Product Description

A humorous travel book encompassing the hippy trail of the Sixties and written by the author of NO SHITTING IN THE TOILET.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168950 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
London to Sydney in 25 countries--that's the task that Peter Moore, an Australian working in England, set himself. The catch was that he had to travel overland, no flights allowed within a budget of five thousand Australian dollars.

Because of "pure, unadulterated hippy envy" he attempts to discover the music, sex and drugs of the 60s hippy trail. The Wrong Way Home tells the story of his journey through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia (check his ports of call on the map at the front of the book).

Moore writes like a young Bill Bryson with earrings and ponytail, pointing out the ironies and idiosyncrasies of his own and other cultures. Take the example of the cling-on koala he gives to a Chinese friend in Lanzhou as a token of thanks--he makes sure he removes the "Made in China" label first.

The book is peppered with cartoon-like characters that Moore meets on his journey; the Czechs with matching haircuts, the spitting Chinese, the drunken Australians. Juxtaposed with his acidic observations Moore writes movingly of his experiences in war-torn Bosnia and the visit to his grandfather's grave in Singapore. --Anna Hornsey

From the Back Cover
When Peter Moore announced he was going to travel home from London to Sydney wihtout stepping on to an aeroplane he was met with a resounding Why? The answer was a severe case of hippie envy: hippies had the best music, the best drugs, the best sex. But most of all, they had the best trips.

Knowing that his funds were woefully inadequate and that his chances of actually making it through such notorious hot-spots as the Balkans, Iran and Afghanistan were, in a word, slim, Peter was never one to err on the side of caution and over the next eight months (and twenty-five countries) he followed the trail overland to the East. It would prove to be a journey of exhilarating highs and, on occasions, frustrating lows, of diverse experiences - including the world's most expensive disco (in Albania), the bombed-out villages of Croatia, the opium fields of Laos, student riots in Jakarta, an all-night beach rave on a small island in Thailand - and memorable encounters with a wonderful cast of often eccentric, at times exasperating and, once in a while, overly amorous characters.

Funny, irreverent and acutely observed, The Wrong Way Home will strike a chord with anyone who has ventured on such a life-enhancing Grand Tour. It will also entertain (and perhaps alarm) all those who love to read about such adventures but would never be fool enough to grab that rucksack and go.

About the Author
Peter Moore
Peter Moore is a freelance advertising copywriter and website producer who works only to support his insatiable travel habit. He has written for various Australian and British publications, including The Times and Sydney Herald, and it the author of two acclaimed travel books, The Wrong Way Home and The Full Montezuma, and the classic alternative travel guide, No Shitting in the Toilet. When he's not on the road living out of his trusty backpack, he lives in Sydney with his collection of souvenir plastic snowdomes.

Customer Reviews

A thoroughly enjoyable read - entertaining and educational!
My current passion is reading travel related books as I will invariably never have the time or money to do anything like it myself! Having exhausted the various adventures of Bill Bryson I moved around a variety of authors and happened upon this particular book. The rave reviews that fellow Amazon users had bestowed upon this particular piece encouraged me to buy the book and make my own mind up. Having done so I found the book full of interesting information, comical capers and fascinating facts. Peter Moore tells the story in his own inimitable way and enjoys a special rapport with his audience that he seemingly knows will be enjoying the tales he tells so delightfully. From someone who travels so well he is cleverly able to impart the real feel of his adventures to those of those who don't have the same opportunities. So an excellent read and well recommended to anyone who likes travel, adventure and a bit of fun. Oh, and prepare to finish the book very quickly!

The best travel book I've ever read.
I'm not normally a fan of travel writing...maybe Magenta Divine wandering around third world countries in pink stilleto's and sunglasses prejudiced me a bit. To be honest I picked this book up because it had a tank on the front cover & I anticipated something horrible happening to another smug travel writer. What I found was a real gem.

Peter Moore decided to backpack from London to Sydney overland. Travelling through some pretty rough places (war torn Bosnia, Kurdistan, Taliban Afganistan). He also illegally entered Tibet & bluffed his way into Laos. When he said he travelled from "London to Sydney the hard way" he wasn't kidding! Rather than being a tale of horror or another lonely planet publication this book has a real sense of humour & is truly different. Peter Moore can laugh at what he encounter's, but be complementing it at the same time. Obviously he has to pack 8 months & 25 countries into a paperback, but at the same time he doesn't skimp on the detail. If you check out his website he's got all his photo's uploaded... this is such a good idea why don't other authors do it?

I'm off to buy his other books. DON'T MISS THIS ONE!

Why make a journey easy when there’s a book to write
Clearly there’s loads of travel books around right now, everyone’s doing them, maybe it’s writing about where you lived as a child, then writing where you lived as an adult once you’re returned to where you lived as a child, or maybe travelling around a country with a fridge. Clearly to stand out you’ve got to do something different to stand out.

Well, Peter Moore does just that in this book – an Australian who’s been working in London decided he was going to travel home to Sydney. Mmm, doesn’t sound too difficult, go to Heathrow, jump on a plane, change planes somewhere in the Far East and there you go. But no, he didn’t want to do that – he decided do travel from London to Sydney without using an aeroplane.

The book tells of Moore’s intrepid journey which lasts eight months and takes in 25 countries and his various adventures along the way and in particular his difficulties of getting into various countries. His style of writing is fairly unique – highly entertaining and amusing and all in all a fairly difficult book to put down before you’ve finished it. I particularly liked the soundtrack given to each chapter as there’s always a good story as to how Moore chooses such a song.

Highly recommended. I’ll definitely be reading some of his other books now.