This is the finest travel writing: Anne Mustoe's phenomenal journey is full of rich experiences and enlightening incidents. Beginning in Kathmandu in Nepal and ending in the tranquil town of Kandy in Sri Lanka, her journey follows in the path of The Ramayana's characters, Rama, Sita and Hanuman. The book is packed with anecdotes and beautifully written episodes of her marvelous adventures. It is a delight for aspirant and seasoned travelers alike and, with the Indian subcontinent as the focus of the book, the spiritual aspects of her travels are explored in detail - as is the breath taking scenery. Featuring a map of her route and her own photographs, this is a story with humor, keen observation and the relish of the open road.
Two Wheels In The Dust
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Who better than a redoubtable English headmistress to teach Americans about The Ramayana, a venerable hallmark text of Hinduism that still animates contemporary Indian culture? And from the seat of a bike, to boot. Mustoe, a 60-something "pensioner" (retiree) whose legs and lungs must be as enviably developed as her sense of adventure, follows by bicycle the route across India taken by the fabled prince Rama, hero of the ancient Hindu epic poem. Mustoe, who has chronicled her global bicycle voyages in Lone Traveller and A Bike Ride, descends from the mountains of Nepal, birthplace of Rama's wife Sita, and meanders her way (occasionally by local train or plane) across the subcontinent to Sri Lanka, where the virtuous Rama and his 10-headed opponent, Ravana, fought their decisive battle. Mustoe's travel narrative parallels her exposition of the Hindu saga. The stories together comprise a vivid travelogue of India from the perspective of a sympathetic outsider who observes how the nation's deeply rooted faith and social practices make it a unique paradox of ancient and modern. Black-and-white pictures and a map are helpful. Readers interested in travel may appreciate bike and luggage specifications; those curious about Hinduism may long, however, for a glossary to keep the Hindu pantheon and Ramayana characters straight. (Jan.)Forecast: The popularity of Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible as well as the vogue in spiritual travel books may generate extra publicity mileage for this idiosyncratically chatty combination of travel and religion.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.Review
"Its brio and optimism are unquenchable" -- Daily Telegraph
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
297 pages to gather Dust,
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This review is from: Two Wheels In the Dust: From Kathmandu to Kandy (Paperback)
Well I've read a few books on travelling foreign lands by bike. It seems that more often that not they are written by middle aged women, who are perhaps in more of a transition point in life and are more apt for meaningful self reflection, I dunno.
I picked up this book excited that I had found a series of books to get hooked on that would get into travelling remote and wonderful parts of the world by bike and describing the journey. What I found was a big disappointment, that pretty much sums it up right there. I've read 3 other books while trying to slug through this one. I had expected it would be descriptive of riding through Nepal, India and Sri Lanka talking of the people and sights. This isn't what I found. Mustoe has a knack for avoiding those interesting bits like, ohh describing much about the place at all. The novel paralleled the legend of the Ramayama. Which has an equal portion of the text as her journey does. Unforunately this text is rather daunting and her journey becomes more involved with the details of how she got to given monuments than what was there or in the rest of the contry for example. At times she comes off as snobby, mentioning she's used to not living in luxury and then turning up her nose at the lack of availibility of Kingfisher beer in a nation that doesn't drink for example. I was also disappointed a little mislead since thiswasn't a journey from Nepal through to Sri Lanka, in fact it was a sequence of several trips over many years. Her detail of the way her tourguides pants were pressed is more commonly mentioned than riding through the countryside, which is not the type of detail I was looking for. She has an overlying attitude that this is what she does for a job and offers little more than a narritave, offering little of herself to the reader other than to mention she is from London and is a widow. No more is mentioned. Which keeps the reader at arms reach, and you get less out of it. Would I read another one of her books, maybe someday...if I was stormstayed into an airport or doing time. [I'd recommend Margo Archibald's Cycling Into Your Soul over this one]
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