The Wrong Way Home

I'm now a dedicated fan of Peter Moore (please see my reviews on the other two books of his that I've read: "Swahili for the Broken Hearted" and "The Full Montezuma"). I particularly like his sense of humor, as evidenced by the titles of his books, including "Vroom With A View." The bright colors and juxtaposition of cut 'n paste images on the covers are further evidence (maybe a publisher's choice?). "The Wrong Way Home" is my current favorite, not only for its subject matter but for the informative way Moore covers areas of the world that few of us dare to tread in these trying times. Traveling overland from London to Sydney, his audacity gets him across the borders of such diverse and potentially volatile countries as Albania, Afghanistan, Iran, Tibet and East Timor. Ostensibly to follow the old "Hippie Trail" of the 1960s and '70s, Peter takes us on a "Magical Mystery Tour" of his own. I marveled at the man's chutzpah as he frequently pushed his luck, talking his way into getting a visa for Iran, taking a dangerous trip up Afghanistan's Khyber Pass, bluffing his way into Tibet and overstaying his visa in Laos. The insight this adventure provides is invaluable for all of us, whether we aspire to be adventurers ourselves or are content with our roles as armchair travelers and package tourists. I wouldn't recommend the route he takes but it makes for fascinating reading as he traipses through an eight-month journey through twenty-five countries. Moore seems to have an innate restlessness, an attribute I can relate to. When he learns that he can get out of Laos with a Mekong River boat into Thailand he balks, realizing that he still has several days left on his visa. Spontaneously he rents a space on board a boat in the other direction and makes the discovery of one of Asia's gems, the old town of Luang Prabang. That's exactly what I would have done and I laud him for his incessant wanderlust. Peter Moore is an everyman with a constant need to see, learn and experience. His work isn't of the haughty intellectual variety, but he travels more in the manner most people would view the world if given the opportunity. We'd take photos, read the guidebook, peruse the plaques in museums and move on. No treatise on the history or philosophy of the place for us. The author isn't above lazing about when the mood strikes him, however. He frequently spends several days in a row accomplishing nothing more than having breakfast, lounging on the beach or wandering aimlessly around town, returning to his digs in time for evening cocktails and hobknobbing with his fellow backpackers. He comes across as a friendly bloke, easy going enough to talk to anybody who strikes his fancy, a guy it would be fun to meet on the road. There are some grammatical and spelling errors in the book that the publisher should have found and corrected. These are niggling complaints, however, offset by some of the quaint gimmicks he uses. This includes a heading at every chapter li