Tuesday, 18 June 2013

A Weekend Trip to Asia

Travelling tires me. Hotel beds poke at my tender bones and crick my neck. Food in foreign lands disagrees with my digestion and if ever I'm warned about drinking the water I generally head for home.

But last weekend I went to Laos and it was amazing. I wandered through colourful, spice-scented markets, lingered on bridges spanning fast flowing rivers, met countless locals. I even sat with a monk...

And all thanks to my very good blog friend, Jo.

I rarely write book reviews on this blog but I had to share with you the enjoyment I got last weekend from reading Bombs and Butterflies by Jo Carroll.

Jo is an amazing lady. She not only enjoys travelling alone to far flung places, she can convey that enjoyment to the rest of us. Not bad for a lady who I suspect is a similar age to myself, an age when our children expect us to be tucked up in front of the fire knitting bed jackets.

So, if you've never been to Laos, even if you've never had plans to ever go there, may I suggest you read Bombs and Butterflies. It's like being there without all the faff of getting there.




22 comments:

  1. Yes, that's my kind of travelling too. Sounds lovely, so it'll go straight on to my kindle!

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  2. Oh Ros, how very kind. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

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  3. Sounds great! Thanks for the tip :)

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  4. I think that's the best way to visit places that are very exotic. I'll give it a try.

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  5. armchair traveling - excellent. I could see the exotic colors and inhale the aromas. Very fun

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  6. I totally agree. A great read, full of colour and compassion!

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  7. Interesting. So reading the book whisked you away to a foreign land? That's quite a review. Or am I missing something? Did you actually go to Laos? Hmm.

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    1. As if! I'm too much of a wimp to do what Jo does.

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  8. Great post and yes, it is the easy way to travel.

    Yvonne.

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  9. Ah, traveling from the couch...perfect!

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  10. Hi Ros .. sounds fascinating - and with the inclement weather we've been having - sounds such a great book to hunker down to .. I'd love to learn more about that side of the world ... so thanks for highlighting it for us ..

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. If you want to know more about that side of the world, Hilary, then you should read all Jo's books. She's amazingly intrepid!

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  11. I guess I'm so lucky that I enjoy this Asian adventure every single day. Hey Ros, come over to Malaysia next time ;)

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    1. You write the book, Duncan, and I'll do the travlelling... in my armchair of course!

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  12. I'm reading this at the moment in fact it kept me reading until the wee early hours this morning.I'm loving it and the only way I would travel to those far flung places.

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  13. It sounds wonderful. Thanks for telling us about it. I fell in love with that part of the world in the early '60s when I read about Dr. Thomas Dooley's humanitarian efforts there, but it isn't likely I'll ever travel there in person. This book sounds like the next best thing.

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  14. I do enjoy traveling, but I agree on the exhaustion of it too:) Your trip to Laos sounds so good:)

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  15. That is exactly my kind of travel these days. A great tribute to her post. I shall go and have a look. Thanks

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  16. Sounds like a wonderful escape Rosalind! What an eye popping cover!

    Julie

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