Fakirs, Feluccas and Femmes Fatales

. The only book of its kind, based on years of travel for work rather than travel for its own sake. . Perfect for dipping into at the airport or in your hotel. . The author shares the high and low points from his time in 70 countries.

Fakirs, Feluccas and Femmes Fatales - Travel literature and holiday reads by E T Laing featuring adventures and brief encounters while working in seventy countries. This book includes travel highs and lows, from dangerous war zones in Sierra Leone and Angola and near-death experiences in India to the pleasures of solo travel and cultural exchange.This is a unique collection of brief encounters and adventures from working in seventy countries - a kaleidoscope of landscapes, sounds, smells, politics, humour dialogue and, above all, people. E T Laing recounts episodes that include a Chinese Red Guard reminiscing about the day her parents were hauled in front of her to be sentenced; unreconstructed Russian apparatchiks; and sailors on a Turkmenistan ferry knocking back vodka. A warts-and-all account of the author's travels, with disasters and miseries alongside the high points, he takes you to danger zones, wars of startling savagery in Sierra Leone, Pakistan and Angola, coups and dubious elections. He narrowly avoids death in India, Mexico and Nigeria. In other episodes he simply savours the pleasures of travelling alone. As the author says, 'Nothing sharpens the understanding more than seeing things done ten different ways in ten different countries.'