The Gringo Trail - Mark Mann
Asia has the hippie trail. South America has the gringo trail. Mark Mann and his girlfriend Melissa set off to explore the ancient monuments, mountains, and rainforests of South America. But for their friend Mark, South America meant only one thing: drugs. For the generation of contemporary travelers, The Gringo's Trail is the equivalent of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road". A diary from a journey lined with black humor leads us into the depths of South America's turbulent history.
Description from the author
"On the Road", Jack Kerouac
It is not a pearl among travel books and yet, as you read, it consumes you so much that you regret it when it ends.
Described realistic, "naughty" and far from those organized by tour companies trip through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia, with a backpack, local buses, with overnight stays in the cheapest and worst dives, on the floor of shepherd's huts, heavily drunk with alcohol and on high, gives a taste of experiencing a student or hippie adventure. On the other hand - this history is twisted with more serious analyzes and historical inserts, supported by data from encyclopedias and yearbooks.
Initially, it was quite a dissonance for me, but the final part, describing the free life on the paradise beach in Arrecifes, brings unexpectedly completely different emotions and thoughts about the meaning of life, puberty, our relationships with loved ones, searching for happiness, the energy of the universe as well as being in harmony with nature. In this way, the book is a little confusing and surprising. Not everyone will feel comfortable while jumping between drunken stories and drugs to the existential, almost poetic philosophical thoughts.
If you will make the decision to start reading that book though, give it a chance and finish it even if after two or three chapters you feel it's not for you. Change of style may positively surprise you.
| MY SCORE | 3/5 |
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Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati