by Anne Mustoe
|
by Anne Mustoe
|
Amber, Furs and Cockleshells: Bike Rides with Pilgrims and Merchants by Anne Mustoe |
by T. Garratt
|
by Josie Dew
|
See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.
|
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Anne Mustoe is neither a professional adventurer nor writer, but a sixty-something Suffolk headmistress. When she embarked on cycling the world's historical trade routes, she didn't consider herself a "cyclist" and remains unable to mend a puncture. "I'm not young, I'm not sporty, I never train", she states, making light of her incredible achievement, following the Silk Road across China, Pakistan, the Gobi Desert and Turkey; traversing South America and more. "My only duty in life was to get myself from one shelter to the next before nightfall..."
Anne Mustoe is neither a professional adventurer nor writer, but a sixty-something Suffolk headmistress. When she embarked on cycling the world's historical trade routes, she didn't consider herself a "cyclist" and remains unable to mend a puncture. "I'm not young, I'm not sporty, I never train", she states, making light of her incredible achievement, following the Silk Road across China, Pakistan, the Gobi Desert and Turkey; traversing South America and more. "My only duty in life was to get myself from one shelter to the next before nightfall..."
Mustoe's strict girls' school background is evident in her rigid planning and seriousness. She revels in solitude, dining by herself or watching TV after a long ride, and describing a "good night out" as attending a ballet alone--although she breaks her Girl Guide demeanour slightly when staying in China's cheap-and-cheerful gated lorry compounds or sharing a joint in a Byron Bay backpacker hostel.
Lone Traveller will be useful to anyone contemplating a foreign bicycle trip. Mustoe explores the pros and cons of cycling alone; dealing with police; tacking tough terrain; and the peculiar maps which neglect to depict whole mountain ranges. She includes her packing list and documents the varying reactions to a lone women cyclist--bewilderment in Brazil; house arrest in China; hero worship in sporty Australia. Although informative, it doesn't have the same spontaneity or spirit as Josie Dew's classic cycle diaries Travels In A Strange State and The Wind In My Wheels. Mustoe's rambling style is innocent and unembellished, both the book's joy and its downfall. While some will find Lone Traveller heart-warming and inspirational, others will tire of its matter-of-factness.--Sarah Champion
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
Sixty-year-old former headmistress Anne Mustoe straps her panniers on for a second global cycle ride from East to West. Her first journey, in the opposite direction, formed her previous book, A Bike Ride. Lone Traveller follows ancient travel and trade routes from London to South America, across the Australian desert, the Karakoram highway to Turkey, and across southern Europe - Italy, France, Spain and back to London. In this trip, spanning 15 months, Mustoe concentrates on the practicalities of such an undertaking, partially in response to the questions most frequently asked of her on luggage, language difficulties, budgets and solitude. A meticulous writer and planner, she even provides lists of the contents of her panniers as appendices. But the beauty of the book is the sense of an 'ordinary' person doing what she has done, with no special level of fitness, coupled with not even a clue how to mend a puncture. Her portraits of the people of remote Amazon villages, of rural Australian farmers, or Tibetan shepherds are enchanting, warm, but always underpinned by a strong historical, literary and factual basis. Illuminated by colour photos taken mostly by the author, Lone Traveller will undoubtably spawn a new wave of cyclists along this ambitious trail. (Kirkus UK)
See all Product Description
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
55% buy the item featured on this page: Lone Traveller: One Woman, Two Wheels and the World |
 |
18% buy A Bike Ride: 12, 000 Miles Around the World £6.99 |
 |
9% buy Discovery Road £6.99 |
 |
9% buy Thunder and Sunshine £5.24 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Fun for Everyone |
More From Anne Mustoe
A Bike Ride: 12, 000 Miles Around the... When ex-headmistress Anne Mustoe gave up her job, bought a bike and...
Read more
|
Treat Someone
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). |
||||||||
| |||||
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
Amazon Home | |
| International Sites: United States | Germany | France | Japan | Canada | China | |
| Business Programs: Sell on Amazon | Fulfilment by Amazon | Join Associates | Join Advantage | |
| Customer Service | Help | View Basket | Your Account | |
| About Amazon.co.uk | Careers at Amazon | |
| Conditions of Use & Sale | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates |