King Solomon's Mines is a classic adventure novel that introduced the great white hunter Allan Quartermain to the world in the late 19th century. Written in personal narrative format (despite being fiction), the novel was hugely successful and tells the story of a group of Englishmen who set of into the hinterland of deep dark Africa in search of fabled treasure and the missing brother of one of their party.
Hokkaido Highway Blues (also known as Hitching Rides with Buddha) is an outstanding hitchhiking travelogue by Will Ferguson detailing his journey the length of Japan, from Cape Sata to Cape Soya, in the early 1990's. Insightful observations delivering cultural and historical information in genuinely funny fashion, this is everything you could ever hope a travelogue to be, with the only caveat that a fair amount of the material is at the adult end of the spectrum.
Arabian Sands by Sir Wilfred Thesiger is an all-time classic mostly describing his travels and exploration of The Empty Quarter, Yemen and The Western Sands in Arabia in the mid to late 1940’s. An extremely important and fascinating account of the nomadic Bedouin (the Bedu) and their lifestyle, Arabian Sands exposes the reader to a wealth of information on the people, history, geography and customs of this arid region.
Dark Star Safari is a superb travelogue written in 2002 by one of the genre's finest writers, Paul Theroux. Eschewing game parks and sight seeing, and travelling the "hard way" through Africa by train, bus, truck and matatu, Theroux delivers an enthralling story of his journeys through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
My Desert Kingdom is an enjoyable and insightful book detailing an Australian couples ex-pat experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While written prior to 9/11, it nonetheless provides a good feel for the trials and tribulations of ex-pat life, not shying away from the unglamorous aspects that are part and parcel of living in this insular country.
Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time is a perfect blend of the author’s personal travelogue from trips taken in 2009 and historical information of the “discovery” of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham III. Written with a keen eye for detail and in humourous fashion, this is must read for anybody considering hiking the Inca Trail or visiting Machu Picchu, as it also provides a wealth of information not just on Machu Picchu itself but also on other surrounding archaeological sites and trails.
If you don't know your Baltics from from your Balkans, then Balkan Ghosts is the book for you. Well known travel journalist Robert D. Kaplan wrote this, his third book, from his travels and experiences across the Balkan Peninsula in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and immediately prior to the Yugoslav Wars that began in 1991.
Preston writes an amazing story of the history and archaeological discovery of the White City (La Ciudad Blanca) situated deep within the Honduran jungle. Since the earliest day of Hernan Cortes in the early 16th century, there has always circulated rumours of a hidden city nicknamed the Lost City of the Monkey God which would bestow wealth beyond all imagination for anyone who could find it. Preston’s story provides the long history of those who have sought their fortune trying to find this fabled city along with his own search in this inhospitable and dangerous part of the world.
Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea is not, as the title might suggest, a travel book, but rather a geopolitical discourse on a a crucial period in the Horn of Africa's history. At its heart this is predominantly a story of the modern history of Ethiopia between 1984 and 1987 during which the western media beamed in images of a drought-scarred landscape and heart-rending famine scenes that led to the 1985 Live Aid benefit concert which I can still recall some thirty years later.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is Jon Krakauer's bestselling book detailing the events that took place in 1996 when eight climbers lost their lives on the world's highest peak called Sigarmartha (goddess of the sky) by the Nepalis and Jomolungma (goddess, mother of the world) by the Tibetans.
Following his posting in 2000 to Africa with The Daily Telegraph, journalist Tim Butcher nurtures a growing obsession with retracing Henry Morton Stanley's exploration down the Congo River. Stanley's expedition in 1874 is well-known as one that has transformed African history as he journeyed down the Congo River from what at the time was believed to be its source at Lake Tanganyika to the Atlantic Ocean, some 3,000 kms distant.
I'm always somewhat apprehensive after watching a movie which I have enjoyed immensely to the read the book. Reese Witherspoon put in such a brilliant performance in the 2014 movie of the same name, that I was concerned that the book wouldn't reach the same standard. I needn't have worried, as Strayed delivers a deeply personal memoir that bests the movie in almost all regards.
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