DERVLA Murphy may be 71 but she is still going strong, cycling hundreds of miles, and never one to shy away from journeys that demand stamina and courage.
Her latest sees her wheeling her way through the Balkans, experiencing war-torn Croatia and into Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro.
Throughout her travels she tries to make sense of the area's confusing history especially its politics.
She went to the Balkans to observe the aftermath of the war, to speak with the victims and her writings reveal her exasperations at the acceptance by the West of Yugoslavia's disintegration.
Updated: 10:05 Wednesday, November 13, 2002
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