Product Description

With little more than backpacks and desire for adventure, Mark Mann and two friends set out on an expedition through Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia, submerging themselves in Latin culture. Through dense forests, daunting mountains, and pristine beaches, the trio makes its way — in a drug-induced haze. Soon the drugs become an all-consuming addiction that changes the lives of Mann and his friends forever. This is an engaging travelogue and frank memoir evokes the magical realism of South American literature. "Darkly comic, ultimately shocking, and packed with astute observations." — Geographical

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #386679 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Customer Reviews

...or, "what I did on my summer vacation"
This author writes "By 1492, after trying for 800 years, Ferdinand and Isabella had finally expelled the Moors from Spain." Wow. That and the reference to Japanese "Banzai trees" marks this book as not so much poorly written as poorly edited. No surprise that when I went back to look at the gushing blurb on the cover, I found it was quoted from a soft-porn lad-mag.

This book is candy. It might be interesting to people who have never done this sort of travel, and who are fascinated by the idea of giving it a try. But for the tens of millions of us who having done it for ourselves, the journey this book describes is very ordinary. Here is yet another little band of angry, self-righteous British slackers, who escape work by puking and quarrelling their way across the 3rd world.

And this book is nothing more than the diary of the trip. Episode after episode, one wonders, "what was the point of that little story?" The author at one point ponders splitting off from his two companions, but it is clear why he doesn't: most of this book is about his interactions with them. Without someone to spat with, he would have little to fill the pages.

To give his work gravitas, he follows the formula of interleaving his personal narrative with leftish social-historical-political commentary. He even includes a bibliography of all of 20 books! It is just added gloss on the basic pretension that this trip is some sort of spiritual pilgrimage, an anthropological exploration into recondite psychedelic shamanic practices. He is flattering himself. He and his friends are just a slightly more educated breed of yobs, going where others have gone before.

He could aspire to be a chronicler, at least, of the yob backpacking scene. In a sense, he is. Realising that all the above still doesn't amount to an interesting story, he continues his wanderings until all the risk-taking behavior (dangerous buses, big doses, getting drunk with strangers, etc. etc.) leads to the predictable tears. A tragedy provides the book's climax--and an opportunity to quote Pink Floyd lyrics. In the final paragraph we see him setting off for yet another dangerous country with his remaining companion. Perhaps he will publish a sequel...if only he can manage to kill off just one more traveling companion....

Recommended reading
(From Planeta.com Journal): One of the best books of the year, The Gringo Trail is a riotous mix of humor and scandal. It documents the travels of three Brits who go to South America for different reasons, though drug taking takes center stage. This is quite an unusual book, and it introduces me to Summersdale Publishing, "publishing the grooviest books on the planet." The Gringo Trail confirms that description. Keep an eye on this author! Besides this book, he spends his time with Tourism Concern, a prestigious UK group dedicated to improving tourism. I look forward to reading more of his work.

Travel noir at its best
Recommended to me by a couple of back-packers from the UK. Enjoyed it so much I bought five copies for friends. If you've travelled and still not found - then you'll love this book.