This is the author's account of his south-to-north journey through Wales, starting in Cardiff. Leaving the outskirts of the capital with backpack and map, he followed a route up into the Valleys, through deserted coalmines, to the Black Mountains and Brecon. From there he meandered westward along the beautiful Usk Valley, then to the coastal plains, Porthmadog and Caernarvon Castle, and finally Bangor, where he could walk no further. Stopping off at pubs and bed-and-breakfasts along the way, he met schoolteachers and sheep-shearers, retired miners and re-located Londoners.