Reviews

Neither a lark nor a pilgrimage, Hunt's Vietnamese travelogue was first conceived as deep background for a novel set in Southeast Asia. The subtitle refers to a web of tracks and paths, known collectively as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, that served as a north-south supply route for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. With an investment of $400, Hunt, a journalist for the Economist, purchased a Russian-made Minsk motorbike and rode it across some 5000 kilometers of Vietnam. At the outset, Hunt is acutely aware that his American passport won't permit him to travel incognito, because his "compatriots had dumped bombs equal to several Hiroshimas and a couple of Nagasakis on North Vietnam." He is all the more astonished that, this fact notwithstanding, a former South Vietnamese admits to him that "Americans sacrificed their lives to protect my freedom." More often than not, Hunt must search for the Ho Chi Minh Trail before he can explore it. While trying to reach Saigon, he encounters obstacles manifest as terrain, history, culture and, not least, an uncooperative automobile. This work captures a sense of sadness fused with a rush of adrenaline as Vietnam is once again reborn. (May)

In this whimsical first book, the 31-year-old author, now a journalist with the Economist, makes clear from the start that he is not old enough to have memories of the war in Vietnam or beliefs colored by it. Hunt begins his journey in Hanoi by buying a junker Russian motorcycle, acquiring an extra jerrycan of petrol and a Vietnamese phrase book, and heading southwest to try to retrace the 1700-kilometer-long supply routes used by the Vietcong during the war. His trip takes him both to cities like Hue and to poor, backwater villages throughout Vietnam and Laos. The absurdity of an American touring the rural areas of Vietnam without searching for memories of the war makes this a fascinating and fun book to read. Recommended for general collections.-Mary Ann Parker, California Dept. of Water Resources Law Lib., Sacramento