The Best Travel Writing 2010: True Stories from Around the World

377 Pages·2010·1.46 MB·English

by  Larry Habegger

Travel Literature
INCLUDES GRAND PRIZE WINNER, SOLAS AWARDS
TRAVELERS’ THE
TALES
“The Travelers’Tales series is altogether remarkable.” —Jan Morris
BEST
C G T W
ELEBRATING REAT RAVEL RITING
Travelers’ Tales publishes books about the world and the life-
changing experiences that happen on the road. The Best Travel
Writing 2010 is our latest annual collection of great stories
T
guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust.
RAVEL
THETRAINATNIGHT A DUGOUTCANOEINTHEDARIENGAP T
Gina Briefs-Elgin in the USA Martin Douglas Mitchinson in Panama H
READYORNOT CANI HELPYOU? E
Gaye Brown in South Korea Brad Newsham in the Philippines
B
INOROUT SUBMITTINGTOSHASTA
W
E
Gary Buslik in Grenada Colette O’Connor in California
INSIDEKUMANOKODO TRAININGGROUND S RITING
Amy Greimann Carlson in Japan Jen Percy in Hawaii
T
KAPTEIN, SPANDIESEILE “TAKUMBENG, C’ESTQUOI?”
Brian Eckert in South Africa DavidTorrey Peters in Nigeria/Cameroon
T
BOREDJAPANESEHOUSEWIVES FREEWHEELIN’LIBERIA
Phil Goldman in Tokyo William Powers in Liberia R
L’INONDATION 12 HOURSINBARCELONA A
Richard Goodman in France Marianne Rogoff in Spain
V
THEFACTSOFKATHMANDU A VIKINGREPAST E 2010
Jeff Greenwald in Nepal Cameron M. Smith in Iceland
L
FORTHESPIRITSOFGUINAANG SAIGONTRIO
Robin Hemley in the Philippines Richard Sterling in Vietnam W
MYROMANREALITYSHOW FRUITSOFCHILDHOOD
Jann Huizenga in Italy Mohezin Tejani in Uganda/Thailand
R
STUCKINBULAWAYO FRENZYANDECSTASY
I
Laura Lee P. Huttenbach in Zimbabwe Tim Ward in Greece T
LIVINGAMONGINCOMPATIBLES ASHESOFSANMIGUEL I
N
Pico Iyer in Japan Tawni Vee Waters in Mexico
T S
TRÈSCHEAP: A TRAVELWRITERSTORMS FRENCHDOLLS G RUE TORIES
THECARIBBEAN Catherine Watson in the World
Charles Kulander in the Caribbean EPIPHANYOFAMIDDLE-AGEDPILGRIMIN FROM AROUND THE WORLD
WEWAITFORSPRING, MOLDOVAANDME TEA-STAINEDPAJAMAS
Kevin McCaughey in Moldova Peter Wortsman in Italy
THETWO-DOLLARDIFFERENCE INTRODUCTION BY
Michael McGee in Jordan
William Dalrymple
www.travelerstales.com O’REILLY
www.besttravelwriting.com HABEGGER
O’REILLY
EDITED BY JAMES O’REILLY, LARRY HABEGGER, AND SEAN O’REILLY
Critical Acclaim for
The Best Travel Writing Series
“Travelers’ Tales has thrived by seizing on our perpetual fasci-
nation for armchair traveling, including this annual roundup
of delightful (and sometimes dreadful) wayfaring adventures
from all corners of the globe.” —The Washington Post
“Here are intimate revelations, mind-changing pilgrimages,
and body-challenging peregrinations. And there’s enough to
keep one happily reading until the next edition.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“The Best Travel Writing is a globetrotter’s dream. Some tales
are inspiring, some disturbing or disheartening; many sobering.
But at the heart of each one lies the most crucial element—a
cracking good story told with style, wit, and grace.”
—WorldTrekker
“There is no danger of tourist brochure writing in this collec-
tion. The story subjects themselves are refreshingly odd. . . .
For any budding writer looking for good models or any expe-
rienced writer looking for ideas on where the form can go, The
Best Travel Writing is an inspiration.” —Transitions Abroad
“Travelers’ Tales, a publisher which has taken the travel piece
back into the public mind as a serious category, has a volume
out titled The Best Travel Writing which wipes out its best-of
competitors completely.” —The Courier-Gazette
“The Best Travelers’ Tales 2004 will grace my bedside for years
to come. For this volume now formally joins the pantheon: one
of a series of good books by good people, valid and valuable
for far longer than its authors and editors ever imagined. It is,
specifically, an ideal antidote to the gloom with which other
writers, and the daily and nightly news, have tried hard to
persuade us the world is truly invested…. This book is a vivid
and delightful testament to just why the world is in essence a
wondrously pleasing place, how its people are an inseparable
part of its countless pleasures, and how travel is not so much
hard work as wondrous fun.” —Simon Winchester
Travelers’ Tales Books
Country and Regional Guides
America, Antarctica, Australia, Brazil, Central America, China,
Cuba, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nepal,
Spain, Thailand, Tibet, Turkey; Alaska, American Southwest, Grand
Canyon, Hawai‘i, Hong Kong, Middle East, Paris, Prague, Provence,
San Francisco, South Pacific, Tuscany
Women’s Travel
100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places Every
Woman Should Go, The Best Women’s Travel Writing, A Woman’s
Asia, A Woman’s Europe, Her Fork in the Road, A Woman’s Path, A
Woman’s Passion for Travel, A Woman’s World, Women in the Wild,
A Mother’s World, Safety and Security for Women Who Travel,
Gutsy Women, Gutsy Mamas, A Woman’s World Again
Body & Soul
Writing Away, You Unstuck, Stories to Live By, Spiritual Gifts
of Travel, The Road Within, A Mile in Her Boots, Love & Romance,
Food, How to Eat Around the World, Adventure of Food,
Ultimate Journey, Pilgrimage
Special Interest
Wild with Child, Mousejunkies!, What Color Is Your Jockstrap?,
Encounters with the Middle East, Not So Funny When It Happened,
Gift of Rivers, How to Shit Around the World, Testosterone Planet,
Danger!, Fearless Shopper, Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury
Travel, Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune, Gift of Birds,
Family Travel, A Dog’s World, There’s No Toilet Paper on the Road
Less Traveled, Gift of Travel, 365 Travel, The Thong Also Rises,
Adventures in Wine, The World Is a Kitchen, Sand in My Bra, Hyenas
Laughed at Me, Whose Panties Are These?, More Sand in My Bra
Travel Literature
Cruise Confidential, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, A Rotten Person
Travels the Caribbean, A Sense of Place, The Best Travel Writing, Kite
Strings of the Southern Cross, The Sword of Heaven, Storm, Take Me
With You, Last Trout in Venice, The Way of the Wanderer, One Year Off,
The Fire Never Dies, The Royal Road to Romance, Unbeaten Tracks in
Japan, The Rivers Ran East, Coast to Coast, Trader Horn
T r a v e l e r s ’ T a l e s
The
BesT
T
ravel
W
riTing
2010
True Stories
From Around the World

