Off the Beaten Track

by Rajiva Wijesinha

The fourth in the series of travel books by Rajiva Wijesinha, written during the period of coronavirus restrictions, was published last month by S. Godage & Bros, and is now available at their bookshop next to Ananda College. The other three books are Exploring India which looks too at the other countries of South Asia; Around and About the Mediterranean which explores all the countries which abut on that inland sea, including two island countries, and also the countries of the Balkans; and To the Ends of the Earth which covers several countries in Latin America and in Sub-Saharan Africa and the four eastern Archipelagos of Asia.

This book, entitled Off the Beaten Track, looks at unusual travel destinations in the former Soviet Union, and then at former French and British colonies in South East Asia. Before these there is a vivid account, illustrated with beautiful photographs, of a visit to Iran in 2008, which covered the classic cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, but went further afield too to Susa and Ecbatana of the old Persian empire.

The ancient splendours of Kazakhstan follow, exquisite tombs and massive now ruined fortresses, and then the magnificent structures of Uzbekistan, the magical cities of Samarkand and Bukhara and the fortress city of Khiva, with an overnight journey back to Tashkent and then a drive into the mountains. Lesser known is Turkmenistan with the extensive ruins, only partially restored, of what had been massive centres of commerce in the Middle Ages.

From the eastern shores of the Caspian at Turkmenbashi, the narrative moves to Baku on its Western shore, and the various phases and beauties of Azerbaijan. These include, after a bus journey to the mountains in the north, the province of Nakchivan which has to be reached by air. In between is territory disputed with Armenia, the glorious monasteries of which are featured next, along with churches of different periods and stunning mountain scenery.

There follow brief descriptions of visits to the Soviet Union before it broke up, including an overnight train journey to Georgia and two visits by sea to the Ukrainian port of Odessa, where the writer wandered through a still sleepy city, with daily performances at the opera or the circus.

If these countries are well off the beaten track, the same is not true of the countries of Indo-China as it used to be known which are described next. But they were unusual destinations in the eighties and the early nineties. The writer was fortunate enough to get to Hanoi in 1984 when it was still suffering the after effects of the Vietnam War, and when he saw Angkor Wat in 1991 conditions were primitive and the Khmer Rouge lurked in the countryside beyond the walls of the enclaves.

The richness of the book is enhanced by the reproduction of the articles published after those visits in the Lanka Guardian and convey a range of reflections on the suffering the region had undergone and the resilience of its peoples. And the long account of several visits to Cambodia in the nineties records the aid programmes on offer and then the development of a political system that has relentlessly modernized while precluding any regime change. Contrasted with this is the sleepiness of Laos, where the central feature of the capital is a fountain with piped music of a period before the country was ravaged. And its old capital Luang Prabang, reached three decades ago in a tiny plane that swooped low over the hills, was even sleepier, offering a tranquil boat ride down the river and a exquisite little palace.

Malaysia too was relatively primitive when the writer first visited the place in 1969 and, though Singapore had begun to move forward, it was still possible to feel that Sri Lanka was infinitely better off, in those distant days. But then things changed rapidly, and the advance into modernity that has left us far behind is recorded through later visits. In between however were visits on the same ship that took the writer to Odessa, docking twice in Penang, with an earlier journey there by train when there still seemed danger from insurgent forces on the connecting train to Bangkok. In 1986 there was warnings about insurgents on the road across the central highlands of Malaysia, but by 1989 the train to Bangkok was comfortable and in 1990 travelling in Malaysia was absolutely safe.

Except in the extracts from earlier essays, this book is not a classic travelogue, but rather records simply a range of sights, with a host of evocative photographs. But there are also some human elements, an attempted seduction in the train to Tashkent, the variation on the theme of Romeo and Juliet in Kazakhstan, the drama of opera in Tbilisi and Yerevan; there are the difficulties of travel in a militaristic Burma in the mid-eighties, along with the joys of Pagan with evidence of the only international adventure of a Sri Lankan ruler, Parakramabahu of Polonnaruwa fame who also equipped a navy; there is the long friendship with a boy on a motorbike who picked the writer up in Phnom Penh, and then was transformed into a policeman in Sihanoukville where he also taught English. There are also two journeys with an eccentric English friend in the scenic highlands of Cambodia and then Laos, with the added bonus of the Preah Viharn temple on the drive back.

The pictures are all taken by the writer, except for records of Hanoi in the eighties supplied by his host there then, who also put him up in the nineties. Those capture the spirit of a country of cheerful youngsters, determined to leave the memory of the war behind them. There are few pictures of people otherwise, except for friends and travelling companions, but apart from the glorious architecture of the different countries there are also splendid scenes of sunrise and sunset, of rivers and waterfalls and mountains. The book does indeed bear witness to a wonderful world.