Fried Eggs with Chopsticks by Polly Evans

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

Fried Eggs with Chopsticks is the tale of Polly Evans travelling around China for two months using only public/local means of transport. She braves massages in Beijing, public buses on remote dirt tracks, Donkey’s in Sichuan, Bears in southern China and being constantly lost in translation.

China is a place that both fascinates me and horrifies me. I have heard many amazing and downright scary stories from friends who have traveled in China. So I was very eager to read this when mum said she had a week left before it was due back at the library and I jumped at the opportunity.

As usual Polly manages to convey a warmth and humor about the country she is traveling in and the people she was meeting, even when Polly seemed to struggle. She really did seem to find this trip difficult after awhile and it was probably from the isolation and constant struggle to communicate in this strange land. Even ordering a meal involved her walking around a restaurant with the waitress in tow pointing to other patrons dishes to convey what she wanted to order.

It was easy to see in her writing in “On a hoof and a prayer” that she had loved every minute of the trip. Similarly Evans emotions were out for show in Fried Eggs with Chopsticks, you could clearly feel her despair and growing depression as she travelled deeper within China. I was very impressed though she never seemed to blame the Chinese for her troubles, she instead focused inwards and spoke of her turmoil and frustration over being unable to communicate more effectively.

“My fellow passengers snored and snorted creating an extraordinary symphony of rattling, roaring, moaning and groaning. The man in the bunk opposite was doing a good imitation of a slowly expiring farmyard animal”.

There were some hysterically funny moments and moments that I am amazed didn’t make her crack sooner, as I know I would have been a frazzled mess (I would have taken one look at the toilet she had gone to and canceled the rest of the trip).

A great read if you like travel stories and even better if you are planning a trip to China (I am looking at you Irish).

For a bit of fun Polly has a website http://www.pollyevans.com/ which has picture galleries of her trips. I really love this idea as you can see the places she travelled through. Her latest book looks great and is something I really want to do if I ever make it to snow!

On a Hoof and a Prayer by Polly Evans

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

At age thirty four Polly Evans decides she wants to learn how to ride. So naturally you fly half way round the world to Argentina. This is the story of Polly’s adventures as she spends two months traversing the wilds of Argentina seeing the sights from Patagonia and Iguazu falls. While learning its fascinating history, and of course leaning to ride a horse or two along the way.

Evans has a relaxed way of writing that was easy to follow. She has a great sense of humor and a wonderful understanding of the history of the country which she blends together to tell her story. I have learned more about Argentina reading this book then I have ever learned in school. There were some really good laugh out loud moments and some amazing characters that Evans met during her travels.

“ ‘Ah don’t worry.’ Yvonne smiled ‘They’re good horses here. But you’ve got to ride them properly. We’ve had guests before who’ve ridden their horses into trees - but it was their own stupid fault. They were just sitting there, doing nothing. You’ve got to really ride the horse.’ ”

Another thing I really enjoyed was at no point did you feel her judging the people of the nation she visited. Also she did activities that are attainable by the average person. Those are my two pet peeves with some travel writers; they can be so condescending about the people and do activities that cost bucket loads of money.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and I will definitely be picking up her other travel books (she has written about cycling around Spain, motor biking round New Zealand and traversing China by any means possible). If you like travel books or are planning a trip to Argentina then I recommend you reading this book.