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Title: Where the Pavement Ends: One Woman's Bicycle Trip Through Mongolia, China & Vietnam
ISBN: 0898866847
Author:
Erika Warmbrunn
Publicate Date: 2001-03
Publish: 2001-03
List Price: $24.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.26
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.99
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.47
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Not the proverbial "ugly American"
Far too often discretion is overthrown in favor of "attitude". How refreshing to read a book that not only reflects thoughtfully on cross cultural respect and understanding, but avoids the self-indulgence that is all-too common in travelogues.
Ms. Warmbrunn is, in a very real sense, an adventurer. Setting out independently to explore countries alien to her, she exposes herself to physical danger, political intrigue, environmental challenges, and emotional reward...all from the seat of Green, her beloved bicycle.
Through her experiences of Mongolian culture, and her reflections on their history, I learned more about that part of the world than through any history book I had previously read.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to travel ANYWHERE, who has loved riding a bike, has wanted to be the hero in their own story, or who simply loves the skillful execution of a well-turned phrase. Arm-chair and adventurer travellers alike will warm to this book.
In my heart of hearts, I'd like to think Erika and I would become best friends. I'd invite her to tea, or maybe we'd go to the theatre, and then after spinning around a model globe, which would stop when a finger was placed on it, we'd announce "Let's go there!", and then make plans to head out.
Barring that grand experience, I console myself with her presence on my bookshelf, and hope that you, gentle reader, may do the same.
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2: A Pageturner!
I enjoyed this book and oftentimes found the narrative absorbing. I was astonished by the contrasts particularly between Mongolia, with its frigid weather, expansive plains, and childlike adults, and Vietnam, with its tropical beaches and aggressive, war-weary toddlers! Attention to detail really enlivened the book. I particularly liked the linguistic asides and descriptions of different foods. I always looked forward to the pictures, although I sorely missed a photo of Beijing. The chapter about the author's trip over a dangerous Chinese mountain on her way to Xiangning was loaded with suspense! But then there was no resolution. After her harrowing experience, we needed to see her actually arrive in Xiangning.
The book needed an epilogue, with the author safely ensconsced in her apartment in Vladivostok or Seattle, observing her surroundings and providing the reader with a final sense of perspective.
And it would've been great to have an index in the back, so the reader could easily look up a word or reference that might've appeared 100 pages hence. I had to stick a post-it on page 42 so I could keep looking up the word "orom"!
I hope the author elects to do this again in a completely different part of the world.
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3: I'm not Lance
The good news is, I really liked this book. The bad news is that when I finished it I quit my job, sold the house, drained my IRA and bought a bicycle.If you have ever traveled in the third world and experienced the mixed emotions of being a rich American in a poor country you will recognize yourself in this story. From the priceless experiences she has with people who let her into their homes and into their worlds, to those who have had much more experience with wealthy Western travelers and make their livings from them, she captures the two sides of this kind of travel. This is a book about a journey, not an expedition. Unlike so many books of this genre, the author parks her ego at the door. While riding a bike, especially as far as she does, is an athletic accomplishment this is not a book about an athlete. She does not try to impress us about how many kilometers she rides a day or how difficult a particular mountain pass was to climb. This is the story of a journey by an intelligent and introspective woman who is interested in getting away from the hippie travel circuit and seeing places she is told not to go and learning about people you will not see from the train or meet in the tourist hotel. How wonderful it must be to have all you really need with you on your bike and not really care that you don't know exactly where you are.
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4: Inspiring idea
I picked up this book in anticipation of summer travels and was looking to get a woman's perspective on some of the places I will be going. I enjoyed reading about her different adventures, but ultimately was a little annoyed and bored. Her story was inspiring and what she did was amazing, but the way it was written was rather flat. And, I feel that if you are going to include pictures in your book, they should have accurate labels as to who they are of and when they were taken. In all, an okay book but not a stellar read.
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5: A Travelogue to the Unknown
I found so much interesting firsthand information about Mongolia, China, and VietNam in this interesting book and for that I am grateful to the author.I did feel, not far into the book, that she was rather impetuous in her decision to take this 5,000 mile journey and was not very well-prepared at all. Right away, trying to cross the border into Mongolia was an issue for her and something that I thought she should have found out about beforehand. She also made some serious safety mistakes, as when she was accosted by the two young men on horseback in Mongolia. She could have easily lost her life. Her writing beautifully captures the natural beauty of the lands through which she traveled and also the basic goodness of the people whom she encountered during her journey. A good reading experience.
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