Madcap journeys: Asia

Blackmore, Charles, The worst desert on earth: crossing the Taklamakan. Murray, 1995. 951.6 BLA

Charles Blackmore, together with thirty camels and a party of British, Chinese and Uyghurs, set out to cross this daunting desert for the first time ever, from end to end, a distance of 780 miles.

Brownmiller, Susan, Seeing Vietnam : encounters of the road and heart. Harper Collins, 1994. 959.7044 BRO

One of the first travel books about Vietnam since the war. It is a traveller's journey in grand tradition as Brownmiller immerses herself in Vietnamese history and current affairs.

Coll, Steve, On the grand trunk road : a journey into South Asia. Times Books, 1994. 954.052 COL

Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Steve Coll journeyed through the turbulent nations of modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan This book brings together his journalistic travels and reveals the colour and complexity of today's South Asia.

Cox, Christopher, Chasing the dragon : into the heart of the golden triangle, Holt, 1996. 959 COX

An American journalist ventures into the mountain fastness of Shan State in Burma, an area so remote and isolated that the best information he could find before setting out dated from the 1930s and 1950s. His journey would take him where few Americans had gone, into a shadowy zone of banditry and drug smuggling where he obtained a rare interview with General Khun Sa, the man thought to control a third of the world's supply of heroin.

Dring, Simon, On the road again: thirty years on the traveller's trail to India. BBC, 1995. 910.4 DRI

The traveller' s trail to India is the classic journey. Simon reflects on the wonder and delight of travelling, experiencing life and discovering new things about himself and the world he lives in.

Harding, Elizabeth, You are a brave man : a Kiwi odyssey in the Himalayas, Random House, 1996. 954.96 HAR

Elizabeth and her partner Diane Bush spent two years working at Sir Edmund Hillary's remote Khunde Hospital in Nepal. Primitive conditions, cold, poor facilities, unfamiliar ailments and chauvinism (she had to be a brave man because women are only vulnerable and weak) made for a challenging environment. A rich, candid and readable account.

Hardy, Justine, The ochre border: a journey through the Tibetan frontierlands. Constable, 1995. 954.52 HAR

The author and four young companions go backwards in time as they enter they lost valleys of the high Himalayas, an area that has been closed to the outside world for 70 years and where tourists must become explorers.

Hunt, Christopher, Sparring with Charlie : motorbiking down the Ho Chi Minh trail, Doubleday, 1996. 959.7 HUN

Hunt went to Vietnam to research a novel. Part of his research involved travelling the Ho Chi Minh trail and he decided instead to write an account of his arduous journey. He travelled on an elderly Russian bike enduring not only physical hardships but constant bureaucratic obstruction. This is a unique account of an area soon to disappear forever under a six lane highway.

Hyland, Paul, Indian balm: travels in the southern subcontinent. Harper Collins, 1994. 954.8 HYL

A challenging journey in a region of India the guide books ignore, it gives breathtaking insights into its cultures; a subcontinent dramatically distinct from the alternative Raj that Hyland's relatives once knew.

Johnston, Brian, Boxing with shadows : travels in China, Melbourne University, 1996. 951 JOH

A young Australian, of international background, writes of his travels while teaching at the local university in Chengdu. A first hand study of post-Tiananmen Square China (in which the names have been changed to protect "privacy") he recreates his encounters with contemporary China with descriptive skill.

Keay, John, Indonesia: from Sabang to Merauke. Boxtree, 1995. 959.8 KEA

A journey through Indonesia, 5,000 miles of island stepping stones forming the second longest country in the world. More that a travelogue, the narrative explores past and present, giving a lively and penetrating view of the country's politics, culture and history.

Livingston, Carol, Gecko tails: a journey through Cambodia. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996. 959.6 LIV

A sensitive account of ordinary people's lives set against the background of Cambodia's complex tragic past. There is humour too in the descriptions of the often weird and quirky situations in which the author often finds herself.

Moorhouse, Geoffrey, OM : an Indian pilgrimage. Hodder & Stoughton, 1993. 954.8 MOO

Veteran travel writer Geoffrey Moorhouse made a three month journey through South India in 1992. OM is a lyrical account that conveys the atmosphere of India while highlighting man's struggle to rise above wretchedness through spirituality and politics.

Page, Tim, Derailed in Uncle Ho's victory garden: return to Vietnam and Cambodia. Touchstone Books, 1995. 959.7044 PAG

Offbeat, wild, impressionistic, Tim Page never fails to move and entertain in this account of his return odyssey through the countries that have dominated his left, to ride the reunification train between Hanoi and Saigon.

Paula, Christa, The road to Miran: travels in the forbidden zone of Xinjiang. Harper Colins, 1994. 951.6 PAU

The remarkable story of an exceptionally daring quest for the ancient kingdom of Shanshan, in the remote, forbidden and perilous desert regions of southern Xinjiang, China. Finalist Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award 1995.

Reynolds, Ted, Palaces in the sky : a year among the Tibetans, Godwit, 1997. 954.6 REY

This former Auckland journalist admits to an addiction to the isolated Tibetan kingdom of Ladakh. For a year he volunteered to teach maths to the children of Tibetan refugees. This is the story of his year in the harsh but stunningly beautiful landscape and of the people he met. The book was published to mixed reviews but his lively, anecdotal style makes for vivid, easy reading if not for deep insight.

Roberts, Joe, Three-quarters of a footprint : travels in South India. Bantam Press, 1994. 954.8 ROB

An evocation of India and Indian life, which Joe Roberts, as an outsider, found both baffling and entrancing.

Severin, Tim, The China voyage. Little, Brown, 1994. 910.91 SEV

The extraordinary story of how six men and one woman made maritime history: sailing the Pacific on a bamboo raft. Their purpose was to test the theory that Asian raft sailors reached America some 2,000 years ago.

Shand, Mark, Queen of the elephants. 954 SHA

From the author of Travels on my elephant, Mark makes another 300 mile journey along the elephant's migratory route from East Bengal to Bhutan, accompanied by a female driver.

Thubron, Colin, The lost heart of Asia. Harper Colins, 1994. 958 THU

Colin Thubron travelled by train, bus, car and foot throughout the countries of Central Asia that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. He met every kind of inhabitant from Islamic students, to workers, academics, artists and farmers, slept in their homes and listened to their thoughts. The result is a travel book full of the sights, sounds and smells of this extraordinary heartland. Finalist for Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award, 1995.

Winchester, Simon, The river at the centre of the world ; a journey up the Yangtze, and back in Chinese time, Holt, 1996. 951.2 WIN

Long off limits to foreigners and still impenetrable to most tourists, the great Yangtze River runs from Tibet to the China Sea at Shanghai. Accompanied by a Chinese companion and bureaucratic body-guard the literary and knowledgeable Winchester traverses China on its waters. He relates his story in lively and amusing prose, peppering it with reader friendly Chinese history.

Wood, Michael, The smile of Murugan : a south Indian journey, Penguin, 1996. 954.8 WOO

Television presenter of a series on the origins of civilisation Wood's genre is the cultural quest. As one would expect with this background he writes in an accessible way, recounting his visit to a small southern Indian town which is built around a great temple to the dancing Siva. He returns four years later for a tour of the holy places of the area.

Wurlitzer, Rudolph, Hard travels to sacred places. Shambhala, 1994. 959 WUR

The record of a personal odyssey through Southeast Asia, an external and internal journey through grief and the painful realities of a decadent age. This journal chronicles the survival of age-old truths in a world gone mad.