Naomi Weisman is a Canadian-Australian and mother of three, who loves to ramble with her dog, cook for family and friends, and laugh whenever possible.
Many adventurous Sole Sisters love to cycle in addition to rambling, like Rita Fromholt, Linda Hutchinson, Diane Brochu King, and Elizabeth Dunbar. So, I am reviewing Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road (Kate Harris) , a travel memoir with all of you adventurers, ramblers, and cyclers in mind.
I read this book when it first came out in 2018. It was recommended to me by an avid cyclist friend of mine. As many of you know, I am decidedly not a cyclist, but I love travelogues. Bill Bryson was my favorite travel writer until Kate Harris came along. Her wanderlust, taste for adventure, and way of describing scenes and experiences really appeal to me.
We have read many great ramble logs on the Sole Sister Ramblers website that inspire us, and let me tell you, this book is the ultimate ramble log. Kate Harris is a self-described explorer and scientist from a very early age. She studied at prestigious universities like Oxford and M.I.T and was even a Rhodes Scholar, but her first love has always been exploring.
Instead of living her life in a science lab, Harris and her friend Mel realized that they had to make their adventurous dream of cycling the Silk Road a reality. So, off they went for a year of biking across borders, peddling mile after mile in some of the most remote places on earth, like Armenia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Romania, San Marino, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
“There seemed few outlets left for the restlessness that ached inside me, this mad longing for a world without maps.”
Lands of Lost Borders chronicles Harris’ odyssey in overcoming the limits we set for ourselves. It examines the restrictions that borders place on nature and humanity. Forget charting maps and naming peaks and valleys like most explorers; Harris broke through boundaries and soared, completely free of restrictions.
“The more I learned about the South Caucasus, with its closed borders and warring enclaves,” she writes, “the more the place seemed like a playground game of capture-the-flag, all in the dubious name of nationalism.”
If you appreciate a good memoir or are like me and love to read travelogues, I encourage you to read this amazing chronicle of cycling through the Silk Road. It is equal parts eloquent and informative. I learned a lot.
I would love to know what you think of it or any other travelogues you’ve read and enjoyed.
READ MORE > Nomi's Pic, Rambler Cafe Blog
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