T r a v e l e r s ’ T a l e s
The BesT

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ravel riTing
2010
True Stories
From Around the World
Edited by
James O’Reilly, Larry Habegger,
and Sean O’Reilly
Travelers’ Tales
an imprint of Solas House, Inc.
Palo Alto
Copyright © 2010 Solas House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction Copyright © 2010 by William Dalrymple.
Travelers’ Tales and Travelers’ Tales Guides are trademarks of
Solas House, Inc.
Credits and copyright notices for the individual articles in this
collection are given starting on page 345.
We have made every effort to trace the ownership of all copy-
righted material and to secure permission from copyright holders.
In the event of any question arising as to the ownership of any
material, we will be pleased to make the necessary correction in
future printings. Contact Solas House, Inc., 853 Alma Street, Palo
Alto, California 94301. www.travelerstales.com
Art direction: Stefan Gutermuth
Page layout, photo selection and editing: Cynthia Lamb using the
fonts Granjon and Nicholas Cochin
Interior design: Melanie Haage
Production Director: Christy Quinto
ISBN 1-932361-73-1
ISSN 1548-0224
First Edition
Printed in the United States
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Behold, I have set before you an open door
and no man can shut it.
—Revelation

Table of Contents
Publisher’s Preface xiii
James O’Reilly
Introduction xvii
William Dalrymple
Saigon Trio 1
Richard Sterling
vietnam
Stuck in Bulawayo 16
Laura Lee P. Huttenbach
zimbabwe
A Dugout Canoe in the Darien Gap 25
Martin Douglas Mitchinson
panama
Epiphany of a Middle-Aged Pilgrim in
Tea-Stained Pajamas 45
Peter Wortsman
italy
A Viking Repast 51
Cameron M. Smith
iceland
Bored Japanese Housewives 71
Phil Goldman
tokyo