This one is going to be hard for me to write about, because I like the author much better than his book.
Back in 2007, when I hadn’t started yet, I wrote the guy emails asking tons of questions about long-distance walking. He immediately responded to me in a very helpful and friendly way.

I remember a particularly beautiful piece of advice that he gave me: “You can use two days or two years to prepare for this, but you will get there anyway.”

Thank you Philippe!

Okay book by great guy

[Note: I have been reading a German translation of this French book.]

The story: PV is in his thirties when he decides to walk from Marseille in France to Kashgar (喀什) in China. He gets a few sponsorships and starts on his trek, walking through former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan into China. A lot of people are good to him and invite him to stay with them, and he even gets to ride in a helicopter in a danger zone of Afghanistan. Oh, and he takes great pictures too!

So, it is a pretty amazing journey.

But the book has a few flaws. First of all, why does the story begin in Turkey, and Europe was almost completely left out? I was expecting to read about that too, not just Asia. This could have been the editors fault – maybe they just cut that part out? But it’s weird anyway.

Apart from that, it was an okay read, but it didn’t feel very personal. It almost seemed like PV had left some stuff out, like some of the more personal issues that you would expect on a two-year walking journey. That being said, I actually enjoyed the parts where he talked about his obsession with soccer the most!

Another thing: very few of the characters he meets on the way are actually colorful enough to stand out. He notes their appearances, their names, ages and professions, but more often than not, there seems to be only little more to them.

Anyway, if you are into long-distance walking, make sure to pick this one up.

Or maybe just because he is such a great guy! :)

6/10.