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elusivek's review against another edition
4.0
I believe this would be my second "Travelogue" book and I must say, while the other one I read wasn't bad, I liked this one a lot better.
John goes from China, makes his way to Tibet, goes to Nepal and finally to India.
That all sounds so glamorous... except that, he did it the "local" way.
That means, public transport. I don't know about Tibet/Nepal/India (though I have my suspicions) but, I know for a fact that Chinese public transport: bus, vans, trains, are not really... glam....
I was still in familiar territory when he depicted his travels in Beijing and Shanghai, but, as he took that westbound train, it was new area for me. I sympathized with him when he had to fend off the touts, street-sellers, and the endless questions of "where are you from?", and I had a good laugh here and there when he had some slightly not-so-positive incidents. But really, I admired his courage to actually make the entire trip.
I wasn't sure if his smuggling himself into Tibet was worth the crampy, difficult trip... and I am still wondering, technically, when he left Tibet, wouldn't immigration check that he didn't have a visa to be there in the first place?
In any case, he made the trip safe and sound! Despite some of the mis-adventures, I'm sure he's looking back at those days and thinking "That was a fun trip!"
Now, I'm pretty much bitten by the travel bug. Tibet sounds like a lovely place to visit... and that hike/trail at the Annapurnas would be something I would love to challenge!
And I would like to try the Baba's place in Varanasi. I wonder if he found a suitable partner in his newest business idea :D
To repeat, this is a travelogue, not a guidebook. While you can read about interesting places, you won't find the where-and-how-to-get-there bits of info. Enjoy!
John goes from China, makes his way to Tibet, goes to Nepal and finally to India.
That all sounds so glamorous... except that, he did it the "local" way.
That means, public transport. I don't know about Tibet/Nepal/India (though I have my suspicions) but, I know for a fact that Chinese public transport: bus, vans, trains, are not really... glam....
I was still in familiar territory when he depicted his travels in Beijing and Shanghai, but, as he took that westbound train, it was new area for me. I sympathized with him when he had to fend off the touts, street-sellers, and the endless questions of "where are you from?", and I had a good laugh here and there when he had some slightly not-so-positive incidents. But really, I admired his courage to actually make the entire trip.
I wasn't sure if his smuggling himself into Tibet was worth the crampy, difficult trip... and I am still wondering, technically, when he left Tibet, wouldn't immigration check that he didn't have a visa to be there in the first place?
In any case, he made the trip safe and sound! Despite some of the mis-adventures, I'm sure he's looking back at those days and thinking "That was a fun trip!"
Now, I'm pretty much bitten by the travel bug. Tibet sounds like a lovely place to visit... and that hike/trail at the Annapurnas would be something I would love to challenge!
And I would like to try the Baba's place in Varanasi. I wonder if he found a suitable partner in his newest business idea :D
To repeat, this is a travelogue, not a guidebook. While you can read about interesting places, you won't find the where-and-how-to-get-there bits of info. Enjoy!
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