Books

>>1290260
Uzbekistan : Carpet Ride to Khiva. It's a loose autobiography of a British guy who went to live in Khiva, a small city in an oasis well into Uzbekistan desert. He was working there to open up handmade carpet shops, for some NGO whatever.

He's kind of a RealTravelerTM but his writing is fairly nice and describes well the ways of Uzbek people. He was deep into the local community, lived with relatively close ties to a local family and all that so his outlook is very complete and interesting.

His description of Khiva is very vivid too. I read the book before arriving to the city, and it really helped to understand how the city was layed out, what to see and how to handle people. Also, it was fairly nice - almost emotional - to meet in person the people who were mentioned in the book.

>>1290260
Never been to Spain but Hemingway The Sun also rises, made me feel like a tourist in post-WW1 Spain.

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Pic related got me interested in northern Africa, particularly Algeria, although flying there from America seems fuck all expensive.

someone gave me 'The Bone People' before moving to nz. so glad i read it before coming here, would really reccomend.

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For Russia and the entire post-soviet sphere i'd recommend Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich

it's a collection of real personal stories (possibly somewhat fictionalized in parts) centering around the breakdown of the soviet union. it mostly deals with how all sorts of different people were affected both by communist rule and then by it's sudden collapse, so there are stories about the horrors of stalinist rule and WW2 but also about how people were devastated by losing their great utopia of socialism and then again others who felt liberated when it disappeared.
alexievich tries to capture the soul and mentality of the "soviet human" and i think she really succeeded in doing that.

I haven't been there but La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende seems like a good one for Chile

>>1290399
came here to post this. Really makes me want to go there at some point

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USA: Travels with Charley

A fun memoir by John Steinbeck as he road trips around the country in an RV with his dog Charley. In it he characterizes the differences and quirks in the regions he visits. Perhaps not the best book to learn the American psyche, but it's a very comfy travel book. It was just what I needed to get over my post-trip depression.

India:

City of Djinns by William Dalrymple is an entertaining and highly informative account of the author's year spent in New Delhi. He gives a run down on the area's history, covering events from the Mughal Era through British Colonization and Partition.

I lived in Delhi for a couple years, and City of Djinns really helps provide some context for the NCR's character.

The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga took me by surprise - I was almost immediately turned off by the writer's style, but couldn't stop myself from turning the pages. The story sheds a lot of insight into the hopelessness and aspirations of India's underclass while also criticizing a culture of corruption.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo is another good read. She spent a year or two following the lives of residents in Mumbai's Annawadi slum, which either is or was located fairly close to the city's main airport. It's nonfiction but is so well-done it gives the appearance of being a novel. Lots of drama, family rivalries, politics, problems with corruption, and a wealth of characters, some of whom turn to crime and prostitution and most of whom work tirelessly to reap an honest living.

I guess Shantaram is pretty typical white traveler fare but I'll give it a mention anyway - the descriptions of Mumbai street life and the Indian characters are priceless. The first half of the book is engaging, but the author, Gregory David Roberts, starts tossing in some kooky and half-balked philosophical ideas thereafter. Definitely worth checking out and reading but I think it was a little overrated.

Something I'd recommend for anyone traveling around long-term is Red Sun: Travels in Naxal Country by Sudeep Chakravarti. A lot of folks visiting India don't seem to realize many of the rural states in the East have effectively been in a state of low-intensity civil war since the late 1960s and 1970s. Although the government has succeeded in reducing the number of rebel-held provinces...

>>1291399

cont...

... over the course of the past several years, there are still tens of millions of Indians caught between communist rebels and brutal paramilitary organizations.

I think it's an interesting subject, at any rate.

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>>1290260
Mystical realism captures the soul of Colombia

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Indonesia: Indonesia Etc.

More of a travel book, but a great insight in what makes Indonesia great or shit, depending on your point of view. Also very entertaining.

>>1290544
Fly to Europe, then there are many connections to Algeria/Morocco/Tunisia

OP, to me Bill Bryson. He made me want to visit England. Love the man and the writing.

I highly recommend reading Patrick Leigh Fermor's 'A Time of Gifts' as well as his other books.

Strangely enough, reading Haruki Murakami and his trippy shit makes me want to go to Japan.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux is an brief, individual insight into ail travel across Asia back in the 70s. Interesting to see similarities and differences between today and his time/experience. He was in Vietnam while the Americans were withdrawing, and talks about how there was evidently no forethought or contingency plan for after the war, which seems pretty pertinent today.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee is similar. He captures the soul and tempo of Spain, even though he wrote at a point when it was still essentially pre-industrial.

>>1291797
I'd argue he captures the soul of mankind generally, but I've never been to Colombia so maybe I'm missing something.
I got a much more vivid picture of South America in Love in the time of Cholera

>>1291850
Same. I've only read that batshit crazy one about wild sheep, but I don't think I'm wrong in thinking I understand much more about the soul of the people now.

>As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
Great shit.

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This book made me want to go to Armenia

>>1291797
>Mystical realism captures the soul of Colombia

So it's a shit place to visit?

>>1291393
>Not choosing Kerouac's On The Road

>>1292266
For Belgium?

>>1292205
Fuck that pretentious dribble. I'm surprised Kerouac even managed to write the thing considering how far up his own ass he is.

>>1292203

How mystical realism makes something shitty

>>1292203
lmao. I can't get through it either