Rob Lilwall

It is only when you look at an atlas that you get an idea just how large China actually is. It manages to be the second largest state by land area and is home to around 1.3 billion people. It is not unknown for journeys to take a long time even by road, so to contemplate walking across the country is madness; or takes a special kind of adventurer.

Rob Lilwall is that man.

Joining him is Leon McCarron, an adventurer in his own right, but he will be there to film the journey for a documentary. The 3000-mile journey will take them from the Mongolian Steppe all the way to Hong Kong. Their 10,000,000 steps will take them across the Gobi in the depths of winter, over the Great Wall, past the terracotta army, through valleys and over rivers. The people they meet are almost all friendly and welcoming, even the police and authorities who naturally take a great interest in their journey seem to be remarkably relaxed. It is a tough walk, as well as the physical issues involved in an endurance adventure, they have moments when tempers fray and misunderstandings abound.

It is quite an astonishing walk through a country undergoing rapid changes. Lilwall is not the most eloquent of writers and he is honest about the bad parts of the walk as well as those moments that will stay with him forever, but this is a book written from the heart and that is what makes this worth reading. 3.5 stars… (mehr)

Enjoyed the travel account but the self righteous religion really turned me off. Especially after he concluded everyone who disagrees or has another religion is not only wrong but arrogant too. Oh pot, you are calling the kettle black.

So I was disappointed this epic journey didn't manage to open the doors of perception. Agree with Kinniska about quitting when the preaching starts.

NOTE: This is by far the most popular of the books I've passed on. My Dad & stepmother, their 2 friends, and now another set of adventurous readers is going at it. I had no idea so many people wanted to read this one I've discarded.… (mehr)

Well, I enjoyed the travel aspects of it, but after a while he just keeps harping about how important Christianity and his faith is to him, and eventually that turns into how arrogant it is for anyone else to think any other way.

In fact, I should probably update to add the page in which that particular thought occurs in paragraph form.

If he'd stuck to the travelogue it would have been a wonderful narrative. As it is, I'm afraid it comes across as the "I've spent all this time on the road, and I have come home wiser for it, and now I am in SOLE POSSESSION OF THE TRUTH..." and as a result...it becomes stultifying.

Sorry. That's my view. Read the first 2/3 of the book for an interesting travel narrative. Then drop it like a hot rock when he starts preaching while coyly pretending he's not...… (mehr)