My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jackie Chase brings the reader along on her journey to some real exotic places. These are not the places that a normal tourist would see even if they visited the country unless they were willing to travel off the beaten path and endure hours upon hours of travel through rough terrain to get there. Sometimes it is hours in the back of a truck or on a boat, and I don't mean cruise ship, I mean more like a raft or canoe in mosquito infested swaps. There are twelve locations and many images of what she seen and the people she met during her travels, as well as, her explaining many of the hardships she faced along the way.
What I loved about the book is that it isn't really so much about the travel in the sense that she spent page after page explaining that she took a plane or train but there are some paragraphs about some really interesting points about the travels. Would you jump into the back of a truck if you weren't quite sure where it was going and you were unable to communicate with others? I know I wouldn't, but thank goodness she did. She brings to live tribes of people that I only ever seen on the Discovery Channel. Her photos, although small, are outstanding and she does explain at the end of the book how to order a bigger one if interested.
As much as I loved the photos, it is the narration of what the people did, their customs, and the area that kept me glued to the book. Every destination and the travels to it is told in such a way where no fillers are used and sometimes to me even a little too brief on how she managed to keep going. Instead she used her time to tell a bit of the journey but mostly of the people in these far off lands.
It is quick paced and basically straight to the point. I know this isn't a trip I will ever take and feel quite confident many won't so I really enjoyed seeing and hearing about these places and people along with her self discovery. Just by reading it, it makes me think about our culture and all we have here. How the ways of our ancestors had died in many cases yielding way to this modern civilization we now know. It makes me wonder if it is these lands of exotic people that were lost in time or we ourselves that were lost for the sake of time.
I totally enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who loves travel and foreign places, people, and customs.
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