Out of Istanbul

A Journey of Discovery Along the Silk Road

By: Bernard Ollivier, Dan Golembeski - translator

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Upon retirement at the age of sixty-two, and grieving his deceased wife, renowned journalist Bernard Ollivier felt a sense of profound emptiness: What do I do now? While some see retirement as a chance to cash in their chips and settle into a comfy armchair, Ollivier still longed for more. Searching for inspiration, he strapped on his gear, donned his hat, and headed out the front door to hike the Way of St. James, a 1400-mile journey from Paris to Compostela, Spain. At the end of that road, with more questions than answers, he decided to spend the next few years hiking another of history's great routes: the Silk Road.

Out of Istanbul is Ollivier's stunning account of the first part of that 7,200-mile journey. The longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time, the Silk Road is in fact a network of routes across Europe and Asia, some going back to prehistoric times. During the Middle Ages, the transcribed travelogue of one Silk Road explorer, Marco Polo, helped spread the fame of the Orient throughout Europe.

Ollivier's journey, far from bragging about some tremendous achievement, humbly takes the listener on a colossal adventure of human proportions, one in which walking itself, through a kind of alchemy, fosters friendships and fellowship.

©2001 Bernard Ollivier; English translation copyright 2019 by Daniel Golembeski (P)2022 Tantor

RECOMMEND

This is a very interesting book and well narrated.
If you like to read about people and geography and an amazing, gutsy adventure I highly recommend listening.
I am off to book two and his continuing adventures.
My thanks to all involved, JK

A cerebral quest and a physical test.

Ollivier’s eloquent account of his walk across Turkey. . . His is an obsessive and foolhardy plan that depends on the hospitality and kindness of strangers. Things get increasingly dicey as the kilometers from Istanbul grow.

This book is a call to journey on foot, to take risks, to be curious and rigorous, to embrace solitude and community, even in a tense political climate.

5 star narration. Starting next book in the series momentarily

Amazing Journey

I listened to this after I had listened to part 2 of his amazing journey. The end of this story was so sad, to me, that he did not complete what he set out to do. But having listened to book 2 I know he did. What a determined personality Bernard has. I so admire him. My husband and I walked the Pacific Crest Trail in America. I can relate to all the planning it took to undertake this journey. Bernard is at the top of my list of who I would like to have dinner with and chat. Good luck Bernard in what ever you take on in the future.

Down to earth travel

Not romanticized or whiny, the account of a man keeping an open mind as he experiences the ups and downs of walking across Turkey.

Informative and entertaining

This was an enjoyable listen. What I liked the most is that it's concise in the storyline. It only makes sense that one would meet many people and cultures, and have many experiences on this type of a journey, but ability to keep random details short and relevant is not always the case with these types of books. However, Ollivier nailed it. There were enough stories to make this an interesting read (listen) but at the same time the main focus was his arduous travel on foot, and his plan to reach his "final" destination complete with short stories and characters that crossed his path and their effect and influence on his journey. Overall enough details but not an overwhelming storyline where one can't keep up with irrelevant people or events that don't contribute anything to the story but fill the pages. I hope the sequel is as good and I'm exited to read the rest of the series.

Beauty and awful filth in equal parts

What contrasts await visitors to Turkey - the warmth and welcome by so many offset by the rapaciousness of as many others. The wretched squalor and neglect in the hotels all along the way. The ignorance of ordinary people of their own history- knowing little or nothing about the Silk Road, and caring less. The medieval oppression of rural women. This record is a staggering panorama of a very foreign country.

Our guide is a somewhat dull fellow, with few surprising or delightful insights or comments as one would hope for from a travel companion. But he is acceptable, a mundane predictable presence. His many unwise choices about packing, gear needed, clothing, language ability, and judgement of character of those met along the way make one wonder how he lived through his truncated trip. But survive he did, as there are two further books about it; I will not be listening to those. The author is simply not interesting enough to spend any more time with.