Finally finished a book started weeks ago. Mentioned in yesterday's blog that I read in 1998, it's The Gentleman In The Parlor: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong, by W. Somerset Maugham. He calls Rangoon's country Burma so that's a clue it's an older book because that country is now known as Myanmar. It was published in 1930, shortly after Maugham made the journey.
Myanmar is a Southeast Asian country I barely entered. There's a place where it borders Thailand that I crossed the border to a market. While I was technically in Myanmar, I couldn't leave the market to travel in the country without going through customs.
However, in the other three countries mentioned; Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, I traveled extensively. Reading his description of these places from almost 100 years ago was very interesting. For example, in Saigon, now called Ho Chi Min City, he stayed in the Continental Hotel. When Joanne, Lisa and I were there, we too, stayed in the Continental.
He travelled by a variety of means; walking, horseback, bullock cart, train, car and boat. My travels were by car, boat, train and airplane. Joanne, Lisa and I went from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Saigon by car. A Church World Service driver drove us to the boarder of Vietnam. Carrying our luggage, we walked across the border and through customs. From there we took a taxi to the edge of Saigon. Why the edge? The driver was intimidated by Saigon traffic, so we had to find another taxi to take us downtown.
Throughout the book cities were mentioned that I had visited; Bangkok, which I called my home away from home, Phnom Penh, Hue, Hanoi, etc. It was fun trip down memory lane. My interest in rereading it was sparked by another book recently read, The House of Doors, Tan Twan Eng. Set in Penang, Malaysia, where I also visited, H. Somerset Maugham is featured because he spent time there.
Takk for alt,
Al
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