Book Club discussion

Very interesting book. I added this book to the reading list long ago when I was closer to my three week trip in Asia including a few days in Saigon near the Mekong Delta. A lot has changed since then for me personally; I've lived the majority of the time since then in Europe.

This book was also written about a trip that took place in the late 90's and a lot has changed since then. So much of what the author writes about were things that seemed to have continued to have faded into history.

Also, so many of the assumptions that the author held about the world (China will liberalize, democracy is going to rise forever) seem to be those that people are really questioning these days with the war in Ukraine but have been on the decline for some time now. I'm not sure how much of the author's experience has to do with the fact that he avoided the tourist locations and spent much of his time dealing with locals, maybe these pockets do exist. But I have the feeling that at least Vietnam is a quite a bit more propserous than when the book took place.

The author also did express a healthy dose of skepticism about some of the places he visited, especially in Tibet and throughout Laos and Cambodia. A heavyness that you never hear when people visit Cambodia. Sounded like a pretty brutal journey to be honest. But that also helps to make it an interesting read that stands as a snapshot of a world that cannot exist anymore.