Hitchhiking Vietnam : A Woman's Solo Journey in an Elusive Land [Hardcover]

Karin Muller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1998 | Series: Broadcast Tie-Ins

For 7 months Karin Muller traversed Vietnam and reveals honestly and humorously, the culture, pace, land, scents, problems, and beauties of Vietnam.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For seven months Karin Muller traversed Vietnam--sometimes by motorbike, often by foot--covering 6,400 miles from the Mekong Delta to the Chinese border. Along the way she survives 52 motorbike breakdowns, 14 arrests, and one awful bout with scurvy. She plants rice with farmers, saves a few leopard cubs from the black market, learns to drive a passenger train, and gets to know a lot of people on her Ho Chi Minh Trail trek. Told honestly and humorously, the culture, pace, land, scents, problems, and beauties of Vietnam are evoked as Muller and Vietnam interact. Snippets of letters home (like "I traded some of my antihistamines for Tampax yesterday. What a relief" and "Am I really blood type A? It's important") highlight the details, while the strong narrative holds them together. Her pictures are excellent, the story riveting, and the writing a pleasure--good reading for a flight to Asia or a day at the beach. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

For seven months Karin Muller traversed Vietnam--sometimes by motorbike, often by foot--covering 6,400 miles from the Mekong Delta to the Chinese border. Along the way she survives 52 motorbike breakdowns, 14 arrests, and one awful bout with scurvy. She plants rice with farmers, saves a few leopard cubs from the black market, learns to drive a passenger train, and gets to know a lot of people on her Ho Chi Minh Trail trek. Told honestly and humorously, the culture, pace, land, scents, problems, and beauties of Vietnam are evoked as Muller and Vietnam interact.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762702575
• ISBN-13: 978-0762702572
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,639,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Some facts, Some fiction, Many serious omissions., November 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitchhiking Vietnam: A Woman's Solo Journey in an Elusive Land (Paperback)

I am the "Jay," mentioned through out the book. I traveled with Karin for four months in Vietnam. I was stunned, first of all, by the book's subtitle, "...solo journey...." During our travels together, it was a rare moment, when Karin was "out and about" on her own. On the other hand, aren't we, all, on a "solo journey," once we leave the womb? It is a fact, that many parts of the book are fiction and much of the truth concerning her travel companions and their adventures together in Vietnam are omitted. when the "solo" story line needs reinforcement, the travel companion, simply, get "left behind," when in fact, her traveling companion is right there, too! Perhaps if one were to read the book at it's face value, one would think, "Wow, what an adventure." Yet, when you know the truth, you might think, "Wow, what egotism!" Perhaps, this can be explained away by "poetic license." Isn't that what makes a good travel book? Some facts, some fiction, and many serious omissions.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Traveling alone in my egocentric mind., December 16, 1999

By 

concerned traveler (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitchhiking Vietnam: A Woman's Solo Journey in an Elusive Land (Paperback)

Of the many miles the author allegedly traveled in Vietnam, contrary to the book's title, very few were by hitchhiking. Instead she traveled for the most part on the back of a more seasoned traveler's motorcycle (whom she met along the way) and to a much lessor degree by bicycle, train, or on foot. I initially liked the book because the author is a good writer, but was a little surprised at how many people around her, both other tourists and Vietnamese, were described as self centered, cruel, or complete idiots. I recently spent two weeks in Northern Vietnam and found the people very intelligent and friendly. She portrayed "Jay", the owner of the motorcycle and four-month travel companion, as being lazy and indifferent to the Vietnamese people (In truth, Jay has made six trips to Vietnam to experience their culture). In this book Muller takes credit for all that is good and blames others for all that is bad. After I read the book I saw the author speak at a National Geographic Lecture series in Seattle. She presented herself as a woman traveler constantly up against the odds of traveling "alone" in a hostile communist country. The first slide she showed was of Jay's motorcycle and then told the audience that it was her bike, stating that she traveled around Vietnam solo. That confirmed my suspicions that this woman is a phony. This book belongs in the fiction section!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good grades for style, loses points for half-truths and ego, April 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitchhiking Vietnam: A Woman's Solo Journey in an Elusive Land (Paperback)

I watched Karin's video before I read the book, both of which were passed on to me by an acquaintance who is in the travel business. I'm always intrigued by women who have the mettle to travel alone, and the fact that she was in a country that is as mysterious to me as Vietnam was irresistible. I found Karin's writing style to be entertaining and descriptive, and I thought that she did an impressive job for a new author. However, I couldn't ignore some very evident inconsistencies with this work. The first is the title, claiming that she is on a solo hitchhiking journey. Hmmm. Sounds like she was traveling with Jay quite a bit. And I believe that the majority of the trip was done on motorcycle or train or bike. Where's the hitchhiking? Second, she seems to be trying to convince the reader that she is a seasoned adventurer due to her Peace Corps stint and European birth. Her narrative of her trip through Saigon and the Mekong Delta left me with the distinct impression that she was not a very savvy traveler. But, I am sure a new author wants desperately to make a good impression on her audience, so I believe that Karin is just suffering from the very human trait of self-consciousness. Perhaps she felt that her wanderings in Asia didn't measure up to what she thought was good adventure writing and embellished a bit here and there. I would tell Karin that good writing comes from within and doesn't depend on heroics to attract an audience. She's got the tools to be a good writer. With experience, I hope, will come insight, and the need for self-aggrandizement will naturally fall away.