Where the Pavement Ends: One Woman's Bicycle Trip Through Mongolia, China & Vietnam

by Erika Warmbrunn

Release Date: March, 2001

Edition: Hardcover

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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 for there to be 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.

Inspiring

Erika's story is inspiring. The amazing people she met all along her trip, the problems she encountered all make for fascinating reading. She so wonderfully puts into words an amazing experience. Regardless of if you like to travel to foreign countries, bike long distances, or just to read a great book, you'll love this one. I found myself just stopping to think, "Wow" so many times. Absolutely wonderful!