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W's Reviews > Sahara
Sahara
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In Sahara,Michael Palin goes off the beaten track,to the back of beyond.To begin with,I was not too keen on this book as I thought that a travelogue through the world's greatest desert would make for grim,cheerless reading.
However,this book turned out to be very interesting.Palin has a willingness to test himself under the most arduous conditions.The parched landscape of the desert becomes the setting for a thrilling adventure.
He stays in primitive accommodation,travels long distances on the back of camels and even on foot while crossing the desert,samples desert food and does not lose his good humour in scorching temperatures,(which touch 56 C) in the desert.
After having read the book first,a couple of years ago,recently I found the dvd set of this mini series.It is a pretty grim landscape,potentially life threatening,and in places infested by terrorists and bandits.
Palin also meets some interesting characters along the way.He meets a 68 year old Briton,who has been to the Sahara no less than forty times,and considers it recreation.Before meeting Palin,he had travelled eight days,without meeting a human being.
In Libya,Palin comes across the famed desert rats of Tobruq,from WWII,now in their eighties and having gathered for their last reunion on the battle scene.
He comes across ancient Roman monuments and buildings in some places along the route.In Tunisia,he finds people living rather comfortably in underground caves.
He also visits a familiar place,where he was crucified for a movie scene 23 years ago.In Algeria,he flirts with danger,travelling in a train which had been bombed and attacked on numerous occasions.At that time over 100,000 people had been killed in Algeria's Civil War,but that doesn't deter Palin from taking this route.
And,he also goes to Timbuktu.It looks like a primitive place,with its mud houses and dirt streets,making Palin wonder what made travellers across the centuries,want to make their way to it through a forbidding landscape.
However,this book turned out to be very interesting.Palin has a willingness to test himself under the most arduous conditions.The parched landscape of the desert becomes the setting for a thrilling adventure.
He stays in primitive accommodation,travels long distances on the back of camels and even on foot while crossing the desert,samples desert food and does not lose his good humour in scorching temperatures,(which touch 56 C) in the desert.
After having read the book first,a couple of years ago,recently I found the dvd set of this mini series.It is a pretty grim landscape,potentially life threatening,and in places infested by terrorists and bandits.
Palin also meets some interesting characters along the way.He meets a 68 year old Briton,who has been to the Sahara no less than forty times,and considers it recreation.Before meeting Palin,he had travelled eight days,without meeting a human being.
In Libya,Palin comes across the famed desert rats of Tobruq,from WWII,now in their eighties and having gathered for their last reunion on the battle scene.
He comes across ancient Roman monuments and buildings in some places along the route.In Tunisia,he finds people living rather comfortably in underground caves.
He also visits a familiar place,where he was crucified for a movie scene 23 years ago.In Algeria,he flirts with danger,travelling in a train which had been bombed and attacked on numerous occasions.At that time over 100,000 people had been killed in Algeria's Civil War,but that doesn't deter Palin from taking this route.
And,he also goes to Timbuktu.It looks like a primitive place,with its mud houses and dirt streets,making Palin wonder what made travellers across the centuries,want to make their way to it through a forbidding landscape.
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