Travel

An enjoyable account of a young man's need to prove and find himself although not many would take such an extreme way to do it. Read it this way, not as a travel book, nor as an in-depth psychological insight.

It is a well written, modern, very personal blog style report on his travels, sometimes preoccupied with his feelings, at other times with the terrain he is passing through, or the political and cultural differences, but always with the people he meets and at the core his growing religious commitment.

It will be interesting to see if and what he produces next.

This book explores the river Indus from Pakistan to it's source in the Tibetan mountains. We are taken on a wonderful journey through several civilisations, then several era's of archaeology and religion. We also learn how the people live by the river Indus today.

Right to the Edge:Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means is Charley Boorman's third solo book and a good one it is too. We see Charley travel from Sydney in Australia and go by any means of transport around the Pacific Rim visitng most of the major islands and countries until he arrives in Tokyo, Japan.

Jeff Gulvin who is the writer who conveys Charleys adventures, fears, hopes and fun and most of all his spirit of generosity - has done a fantastic job.

This is a perfect follow-up to the original book on Charley Boorman and Ewan McGreggor's book the Long Way down.  Why do I say this?Because it is a wonderfully photographic volume of the same trip.

There were so many amazing photos taken and filmed on that trip - many will have been seen on the six week evening showing on television of their trip going the long way down through Africa.

I am a great Bill Bryson fan and enjoyed reading this book. Although, to tell the truth, it was so realistic that I almost thought I was camping out with them him and his friend.

I was relieved when Bill finally reached a decent place to spend the night, and then found a supermarket where he stocked up on mostly junk food! My heart went out to Katz, who stoically brought up the rear and at times did not speak to Bill for hours. I felt I had walked every inch of the way with them and was thrilled when they finally got to the end and felt quite exhausted!

As a travel book this is more about the characters the author meets than the places he visits. It describes Albania in the early 90s emerging from the shadow of long-time Communist ruler Enver Hoxha. Hopefully the lives and living conditions of the Albanians have improved since and Albania is now a more appealing destination for visitors. The way the state documented ‘biografis' for many ordinary citizens, even encouraging relatives and neighbours to condem each other, was particularly striking.

I first came across Simon Yates in Joe Simpson's book 'Touching the Void' as the man who cut the rope, which I read in 2004, and wanted to find out about this mountaineer. I discovered he's written two books this one 'Against the Wall' and 'Flames of Adventure'.

This is a hilarious book, the antics of the author on his trip around the pubs and towns and villages of Ireland.   His aim is to visit all the places where there is a McCathy's bar and seek out his family roots.

Some of the stories that he tells are just really fantastic. Some are real tall stories as any Irish man can tell you especiaaly when they have been downing the local tipple.

This book by Charley Boorman is brilliant. By Any Means was a great feat, and a fantastic idea.  I have seen the television show and now have read the book.  Both had me enthralled.

Charley has a very personable manor and this comes out so wonderfully in the book and you can feel not only the challenge but also the commeradery that is shared between Russ, Charley and Mungo the camera man.  The banter between the three is very much a part of the trip and when they write their travels up about what has been happening, it comes forth in glowing colours!

Lois Pryce has done it again a wonderful travel novel of her trip from london right down through Africa from top to bottom.