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Squirrel Pie (and other stories): Adventures in Food Across the Globe by Elisabeth Luard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The travel experience is not just the sights and sounds of new locations, the tastes and the flavours make a place too. How many times has that bottle of wine that you bought back from holiday, not tasted quite as good as you remember it?. In this delightful book, Elisabeth Luard travels from deserts to rivers, forests to islands trying new foods and speaking to those that grow or make them. Luard joins hunters in the forests of Maine, looking for their native grey squirrel to make the title of the book. In Sardinia, she samples the finest, and eye wateringly expensive bottarga. Her river trip on the Danube brings a cross between a doughnut and churro, scented with vanilla and in Gujarat learns that it is as much about the customs as it is the food. Tasmania brings the salty tang of oysters and sweet sharp strawberries.
This is not the first of Luard’s books that I have read; that was Family Life an account of her life in Andalusia with her husband Nicolas and four children. Squirrel Pie has that same warm, calm authoritative voice of a lady who takes great delight in finding and sharing fine foods in the countries that she visits. The book is peppered with her lovely sketches of scenes from the markets and kitchens that she visited. At the end of each chapter there are a few selected recipes, each chosen to reflect the location she visits and the flavours encountered that you can recreate in your own kitchen. What permeates the book is the pure delight she has in finding something really nice to eat, and the joy in sharing that experience with you.
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads by Paul Theroux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After five decades spent exploring and writing about the far-flung and exotic places of the world, Paul Theroux has looked to his home country for inspiration. America has always been a place of contrasts and there is none as stark as the differences between the rest of America and the Deep South. Unlike his other journeys, this is one difference; he can climb in his car and drive there. So he does, leaving his home and traveling to the area over the course of four seasons. Each time he catches up with friends made from the previous visit, dodges twisters, sees new places and experiences fresh things.
The American South has a long history, there are deeply ingrained attitudes and prejudices, widespread poverty, high unemployment and collectively some of the worst performing schools in the country. The contradiction is that he has some of the warmest welcomes, listens to some brilliant music and eats probably too much of the fine local cuisine. He will talk to anyone regardless of colour or status, the mayor, the homeless, authors, church leaders, gun traders and those that stood up to segregation. The stories that he draws out from these people in his return trips vary from the fascinating to the sad, there are happy moments and some frankly horrifying stories.
Theroux tells it as it is, not seeking to judge those he meets, but to let them tell their story in their own words. What comes across is a part of a nation that feels unwanted. The fantastic but equally melancholic photos by Steve McCurry show just how abandoned and derelict some of the towns are, haunted only by ghosts and echoes from the past. It is a poignant book, one that shows just how tough life is there. It is my first book by Paul Theroux, even though I have had a number of his books sitting on my shelves for ages, and it definitely won’t be my last.
Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey by Madeleine Bunting
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
To describe the Outer Hebrides as remote is somewhat of an understatement. Even today it can take the best part of a day to get to, but once you are there you have reached not only some of the oldest parts of our planet, but also the epicentre of one of our country’s ancient cultures. This edgeland is the very periphery of our landscape and faces the full brunt of everything that the Atlantic can throw at it; even the summer can have five days of gales a month. This tough, uncompromising landscape shapes the place and the people that inhabit it.
People belong to places, rather than place belong to people
These islands have attracted a variety of people over the millennia. There were those who sought religious solitude on Iona and whilst there created the works of art that are the Book of Kells. Jura’s simple way of life gave George Orwell the space that he needed to create the dystopian horror that is 1984. The traditional way of life on the islands is formed as much by the landscape as it is by the language, and these tough, resilient people took those qualities with them as they left the islands either by choice or enforced by landowners. It is to this landscape that Bunting returns to countless times over six years, immersing herself into it, teasing out stories of the people and history and letting the place soak into her.
‘I couldn’t conceive of living on this land without getting my hands dirty. It keeps me connected with the place.’
This is another really well written book by Bunting, she has managed to capture the very essence of the Outer Hebrides as she travels around and crosses the straits between the islands including a boat trip heads out to the Strait of Corryvreckan, the place where Orwell nearly drowned and is the location of one of the world’s most powerful whirlpools. Well worth reading.
Cycling the Earth: A Life-changing Race Around the World by Sean Conway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sean Conway was stuck in a rut, working as a portrait photographer he was bored of taking photos of uncooperative children; and his relationship had just gone south too. Whilst in this limbo, he heard about Mark Beaumont breaking the record for cycling around the world. He had managed over 100 miles a day and obliterated the previous record. Even though he hadn’t been on a bike for years, this was a challenge that immediately inspired him; but could he actually do it?
An arduous six-month training schedule would prove it one way or the other…
Somehow, he survived it. He packed his entire belongings into a set of boxes and joined some other like minded maniacs on the start line in Greenwich Park for the adventure of a lifetime. His aim was simple, cycle around 180 miles per day, every day and claim the record for himself. He started well, managing to reach his daily total and he cycled across Europe and then on to South America and the pan-American highway Atacama desert. Tracking the opther swho set out on their own journey. As America beckoned, with the wide road and good tarmac, he realised that he was in for a good chance of the record.
Then disaster! As he came to, he now realised that not only was record may slipping from his grasp, but he might not even be able to finish the challenge.
