The Sands of Time

Does travel literature ever become outdated?   That was the thought running through my mind as I started Baghdad Without a Map by Tony Horwitz.  It is an account of his time living in and reporting from the Middle East.  This is a region of the world that has changed so dramatically in the past year so I naturally wondered if the 1980's vignettes in this book would be relevant or sadly outdated.  Like all great travel literature, however, this is an outstanding portrait of a place and time period that makes for entertaining reading no matter when you happen to be turning the pages.

The book is a series of chapters that detail his experiences in various countries as he worked as a freelance reporter based in Cairo. Some chapters focus on the ordinary lives of everyday people.  He chews qat with men in Yemen, he visits a strip club in Cairo, crosses the river of Jordan, and flies the incredibly dangerous airlines that serve the region.  (His tale of getting out of Khartoum, Sudan via Air Egypt is truly frightening.)  Other chapters are of his experiences covering big events.  He and a number of other journalists travel to Libya at the request of the government to "verify" that the country is peaceful and happy.  Libya in "The Colonel's Big Con" reminded me of the stories of life in North Korea that I read in Nothing to Envy.  The amount of self delusion that life under a dictator requires is utterly heartbreaking.  Similar images come from his visits to Baghdad under Saddam, during the Iran-Iraq war, and later, just before the first Gulf war.  Baghdad, however, brings much more menace as Horwitz is taken into custody and interrogated by officials after a paid informant reports him for being a journalist.

This was risky business, freelancing in the Middle East, but Horwitz finds humor in it all and makes even Khartoum (possibly hell on earth) entertaining reading.  But he reminds us that the risks he takes are nothing compared to the daily lives of residents.  One story, "To Beirut:  jusqu'au Boutiste" is the tale of a ferry ride in the dead of night to the besieged city.  Many on the boat are returning to their home despite the near constant shelling (and shelling directed at their ferry), because it is just that: home. 

So now, 20 years later, peace has come to some areas, war to others.  Dictators have fallen, new regimes have arisen and some struggles stay exactly the same despite endless conflict.  In this region the past is always the present, making this a very timely read indeed.