Customer Reviews

After You, Marco Polo

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Wonderful travel book about a very volatile part of the world. Franc and Jean Schor travel through China after WWII on their honeymoon when Jean gets the idea to follow the route of Marco Polo after reading his account. After much planning with the National Geographic and cajoling of governments to issue the necessary visas they embark on an adventurous trip through much of South West Asia.

The more interesting accounts are of their meeting and befriending the Shah of Iran. They come to spend quite some time with him and his family. He even flies them himself in his converted B-17 over the "hot Desert" of Iran. They come away seeing the Shah as an enlightened leader who will modernize the country. Just to show you what a small world it is they meet Chief Justice William O'Douglas, at a dinner party in Iran. He seems to have spent allot of his spare time exploring in that part of the world as a hobby. At the dinner party he says, "I would much rather set precedent than follow precedent." In Afghanistan they get to meet King Mohammed Zahir, (who is 93 and presently in exile in Italy), by using a letter of introduction given them from the Shah of Iran. King Zahir grants them permission to travel through the Wakhan corridor, a very dangerous desolate area bordering China. They are the first "westerners" to travel this part of Afghanistan and write about it since the 19th century. The descriptions of abject poverty and their dealings with "duplicitous" Afghans still rings true today by all accounts we see in the news.

This is an enjoyable book describing the people and treacherous terrain of South West Asia. Franc and Jean Schor become intrepid world travelers who did many stories for National Geographic. As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy I reccomend the book highly.

Written by a woman who was not a professional explorer, but rather an individual with a keen sense of adventure, and history. A modest and beautifully written work that flows so easily that it can be enjoyed in just a few sittings. It takes place in the period just after WWII before the world was over-run with cell phones, satellite photos and email. A true aventure from a simpler time...