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A review by alongapath
Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road by Kate Harris
Did not finish book.
I was very interested in the premise for this book - women cycling along the length of the Silk Road, stealthily crossing borders, overcoming unforeseen obstacles and grinding out hard miles of unforgiving trail - but sadly it did nothing but disappoint.
The prologue had an exciting account of Harris and her friend Mel ducking under a border gate with their heavily-loaded bikes in the dark of night, all clothed in black, trying to evade the Chinese border guards as they sneaked into Tibet without the required documentation. Thrilling! But soon afterwards, Harris went on and on about her life of privilege and her dream of living on Mars. Unable to fix herself to any one thing, she vacillates between attaining university degrees and travelling, knowing that at any time her family could bail her out financially or politically.
My issue with the book is simply that there wasn't enough about her cycling trip and that is the only reason the book captured my attention and imagination. So, once I realized that this is actually a memoir of her entire life, I set it aside.
The prologue had an exciting account of Harris and her friend Mel ducking under a border gate with their heavily-loaded bikes in the dark of night, all clothed in black, trying to evade the Chinese border guards as they sneaked into Tibet without the required documentation. Thrilling! But soon afterwards, Harris went on and on about her life of privilege and her dream of living on Mars. Unable to fix herself to any one thing, she vacillates between attaining university degrees and travelling, knowing that at any time her family could bail her out financially or politically.
My issue with the book is simply that there wasn't enough about her cycling trip and that is the only reason the book captured my attention and imagination. So, once I realized that this is actually a memoir of her entire life, I set it aside.