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Rough Guide Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travel - Greg Witt
by carlz2001uk My husband had a brief love of Bear Grylls and decided we were going to start going on some adventure holidays. I gave in to him slightly bemused, and bought him the Rough Guide Ultimate Adventures book. Priced at £16.99 in my local bookstore, it wasn't the cheapest book but be seemed happy with it. When he wasn't looking (I ... didn't want him to actually think we were going on any of these holidays!), I had a look through and couldn't believe what I'd actually bought for him! I got hooked on the book and read the whole lot, rather enviously realising that I wasn't adventurous in the slightest! I expected the book to be full of adventure holidays that a fairly 'adventurous' person may go on, but what it actually contains is a collection of rather eccentric holidays suitable only for massive adrenalin junkies with never ending budgets. This book is interesting only for me, in the fact that it bemuses me slightly that people actually go on holidays such as these. I thought that a walk along the Great Wall of China or a trek in Argentina was fairly adventurous but these are mild in comparison. While the book is packed full of ideas and expert advice, it is taking 'outdoor adventures' to the extreme, and I can't see us going on one of these holidays (and we are quite well travelled!). Each holiday is graded with four factors, skill, physical, psych and WOW! This is supposed to make it easy to select the perfect adventure for you, however it just made me realise how incapable and boring I am!! So, now for the bit you've all been waiting for, some of the ultimate adventures for you to select! How about exploring in the Mulu Caves in Borneo? Watch out for the bats though! Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is another option, although the trek isn't that tortuous (?!) watch out for low oxygen levels which can make you winded by just tying your shoe lace. Tracking mountain gorillas and coming face to face with a Silverback is obviously something everyone should try, they only weigh 180kg and stand 1.7 metres tall. Perhaps a camel trek through the Sahara is more your thing? I should have perhaps read the recommendations at the back of the book. Seeing who they are written by should have given me some idea of the content (I didn't even leaf through the book before purchasing!): 'Ultimate Adventures is fantastic, well written, perfectly organised and absolutely inspiring. These adventures are irresistible'. Apa Sherpa, World Record Holder for most climbs of Mount Everest!!! The second glowing report is by Cam McLeay, leader of the first successful White Nile descent, no less! Broken down by Continent, the book is easy to leave through and indexing each activity in the back in an easy table, labelling the star rating for ease of reference. After a quick refresher exercise I've just leafed through the book again to refresh my memory and I can now happily say that I have completed one of the 177 adventure holidays! Go me! At the tender age of 16 I canoed down the Ardeche. Go me! Woooo! Although this is one of the easiest things to do in the book scoring ony 2 out of 5 for each of the four indicators. I have to disagree with all of them! It was physically draining and amazingly 'Wow', so the author doesn't know what he's talking about! He does actually, he hikes more miles than he drives, wears out boots faster than car tyres and to name but a few accolades has crossed the Grand Canyon on foot more than a dozen times, climbed Colorado's three highest peaks in three days and in one summer hiked 700 miles. Greg Witt, I salute you! For me, although I have written quite negative things about this book, it is expertly written, gives sound expert advice and is exceptionally laid out. It is however, completely the wrong book for us and is meant for people that dedicate their lives to exhilarating and physical adventures. Read the complete review |
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Expresso with the Headhunters - John Wassner
by catsholiday Expresso with the Headhunters: A journey through the jungles of Borneo by John Wassner WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS? This was bought by me from Amazon prior to our own travels to Borneo as I like to read books set in places where I am going or have recently been. I was a bit disappointed as there were so few books set in ... Borneo and all of them were based in Sarawak and of course we didn't go to Sarawak and only visited Sabah. We chose Sabah as neither of us really wanted to stay in a Longhouse and we both wanted to see orang-utans and they are mainly found in Sabah. It seemed to us that Sarawak offered the culture while Sabah had the wildlife and that was our main interest so Sabah it was. A BIT OF BACKGROUND For those of you who are unaware Borneo is a large island ( third largest in the world) to the east of Malaysia which has two states which are part of Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, Brunei is also on the island as well as a large part of the island known as Kalimantan which is Indonesian. This book is a travel account written by the Australian John Wasser who decided he wanted to visit Sarawak after reading an article in 'The Star' while in the Hilton in Kuala Lumpur about the Iban (sea Dayaks) tribe . He then picked up a book called 'Sarawak' at Singapore airport and having read this made decision to visit the 'Land of the Headhunters'. After twelve months of planning and preparation he embarked upon his trip. THE 'STORY' I wasn't sure at first whether I would take to the author and his exploits as he seemed to spend a lot of his time smoking and drinking coffee which I have nothing against per se but isn't really that interesting in a travel account. Throughout his trip he had a local guide, first a lady, called Josephine of the Kayan tribe and seemed to be related to many families in various longhouses near Belaga and who travelled with a 'hello Kitty' bag. At other times when deeper in the jungle visiting the Penan, Punan and Ukit tribes he has a guide called Patrick who joined him in many a local beverage in the different longhouses. The book doesn't pretend to be a deep and meaningful cultural study of these Borneo tribes nor does the author make any judgements about their former headhunting exploits or the interesting foods which he experiences while staying with the local tribes. He comes over as a very down to earth sort of bloke who isn't afraid to try anything. During his travels he learns to walk like a Penan through the jungle. He discovered that the tribal people could walk quietly and easily through the muddy, difficult jungle terrain while he crashed and slithered his way mostly on his bottom on the descents. They taught him to relax and sort of roll his hips, I wasn't quite sure what the gait was but he seemed to find it helped. When visiting some of the longhouses he was offered monkey stew, palm fronds and fish that was more bone than fish but he gamely ate it and smiled. Perhaps the 'tuak' and 'borak' which he drank in great quantity helped the rather unusual dishes slip down. During his journey he walked or slipped and fell through dense jungle and went up and down the Rajang River by high speed jet boat which were converted planes, the wings taken off and an outboard motor attached apparently. Longboats were another mode of transport utilised as well as jeeps and logging lorries shared with about thirty other passengers in the back which sounded like a most uncomfortable experience. SOME PRETTY SERIOUS ISSUES Serious points are made on some subjects such as the problem of logging the forests, flooding a large area to create the Bakun dam , which necessitated the government building modern wooden houses for some tribes instead of their traditional l would have thought. The author also makes the point that 25% of modern drugs that we use today came from knowledge gained from tribal people in various parts of the world. "Yet of an estimated 80,000 species of plants found in the Amazon alone, less than 500 have been studied and analysed. Considering that nearly 70% of plants in tropical forests are known to have anti-tumour properties and any one of them could lead to a breakthrough in cancer research, the lack of interest...by modern science is astonishing, to say the least." Having had a mother, uncle and several friends die of cancer I found that a very profound and quite worrying comment on the priorities of modern medical and scientific research. He continues by quoting Dr Wade Davies of Harvard who says," the rainforests offer some 75,000 edible plants, of which a mere 150 are used commercially." It makes you wonder whether some of the world's hungry could be fed in this way. Beside these plants there is a palm tree with oil like olive oil, a tree that has a resin that can be used unprocessed to run a diesel engine, plants with biodegradable pesticides and so many more interesting and really useful plants that could help solve many of the world's problems but no-one seems to be interested in finding out more. MEETING THE FAUNA The animals encountered range from the tiny mouse deer and fawn grazing beside the river as they float by through to monkeys leaping through trees before being shot by blow pipe and then becoming part of a stew. Other beasts he was less thrilled to meet were the huge variety of snakes. The flying snakes which somehow fly from trees by flattening themselves and gliding considerable distances through the forest. MY VIEWS I really liked the way the author was so at home with the local tribes people. He was ahppy to sleep on the longhouse floor and bathe in the river, even use the river as a toilet. He had trouble getting up the log 'staircase ' into the longhouse and often slipped off or fell in the mud getting out of the boats which seemed to cause great mirth amongst the local children and adults alike. I found his easy going attitude and openness as well as he willingness to try anything without making any judgement about the food or drink. There was one longhouse where there was filth and rotting food and they were invited to stay, they decided to sleep on the beach nearby and were careful about eating but that was the only place where they encountered an unhygienic situation. I found this easy to read and interesting once I got into the book. He had a chatty sort of style as though he was telling the reader about his travels, there was no superior attitude either towards the tribal people or the reader. He was completely matter of fact in his descriptions; he observed closely without judgement and joined in with enthusiasm when invited. He came across as a really approachable person and the fact that he was welcomed so enthusiastically everywhere he went backed this up. I was fascinated by his experiences but this is not the sort of travel that appeals to me at all. I like my creature comforts, a shower with soap and hot water and a bed is essential to my needs. I really admire someone who can cope with travelling and living with these sorts of discomforts and the food would be a real challenge to me. Just read this description, I was nearly sick after reading it. The women were bartering over a bucket, the author asked what it was and was told it was 'fat for cooking', he took a closer look in the bucket; " It's an oozing mass of entrails, gristle, floating fat and various parts of animals that have seen better days. One of the longhouse chefs plunges her hand into the slop and examines the contents...." If I had seen that I would have had to run and find a bush or tree to be sick behind and there is no way i could have then eaten ANYTHING that might have been cooked in that. This was bought for the cooking of a major longhouse feast to celebrate an old headhunting custom. Even writing that again has made my stomach churn!! In the centre of the book are a few pages of photos .some in colour and they really helped me picture some of the things he talks about. There is a photo of the express boats which were created by taking wings off small planes. Others show longhouses, children and some of the people he met as well as scenery of the area. I thought they provided a nice addition to the text and as I often do with books like this I turned to the pictures after reading just the first few pages as I love seeing what the author looks like as well as some of the other people in the book. WOULD I RECOMMEND? I found this a very interesting read but I do think you would have to have an interest in the area and know a little about Borneo to find it so. I didn't find it at all pompous and superior as some travel writers can be. I learned a lot about the different tribes in Sarawak and the way they live. I do hope that they are able to continue living in this way if they want to and that their knowledge of the jungle and all the treasures it holds are not lost to humanity by encouraging them to 'advance' into modern society. This book can be bought from Amazon for £2.61 plus postage for a used copy. ISBN: 1840241373 Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name. İCatsholiday Read the complete review |
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France: Country Guide (Lonely Planet 2011)
