Intrepid traveller
Ella Maillart (1903-1997) was a Swiss travel writer who spent many years in Asia. This is an account of her trip with Peter Fleming, the British ournalist and writer, from Paking to Kashmir in 1935. The trek took seven months and they covered some 3500 miles, travelling by rail when possible, on trucks, on horse and camelback, and when no other form of transport was available their feet took them to their next destination.
Maillart and Fleming were interested in finding out what was going on in Sinkiang, the scene of a civil war. They had been journalists when they first met - she was working for the French newspaper 'Le Petit Parisien' and he for the London 'Times'. Maillart was also a keen and excellent photographer.
Fleming wrote his own account of the trip in his book 'News from Tartary'. To truly appreciate what they had to go through on this arduous trip, I think one should really read both of them, preferably one after the other. It doesn't matter which book one reads first. They are two of the finest travelogues I have come across.
