11 Worldwide Travel Experiences To Read From Your Armchair #TuesdayBookBlog

Over my years of reviewing I have enjoyed travelling across the world with several authors, while most of us are re-thinking our holiday options, I thought I’d take another look at a selection of my favourite travelogues.

Salt Water and Spear Tips by Thor F. Jensen. Thor’s world-record circumnavigation of the island of New Guinea in a traditional sailing canoe. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

The Green Unknown: Travels in the Khasi Hills by Patrick Rogers. Patrick goes to Northeast Indian in search of the people who grow living bridges from the roots of trees. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Hit the road Jac!: Seven years, twenty countries, no plan by Jacqui Furneaux. On her fiftieth birthday Jacquie took off travelling the world on an Enfield motorbike. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

In Foreign Fields: How Not To Move To France by Susie Kelly. Susie and her husband hoped to find paradise in the French countryside. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

A Visit to Gansu Province for the Chinese New Year by Helen Wallimann. Helen visited rural China and the man-made cave dwellings known as yaodong. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Fifty Miles Wide by Julian Sayarer. Julian cycled through Israel and Palestine meeting people from both sides of a troubled region. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Among Friends: Travels in Cuba by Heather Murray. An interesting look at Cuba from the author’s multiple trips which began in 2009. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Immersed in West Africa: A Solo Journey Across Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau by Terry Lister. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Adventure by Chicken Bus by Janet Losole is the memoir of a family who spent three years backpacking through central America. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

Toubab Tales: The Joys and Trials of Expat Life in Africa by Rob Baker is set in Mali. Rob tours the country in search of its music and musical instruments. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

From A Wonky Path To An Open Road: A short book about a long journey join Janey de Nordwall, her cat and her 1970s VW campervan as they journey around Scotland. Read my review here or find it on Goodreads here.

My #BookReview of #Travel #Memoir The Green Unknown: Travels In The Khasi Hills by Patrick Rogers

The Green Unknown: Travels in the Khasi Hills by Patrick Rogers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Green Unknown is a travel memoir. Author Patrick Rogers takes us to the North East India state of Meghalaya, to the Riwar area. This is an area which is far removed from the politics, administrative controls and religion of the rest of India.

Patrick describes himself as a trekker and documenter of the living root bridges—bridges created from the roots of the living ficus elastica tree, a form of rubber tree. Over years of cultivation some of the tree roots have been guided over rivers and chasms to form much needed and eco-friendly bridges, leaving the tree alive to co-habit with man.

This part of India is full of steep rocky river gorges, hot humid jungle and diverse groups of people who speak a multitude of languages and dialects. Patrick found that just moving from one village to its nearest neighbour often resulted in a change of language, making communication a real challenge. Some of the villages were so remote that many of the inhabitants had never seen a white man.

As well as the root bridges, Rogers’ book also covers some of his jungle treks, the locals use of Kwai (a mild drug created from Areca nuts, betel leaves and lime) and local beliefs and myths. I was very interested in the root bridges and would have been happy with a larger part of the book being taken up with these, plus more details about the jungle flora and fauna, especially during the treks. Before reading this book I’d never heard of root bridges, so learning about the them and the eco-tourism plans of a young man named Morningglory had me making my own searches for more details.

The difficulty with any travel memoir is getting the balance right between a book which fills in the gaps for friends and family who all knew parts but not the whole of any trip, and making it appealing to a wider audience. This book was certainly interesting, but I think there needs to be more on the root bridges, giving them more prominence for this to grab the attention of readers.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

The Green Unknown is about walking, without a map or a plan, across the Khasi Hills in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya—a place of jungle canyons and thousand-foot waterfalls, where it rains more than any other inhabited place in the world, where each village has its own dialect or even its own language, and where the people grow living bridges from the roots of trees. The book is an attempt to express what it’s like trying to explore, mile by mile, village by village, valley by valley, a place that’s beautiful, complex, and fascinating, but most of all, unique.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Here are some of the root bridges by kind permission of the author.

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WWW Wednesday What Am I Reading? January 24th @SamAnnElizabeth #AmReading

WWW Wednesday is a meme from Sam at Taking On A World Of Words

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Baker’s Dozen by Amey Zeigler (Romantic Suspense) currently reading

Twenty-three year-old investigative journalist, Andy Miller is armed with her many disguises and creativity to take down the riff-raff of Saint Louis. When her stepbrother is murdered by the mob, Andy soon discovers she’s out of her depth.
Enter Hugh Donaldson who has reasons of his own for discovering the murderer. He’ll use everything in his power to achieve that, including lying to Andy about his past. Dangerous as he is attractive, his martial arts skills and his quirky ways raise Andy’s suspicions.
Although Andy balks at his lies, Hugh’s charms, twenty-inch biceps, and electrifying blue eyes are difficult to resist. Striking out on their own, Hugh and Andy try to outwit each other as they traverse North America tracking down people connected to the case.
As clues disappear and the body count climbs, Andy and Hugh must trust each other and use their combined skills to bring the murderer to justice.

AmazonUk | AmazonUS

 

The Green Unknown: Travels In The Khasi Hills by Patrick Rogers (memoir) just finished

The Green Unknown is about walking, without a map or a plan, across the Khasi Hills in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya—a place of jungle canyons and thousand-foot waterfalls, where it rains more than any other inhabited place in the world, where each village has its own dialect or even its own language, and where the people grow living bridges from the roots of trees. The book is an attempt to express what it’s like trying to explore, mile by mile, village by village, valley by valley, a place that’s beautiful, complex, and fascinating, but most of all, unique. AmazonUk | AmazonUS

 

The Tides Between by Elizabeth Jane Corbett (YA HistFic) up next

In the year 1841, on the eve of her departure from London, Bridie’s mother demands she forget her dead father and prepare for a sensible adult life in Port Phillip. Desperate to save her childhood, fifteen-year-old Bridie is determined to smuggle a notebook filled with her father’s fairy tales to the far side of the world.

When Rhys Bevan, a soft-voiced young storyteller and fellow traveller realises Bridie is hiding something, a magical friendship is born. But Rhys has his own secrets and the words written in Bridie’s notebook carry a dark double meaning.

As they inch towards their destination, Rhys’s past returns to haunt him. Bridie grapples with the implications of her dad’s final message. The pair take refuge in fairy tales, little expecting the trouble it will cause. AmazonUK | AmazonUS