Road so I was eager to pick this up. I kept jumping back and forth to Google Maps and images to see the places that Ellis visits.
Hers is an interesting portrait of a woman alone on miles of desert and mountain roads, but she never seems stupid or careless. Her insights into the people and the land are intriguing and the writing is good.
Hers is an interesting portrait of a woman alone on miles of desert and mountain roads, but she never seems stupid or careless. Her insights into the people and the land are intriguing and the writing is good.
June 9, 2024
I wasn’t originally planning to go on to the second in this duology, but I actually enjoyed this one more than the previous. There is still a ton of travel log/memoir account here, but the tone is very different because it’s shrouded in a diagnosis she receives at the beginning of the book that is directly related to her first motorcycle trip.
August 6, 2019
Fantastic and highly enjoyable read. The simple message from this book are that people are kind and hospitable and the less you have the more you are willing to share. Very well written and a great story teller.
July 25, 2021
Heather Ellis is an amazing woman. I so enjoyed her journey and her enduring spirit. Upon finishing the second book, I googled her with real trepidation, fearing the worst. I'm happy to see it isn't over yet.
October 27, 2022
I first read Heather's first book Ubuntu and absolutely loved the adventure and the way that she tells her story. When I found out that she had a 2nd book I had to read it. Her journey is a must read and I found her travels truly incredible.
Currently reading
November 23, 2019Netgalley BookReviewBuzz
pub date April 8, 2019
rec Nov 23, 2019
Phonte Publishing
change to digital
pub date April 8, 2019
rec Nov 23, 2019
Phonte Publishing
change to digital
June 19, 2021
Sequel to Ubuntu - enjoyed this one more as her previous book felt too rushed.
January 29, 2023
Such a fantastic travel book. Gripped me from the first page. Heather writes well and as a result, the book flows as you arm chair travel through some amazing places and events. Well worth the read…
May 27, 2023
What a story!
An extreme adventure which demonstrates unmitigated will and persistence.
For the young who may doubt their dreams or fear the unknown.
An extreme adventure which demonstrates unmitigated will and persistence.
For the young who may doubt their dreams or fear the unknown.
December 26, 2023
Book Review – “Timeless on the Silk Road” by Heather Ellis.
Ok I do this because, it’s fun, it is my opinion and I’m not paid to do it. As I said my opinion.
But if any author out there wants an honest review on their book, Just send me the book.
Having found “humanity towards others” while riding round Africa, and deciding what to do next.
A decision was made for her while planning another journey. After a routine health check up to satisfy travel visas.
The result of this was what made her journey from the UK back home to Australia following the “Silk Road” very personal, but brought laughter, and friendship freely given.
As a reader you will also experience the ups and down and the possibility that she may never of made her way home.
This is not just another book about someone riding a bike going on a journey of adventure, this is a story of living your life the best you can at that moment in time.
If you haven’t got yourself a copy, it is available from all the usual places and direct from Heather Ellis. This is a welcome addition to my library.
Ok I do this because, it’s fun, it is my opinion and I’m not paid to do it. As I said my opinion.
But if any author out there wants an honest review on their book, Just send me the book.
Having found “humanity towards others” while riding round Africa, and deciding what to do next.
A decision was made for her while planning another journey. After a routine health check up to satisfy travel visas.
The result of this was what made her journey from the UK back home to Australia following the “Silk Road” very personal, but brought laughter, and friendship freely given.
As a reader you will also experience the ups and down and the possibility that she may never of made her way home.
This is not just another book about someone riding a bike going on a journey of adventure, this is a story of living your life the best you can at that moment in time.
If you haven’t got yourself a copy, it is available from all the usual places and direct from Heather Ellis. This is a welcome addition to my library.
March 1, 2021
What an amazing true story. I can't imagine travelling the silk road now, with other people in a car and feeling well. This memoir was written by a woman who did it by herself, on a motorcycle, in the 90s after being diagnosed with HIV. A great mix of personal journey, travel memoir and clash of cultures. I have been raving about this book to anyone who will listen. Highly, highly recommended.
March 1, 2021
A gripping account of landscape, people, history and the medical knowledge gained from being touched by so many, plenty of such at pure random from being there.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews