Reading Travellogues

                                             From "The Tao Of Travel", by Paul Theroux


It occurs to me that travel-writing probably involves a degree of narcissim (erm, is that why I like it??). But then again, aren't most works of art (be they literary, photographic) like that?

Anyway, I have been on a travellogue-reading craze the past few days - and what a wonderful way to start off my month-long holiday!

This particular quote called out to me:

"Most travel, and certainly the rewarding kind, involves depending on the kindness of strangers, putting yourself into the hands of people you don't know and trusting them with your life."

How true it is. And it is with this conviction that I decided the first travellogue I will read this holiday is this, a collection of contributions from writers who happen to like travelling:

What a great read it was - a collection of wacky, funny, thought-provoking stories, some of which are dramatic enough to be able to be a Hollywood-remake. It was interesting how some of the best writings I like came from women travellers. I like how one entry deals with some very real questions I always asked myself during travel (the sense of "obligation'' towards some people you meet along the way and the middle class guilt one feels) and a twist in the definition of 'kindness' in another entry, but no less 'kind''. So HQ, you must read the book!!

It also reminded me of the many acts of kindness and trustworthiness shown to my travelling partners and me all these while.  From LZ and I riding (and speeding) pillion with WW2 Vietnamese veterans-turned-Easyriders who bring tourists around for a living in Dalat (they could jolly have thrown us off the winding hills) to museum office workers offering HQ and me a ride far out to the city from the Salt mountains in the suburb part of Tainan (they certainly didn't have to). As much as these acts often lead me to wonder what I have done to deserve them, they also made me understand kindness knows no boundaries. And the only way around it is to pass it on, as the cliche goes.