4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wilson's Trail Is as as Sacred of the Templars', February 29, 2008
This review is from: Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace (Paperback)
Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace completes an amazing trilogy. In Yak Butter Blues, Wilson dealt very deftly with lofty themes exemplified by China usurping the independent existence of Tibet. He redeemed a slender, but significant stripe of that tragedy by allowing people with nothing left to lose to sustain him in his spiritual journey. In Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa, he repeated the themes, this time for a whole continent, and did so in bolder and more practical terms. The etching of the message became clearer: Ordinary people, however poor, are generous and good, and they want nothing more than they want peace and a wholesome future for their families. Along the Templar Trail writes the message in brilliant, even blazing letters: Peace and shared prosperity are undeniably possible, and they can come in our time... for all time. If only a few more ordinary mortals had the will and fortitude of this author, we would live in a very different world.
Truth be told, Wilson doesn't call the three books a trilogy. That's just how I see the series so far, and you can certainly read the books in any order. Still, if you read one of these nonfiction, trek-adventure thrillers, I'm sure you'll go on to read them all.
The earlier books took us from Lhasa to Katmandu, over the Himalayas on foot, then across "the dark continent" from the Mediterranean to the tip of South Africa by every close-to-the-ground transport, including the ol' feet. Along the Templar Trail is more overtly spiritual, an all-walking, 2,600-mile pilgrimage from France to Jerusalem following in the long-ago footsteps of the Knights Templar.
Take a moment to think about this. What would cause you to undertake a 2,600 mile walk--aches, blisters, blazing sun and all, always hoping to find food and water when you need them--even though perfectly good airplanes are willing to carry you to your destination? Wilson's answer is both simple and profound: He walked for peace.
In the beginning, as Wilson and his friend meet in France to set off on their pilgrimage for peace, it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You know the funny Frenchman is not attuned to the purpose, not prepared for the hardships, not "into it." Without overdoing any comparison of the author's trek to Jerusalem and Christ's walk to his crucifixion, the companion became "Brandon's cross to bear," for me as I read. The story enthralls, its high ideals are impressive, but I thought a Higher Power must have decided the experienced trekker-author needed a burden greater than weather and distance--and "blessed" him with a partner who could make crossing Europe appropriately difficult. Sooner or later, you know that "Émile" will turn back... or worse.
For the sake of the peace-purpose of the pilgrimage, the walk had to attract attention, and it did. Starting in Sombor, Serbia, television and newspaper reporters take notice.
The message was possibly endangered by the fact that Wilson was from the U.S.
"Peace" and "U.S." don't fit together in the thinking of much of the world, particularly the parts of the world from Serbia to Israel. So, Wilson tried letting his French pal answer the inevitable question, "Where are you from?" When "France" didn't work, he'd say, "I'm from Hawai`i." That didn't always work either. People knew that Hawai`i is in the U.S. However, over and over, those who listened to the message, overlooked the trekker's nationality.
"What do you hope to accomplish by this trip?" a reporter asked.
"First, we're taking this journey as a personal pilgrimage," Wilson answered. "But more than that, it is a journey for peace. Countries and especially the common people have suffered too much. There have been too many tears shed by mothers for their sons, wives for their husbands and children for their fathers. Yes, it takes courage to face an enemy, but it requires just as much bravery to say `No' and refuse to capitulate to war. The time has come. This is now a global imperative."
Later, speaking to someone else, Wilson said, "...envisioning peace is half the battle. As the world's consciousness changes, the rest is sure to follow." He sticks to his message, demonstrating repeatedly that it is truly what keeps him walking, even when he is confronted with the scars and memorials of war, even when he speaks to warriors.
No doubt, Wilson was on the right path. Even when he was lost for a while or took a detour, the result was totally central to both the personal growth expected from the pilgrimage and to the peace purpose. "Maybe," he mused, "there never was a `wrong' path--just one awaiting a new reason for being."
Christian, Jewish or Islamic; male or female, old or young; Kurdish, Serbian, German or Israeli, everyone who crossed Wilson's path was welcomed and, although he doesn't say so, loved. Learning to walk through our own lives with that same grace would be reason enough to read Along the Templar Trail, even if the reading itself were not a joy. It is.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic, February 27, 2008
This review is from: Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace (Paperback)
Brandon Wilson has outdone himself with "Along the Templar Trail." I'm a fast reader, but I immediately realized this is one of those books you slow down and pace yourself like a pilgrim, because the wonder is in the journey. I found it astounding how, in short time, I found myself feeling as though I was walking with Brandon (and, for a time, his companion, Emile) for the entire 2,620 miles and experiencing with him the many faces of a world which, while at war, yearns for peace at the common level.
Wilson explains to one reporter along the way that, while the route was once followed by Templars and soldiers marching to Jerusalem, he "would like to see it developed as an international trail of peace for all nationalities and religions." Indeed, he seems to find a receptive audience along the new and old roads as he walks, but always among the common people who share food and drink and share his frustration that "it is the politicians who want war, not the people."
Along his journey Wilson talks with people of all leanings and faiths, learning that simple things like water and a gift of food are the universal language they have always been for centuries. With each week, he finds greater recognition and encouragement. A young Muslim sits with him and, as they share commonalities of religions, the youth remarks, "We need to work together to survive."
There is excitement and wonder in the sites visited along the path, but none so moving as when Wilson reaches the Holy Land. He speaks with deep, stirring passion of the cathedrals and shrines, the revered temples of Christians, Jews and Muslims. And, as he concludes his journey, he reflects on how deep his lessons have been on the five month road to Jerusalem--his suffering and hunger making him ever mindful of the suffering and hunger in a world that would rather build weapons to destroy than care for its own people.
Take your time with this book--it should take you weeks. Savor every step. Brandon is at his best ever in Templar Trail, a truly heartwarming story of dedication, hope and love.
by Andy O'Hara, author of
The Swan: Tales of the Sacramento Valley
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Walking the Walk, February 17, 2008
This review is from: Along the Templar Trail: Seven Million Steps for Peace (Paperback)
For armchair adventurers who like to read of others travels and travails through distant lands, this is a perfect companion on a cold winter's night by the fire. For those who love to hike or walk long distances, this book can be used as a road map. Pacifists might look at it as a road map for making connections with citizens of other countries on the most basic level.
Brandon Wilson and his 68-year-old companion, Emile, start out on a five-month walking pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the manner of the 11th century Christians. This is conceived as a walk for peace, but it is obvious that hiking through the canyons of the world holds the same thrill for some as climbing mountains does for others. The reader certainly gets a sense of what a journey on foot entails. Each day's walk must cover a certain amount of territory and the companions trudge through rain, sleet and broiling sun. Wilson's legs and feet swell up and Emile seems to get weaker as they approach the longer stretches. In Istanbul, the Frenchman must part ways with the American. Wilson continues through Turkey, Cyprus and finally Israel when the original trek through Syria and Lebanon is derailed by the 2006 flare-up of hostilities.
There are bits of history strewn throughout the book like breadcrumbs thrown along the trail. Although there are references to the Crusades, the Knights Templar who guarded the Christian pilgrims, the Arabs and the Ottoman Turks, it is the Roman Empire that really fascinated me. There are so many roads and traces of that once far-flung empire that managed to control such a polyglot group of tribes. France, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, all fragmented now by different religions and national loyalties were once part of a single empire.
There aren't many descriptions of the castles, museums, cathedrals and mosques the travelers pass; although once the author gets to Jerusalem he does go into details of the holy places. What you do get is minute descriptions of small villages, small rooms in hotels, inns and monasteries, local people and local food. There are breakfast rolls of every kind in each country and coffee that becomes blacker and thicker as they move eastward. Sweet tea and watermelons, beef stew and lamb kabobs and an incredible variety of beer--the menu changes as the men trudge on as does the language and the friendliness of the natives. Local people are moved to help these men and often give them free food and drink just because of their quest.
As a walker, the author is highly aware of the various roads he must traverse. There are forest trails and dirt roads, asphalt sections that melt into tar in the broiling sun, and highways with no shoulders where the trucks whiz by the pilgrims. Small towns offer sidewalks and in one place there is even a section of the old Roman stone road built hundreds of years before. When Wilson hits Asia Minor the walking becomes more difficult. In Turkey, "I trudged across the desert landscape like a snail across a block of salt," he says.
Personally, I found the few political discussions to be interesting. The Greek Cypriot who refuses to visit the Turkish section of the island once the barriers are removed because she won't touch foot on occupied soil. The views of the Israelis and Palestinians Brian encounters once he crosses to Haifa are more realistic about the politics of the world although they all hold out the hope that politicians will listen to the people.
This is an idealistic journey. But it is the colorful details of the trek, the little rooms in small hotels, the roadside stands in war-torn landscapes, the various Hungarians and Turks and tourists and policemen that make this book a worthwhile read.
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