What comes across in this is his relentless drive to complete the challenge that he set himself. He wears his heart on his sleeve too as we follow his high days and low days, dodge tornadoes and chases dogs. He is no wordsmith though, but there is plenty of self-depreciating humour in the text, making this is an enjoyable read as we follow Conway racing around the world. He is quite inspirational too, proving that anyone can be ambitious and achieve their dreams. Not the best round the world cycling adventure, but still worth reading.
Crossing the Congo: Over Land and Water in a Hard Place by Mike Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When someone says that a journey is impossible, most people will leave it at that, but not these three. The crossing of the Congo River Basin, heading from Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Juba, in South Sudan had be done before, but not for a very long time and not since the region had descended into war and conflict. On top of that, this 2,500 mile journey was to be driven in a 25 year old Land Rover called 9Bob, which had already been driven around a large portion of West Africa and was really on its last legs.
On this unbelievably tough journey, the route they followed could not be described as tracks, let alone roads. However, this was only one of the challenges that they faced; as well as the sheer hard graft it took to carve a way through the jungle, they had to cope with tropical diseases and fevers, fire ants that numbed their legs after biting, suspicious locals who thought that they were prospecting for minerals. The hardest part for all of them though, was dealing with the endemic corruption and bureaucracy from petty officials and kleptocracy that was rife. The three had to rely on every single ounce of ingenuity and effort to get themselves through the jungle, digging themselves out of mud, building and strengthening bridges and even rafts to get their Land Rover and gear across rivers. Sometimes they were assisted by the locals, who appeared almost magically out of the forest anytime they stopped, but frequently they were just watched as they struggled against the elements.
Even though this was a short journey compared to other travel books, it was unbelievable tough. It strained their relationships to breaking point; occasionally beyond. Some days their distance travelled was just a handful of miles, the relentless dealing with the petty officials and the people and the daily battle to keep the Land Rover going slowing progress to a crawl. It is a well-written book, even though it feels a little clinical at times, they manage to convey the tension of daily life. What makes this book really special though is the stunning images of their journey taken by award winning photographer Charlie Hatch-Barnwell. It also gives us an insight into the harsh lives of the Congolese people, still affected by the ongoing conflicts and the legacy left by their Belgian colonial masters. It is a tough book about an astonishing journey.
Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran by Lois Pryce
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.
Britain and Iran have always had a turbulent relationship, and in 2011 just after the latest tit-for-tat diplomatic storm Lois came back to her motorcycle and found a note stuck to it:
… I wish that you will visit Iran so you will see for yourself about my country. WE ARE NOT TERRORISTS!!! Please come to my city, Shiraz. It is very famous as the friendliest city in Iran, it is the city of poetry and gardens and wine!!!
Your Persian friend,
Habib
Being the adventurous sort, she has ridden across down through Africa and all the way up from South America to Alaska, this unofficial invitation to a country that very little of us know anything about, was too much to resist. Perhaps, she might even be able to meet the man who wrote the note. When most people think of Iran, the things that come to mind is the Iran – Iraq war and the boggle-eyed fanatics that seem to delight in setting western flags alight. Against the official advice of don’t travel there and to the horror of her friends and family, she applies for a visa. Amazingly, it is granted. Crossing the border from Turkey by train, her first Iranian city was Tabriz and the beginning of her 3,000 mile motorcycle ride around the enigmatic country that is Iran. The people that she encountered on her travels came from all walks of life; there are students, soldiers, housewives, teachers and even drug addicts.
It is a country of stark contrasts; ancient and modern, pragmatic and whimiscal. She comes to understand the juxtaposition between the strict Islamic control that the mullahs and Revolutionary Guards enforce, and the warm, welcoming and generous people who share their homes and lives with her and we learn how the real people live behind closed doors and how they feel about their country. It is a brave journey too given the attitude towards women, in particular solo Western women. There is one heart stopping moment in the book, though thankfully Pryce was seen as a curiosity and a welcome visitor to the country most of the time. Pryce immerses herself in the country and the warm, welcoming experience of Iran that she brings us is rich and engaging, making this well written account an excellent travel book.
Walking The Himalayas by Levison Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As if walking the entire length of the Nile was not mad enough, his good friend Ashwin Bhardwaj persuades him to walk along the rooftop of the world; the Himalayas. Wood had been to Nepal before way back in 2001, when the country’s Royal family was massacred. At that time a man called Binod took him in and protected him whilst the unrest continued. This new walk along the world’s highest mountain range meant that he had the opportunity to return and see him once again.
Flying into Kabul would be adventure enough for some people, but that was where he needed to get to, to be able to reach the eastern foothills. The last time Wood had been there he was in the army. Met by his minder at the airport, he is taken to the scruffy looking car to make the first part of his journey, before a helicopter ride to the start point. Wakhan Corridor. He is accompanied along the walk by guides, even persuading Ashwin to join him for one section, before he makes it to Nepal for a reunion with his friend, Binod, before continuing his journey to Gankhar Puensum in Bhutan.
Wood is one tough guy; not only is this a mammoth walk of 1700 miles, but he does this at altitude too; no mean feat. He is an easy-going character, meaning that as he meets some of the toughest and nicest people he fits in easily, drawing their stories and lives out into the narrative. The range of cultures is quite an eye opener too, from the strict Islamic areas to the more relaxed and laid back Nepalese. It is reasonably well written, gripping in parts and has one heart-stopping moment. Haven’t seen the TV series yet, but I’m looking forward to watching it soon.
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