On the Trail of Marco Polo: Along the Silk Road by Bicycle

by Brady Fotheringham

Release Date: September, 2002

Edition: Paperback

Price:

More Info

Fascinating Account of a Wildly Adventurous Bike Ride

Having always had a fascination with the Silk Road, this book immediatly caught my eye while wandering the bookshelves.

It was very much a travelogue in it's style - and was written very well. A clear chronological narrative combined with history and a snapshot of all that he was seeing and feeling. I could imagine myself sitting on the bike encountering one adventure after another.

He definately has high standards as to who constitutes a real traveller! He had a very condescending attitude towards the 'tourists' that were experiencing this harshly beautiful region via the luxury of air-conditioned buses.

Others may think he's absolutely mad for embarking on this adventure... He's lucky that he came back in one piece from this trip- especially through Afghanistan. Fate obviously on his side.

Highly recommend this to anyone desiring an introduction to the modern day Silk route.

Interesting look at the Silk Road

Anyone interested in a good travel essay and a firsthand look at the geography and culture of the silk road will enjoy this book. Brady writes of interesting people, governments, and cultures as he rides his mountain bike in the footsteps of Marco Polo and other Silk Road traders.

The book is a fast read, and as a teacher I enjoyed his descriptive passages about the specific geography of the Silk Road.

Though the main focus of the book seems to be the Chinese portions of the Silk Road, readers will find his descriptions of the Taliban in Afganistan back in around 1998 quite chilling. I hope he will write a new afterward about his experience with the Taliban an Afganistan after 9-11. He was there just as they were taking power.

This is a good little adventure book with a good mix of history, politics, and geography.

If you liked books like Iron and Silk you will like this book.

I look forward to reading about his next bike trip.

Also you can e-mail the author about the book which I think is a great thing to do. I really enjoy when authors make it easy to contact them and discuss their books