Product Description

Bikes have always been Charley's first love, but he also enjoys a challenge. So when the chance comes to travel across three continents 'by any means', he jumps right in. Grabbing whatever local transport he can get his hands on, Charley travels from his home town in County Wicklow all the way to Australia - a trip of over 20,000 miles through twenty-five countries. Testing Charley's skills and stamina to the limit, this new journey offers him a unique opportunity to meet people and learn firsthand all about their countries. He drives a lorry through northern Iran, rides a tuk-tuk through the chaotic and colourful city of Varanasi, and becomes the first person ever to wakeboard across the Malay/Singapore border. He sets up his own bus service in Turkey, takes a slow boat down the Mekong, and a very fast one through Borneo to deliver vaccines for UNICEF. And of course he jumps on a bike whenever he can, even if there's a monsoon on the way ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3183 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Charley Boorman is the author of RACE TO DAKAR and co-author of LONG WAY DOWN and LONG WAY ROUND. All are bestsellers. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

A bit so so........
I like others thoroughly enjoyed the two 'long ways' and the Race to Dhaka. This though is something else. Everything is all a bit clichéd and to be honest I couldn't really see the point of the trip. For example the 'by any means' to me actually means 'I haven't got any form of transport' (or presumably money) and hence must take (via hitching etc) any means to get from A to B. In this case `by any means' really actually 'means' (OK enough means) how many forms of transport can be 'ticked' off, in effect to make the trip look like a crazy caper which in reality it isn't. The TV show demonstrates this with the inherent and rather annoying 'ticker' of forms of transport. So what I could go to London for the day, ride the tram, tube etc....you get the picture. The second thing is that the writing is actually quite dull and lacks much in the way of depth i.e. I got up, met this bloke, we did this, ate this, saw this. All very good but excluding the bits with some history like Cambodia this type of writing is dull. Finally the last thing which got me was the constant whining about missing the kids and missus. OK if you're serving in Iraq, but if you're doing a big jolly which I presume was done with a book/dvd in mind this gets a little annoying. In summary I enjoyed it but it's nothing special.

gone just a bit too far
i have really enjoyed is exploits in the past and the race to dakar was the best, but i'm sorry this just did not do it for me at all.
a case of its all been done before and watching a middle class some time actor having a trip no sorry.

A classic travel book of the future
I enjoyed this book emmensly. I have read Long Way Round and Long Way Down and found that the 2nd book was much better but By Any Means is defintely the best yet in the series and Charley Boorman comes accross brilliantly. You can really hear his voice if you know him from the TV series. The maps and tables really helped me get a sense of the journey which was a completly bonkers concept but makes for an interesting read.

a good book to take on holiday!