by MagdaDH Among all the travel guides out there, there is a category that stands out from others by combining sightseeing and practical information with useful general background to the area covered, and most importantly, opinion. LP and RG are the biggest English-language series in this category (Let's Go, Footprint and Brandt guides also belong ... here). Although I do have a preference for Rough Guides, LP seems to have a bigger market share and in many cases there simply wasn't a RG to the area I needed a guide for, particularly when buying one in the actual country. Such was the case when I decided to get a guide to France, a good few days into the trip. I successfully used LP guides before many times and on finding that it was my only option, I picked up the big and slick newest LP France without misgivings, despite the whooping 30 Euro it cost. A few weeks later I could confidently say that among all the LP and RG that had a chance to use, the new LP France, despite packing in almost a thousand pages of text and pictures, ranks among the most disappointing ones. To give it its fair dues, it's not by all bad. The overview of the essentials is up to the usual LP standards. From food to driving, suggested itineraries and month-by-month list of highlights, the general sections of this volume are good. History and art are covered briefly but well and will help anybody not familiar with the country. The maps are clear and useful and the suggested highlights and unmissables are certainly inspirational. France is a huge country, and full of cultural and natural attractions. Any guide, even as big as the LP, has to be selective and to make difficult decisions as to what it covers and how much space it devotes to a particular region or location. For this traveller, the choices made by the editors of LP France were, to make a cheap pun, misguided. We spent over six weeks in France, travelling with a family by car from Calais through Normandy, Brittany, Bordeaux, Lot et Garonne, Pyrenees and Provence. During this journey, the LP France was useful only occasionally. In fact, it was probably the least useful guide I have ever bought in twenty-plus years of travel, while using LP or RG pretty much every time I ventured anywhere. I realise choices have to be made, but I am questioning the decision to devote more than 10% of the "on the road" part of the whole-country guide to Paris. Anybody that wants to focus on Paris will buy a guide to the city, while the whole country guide surely requires a bit more balance. Similarly unbalanced, seven out of the 34 Normandy pages (over 20%) are devoted to the D-day landing beaches, and this is not counting small entries on war memorials scattered across the whole section. In Brittany, a whole half-page is taken by a description of one, small (admittedly unusual) B&B while whole sections of the region are completely ignored. Cap Sizun peninsula in Finisterre, with its stunning and eminently walkable coastline of cliffs and sandy coves (and a "grand national site of France" of Pointe du Raz) is not there, and neither is most of inland Morbihan and the significant coastal city of Lorient. This pattern is repeated throughput the book: extra weight is given to the most popular - and a few unusual - places, while many, let's call them, B-list locations are ignored. For highlights of France, this LP works well, particularly for a first-time visitor, but it lacks the comprehensive coverage that one expects (and usually gets) of a whole-country guide. I was also surprised that a LP guide, aimed at a backpacker and budget end of the market, often fails to list hostels and camp-sites and suggest a 100 Euro a day PER HEAD as a low-budget estimate (we managed to spend not much more than that for the whole family of four and we weren't even self-catering for the majority of time). Finally, one has to question the authority of a guide that, in the otherwise very informative section on wine, claims that French wine is not the most celebrated in the world - if French wine is not, one wonders which is. ** LP France would work well for a complete novice to France planning a whistle-stop tour of the A-list highlights with a few unusual options thrown in. If you buy this guide before the trip and plan the journey using its suggestions, you will find this volume sufficient and inspirational. However, if you are looking for a guide that you can pick up and hope it will cover your own route, especially if straying off the most beaten track, LP France is likely to disappoint. Read the complete review |
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Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: William Fiennes / Edition: New Ed / Paperback / 200 Pages / Book is published 2010-03-05 by Picador |
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Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Karen Wheeler / Paperback / 320 pages / Publisher: Sweet Pea Publishing / Released: 7 Mar 2012 |
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Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: W G Sebald / Edition: New Ed / Paperback / 320 Pages / Book is published 2002-11-07 by Vintage Classics |
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1 review Author: John Wassener / Travel Book / Publisher: Summersdale Publishers / 320 Pages |
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1 review Brand: Lonely Planet / Travel Book / Author: Nicola Williams / Publisher: Lonely Planet / Released: 2011-04-01 |
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1 review Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Paul Wade / 192 pages / Book published 2007-06-23 by Duncan Petersen Publishing |
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1 review Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Sara Wheeler / Paperback / 368 Pages / Book is published 2010-05-06 by Vintage |
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2 reviews Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Greg Witt, Rough Guides / Edition: 1 / Paperback / 376 Pages / Book is published 2008-09-01 by Rough Guides |
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2 reviews Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Mark Wallington / Paperback / 432 Pages / Book is published 2006-07-06 by Arrow Books Ltd - Taking his dog, Boogie, Wallington sets off on a long-distance walk and commentary on English life and culture along the South West coastal path. |
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1 review Genre: Travel / Travel Book / Author: Jason Webster / Hardcover / 304 Pages / Book is published 2003-01-01 by Doubleday |
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