num_pages: 347
description: Acclaimed journalist Bernard Ollivier begins his epic journey on foot across the Silk Road. Upon retirement at the age of sixty-two and grieving his deceased wife renowned journalist Bernard Ollivier felt a sense of profound emptiness: What do I do now? While some see retirement as a chance to cash in their chips and settle into a comfy armchair Ollivier still longed for more. Searching for inspiration he strapped on his gear donned his hat and headed out the front door to hike the Way of St. James a 1400-mile journey from Paris to Compostela Spain. At the end of that road with more questions than answers he decided to spend the next few years hiking another of historys great routes: the Silk Road.Out of Istanbul is Olliviers stunning account of the first part of that 7200-mile journey. The longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time the Silk Road is in fact a network of routes across Europe and Asia some going back to prehistoric times. During the Middle Ages the transcribed travelogue of one Silk Road explorer Marco Polo helped spread the fame of the Orient throughout Europe. Heading east out of Istanbul Ollivier takes readers step by step across Anatolia and Kurdistan bound for Tehran. Along the way we meet a colorful array of real-life characters: Selim the philosophical woodsman; old Behet elated to practice English after years of self-study; Krishna manager of the Lora Pansiyon in Polonez a village of Polish immigrants; the hospitable Kurdish women of Dogutepe and many more. We accompany Ollivier as he explores bazaars mosques and caravansariestrue vestiges of the Silk Road itselfand through these encounters and experiences gains insight into the complex political and social issues facing modern-day Turkey. Olliviers journey far from bragging about some tremendous achievement humbly takes the reader on a colossal adventure of human proportions one in which walking itself through a kind of alchemy fosters friendships and fellowship.
language: English
title: Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road
publisher: Skyhorse