strivetoengage

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Book  Reflections – Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron is an excellent travel book that tracks Thubron’s 7,000 mile, 8 month, overland journey from Xian, China to Antioch, Turkey in 2003. … Continue reading

July 29, 2020 · 4 Comments

Book Reflections – Sovietistan by Erika Fatland

Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland is part travelogue, part potted history, and all enjoyable! Fatland travelled in spring and autumn through 5 … Continue reading

June 7, 2020 · 4 Comments

Book Reflections – The Silk Road by Sven Hedin

Sven Hedin was staying with the Swedish consulate in Peking in 1932 when he piqued the interest of the Chinese government. They commissioned him to build a team to draw … Continue reading

January 15, 2020

Book Reflections – In Siberia by Colin Thubron

I love the work of Colin Thubron. In Siberia is a fascinating account of Thubron’s journey across Siberia in 1997. This is the fourth book by Thubron that I’ve enjoyed. … Continue reading

January 22, 2019 · 6 Comments

Book Reflections – Come Away With Me edited by Sarah MacDonald

I bought this anthology of travel stories by Australian writers secondhand for a few dollars. I was attracted to it because it was edited by Sarah MacDonald, who I used … Continue reading

October 23, 2018 · 10 Comments

Book Reflections – Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby

This is the third book by Eric Newby that I’ve read. I was attracted to this book because Newby was accompanied by his wife Wanda on this journey of over … Continue reading

May 9, 2018 · Leave a comment

Book Reflections – Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux

I enjoyed reading Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. I didn’t much enjoy Pillars of Hercules. I’m yet to read the Great Railway Bazaar and the Patagonian Express. Most recently I … Continue reading

December 22, 2017 · 4 Comments

Book Reflections – On Horseback Through Asia Minor by Fred Burnaby 

The book opens in the characteristic way of Burnaby’s writing, without any introduction, that I found in A Ride to Khiva. Frederick Burnaby wrote this book about his thousand-mile winter journey … Continue reading

October 30, 2017 · 1 Comment

Book Reflections – Country Driving by Peter Hessler

Peter Hessler worked in China from 2000 to 2007 for The New Yorker but he had already moved to China in 1996 with the Peace Corps. He applied for and … Continue reading

September 12, 2017 · 2 Comments

Book Reflections – Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron 

Colin Thubron is my favourite travel writer. Thubron travelled 10,000 miles around China in 1987 from Beijing all the way down the coast to Guangzhou, to Jinghong on the border with Burma, … Continue reading

August 6, 2017 · 2 Comments