The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is the latest in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisines and cultures. Includes winners from the annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. Introduction by Rolf Potts In The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11, readers will: Piece together the puzzle of life in rural Cambodia Reawaken the joy of travel on a bus ride through Mexico Reexamine war memories with former soldiers in Vietnam Learn the ropes and the art of sailing with a "good captain" on the Pacific Find a true soul sister in the highlands of Ecuador Follow Vincent van Gogh's footsteps in France Survive (or not) a home invasion in Brazil...and much more

This title launches a new Travelers’ Tales series, an annual collection of the best travel writing, to celebrate ten years of publishing the world’s best travel writing—from Nobel Prize winners to complete unknowns. Many of these stories will be published for the first time in this book, while some will have appeared in other Travelers’ Tales titles or elsewhere. But the common thread connecting them will be fresh, lively storytelling and compelling narrative to make the reader laugh, weep, wish he were there, or be glad he wasn’t. These 25 stories cover the globe, from battling snakes in Costa Rica to probing your own relation to the caste system in India to charting your way through the "oldest tourist trap in the world" in Egypt to learning to cook an octopus in Mexico. The writers come from many countries, not just the United States, so the points of view and perspectives are global in reach. Themes are as eclectic as all of our books, including stories that encompass spiritual growth, absolute hilarity and misadventure, high adventure, romance, women’s solo journeys, stories of service to humanity, family travel, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is the latest in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisines and cultures. Includes winners from the annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. Introduction by Rolf Potts In The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11, readers will: Piece together the puzzle of life in rural Cambodia Reawaken the joy of travel on a bus ride through Mexico Reexamine war memories with former soldiers in Vietnam Learn the ropes and the art of sailing with a "good captain" on the Pacific Find a true soul sister in the highlands of Ecuador Follow Vincent van Gogh's footsteps in France Survive (or not) a home invasion in Brazil...and much more

With the recent shift in Cuba-US relations stemming from the relaxing of travel restrictions and an influx of American visitors, interest in Cuba and its culture has increased substantially. A new emphasis has been placed on the island country’s many cultural and artistic achievements, specifically in film. Cuban cinema is recognized around the world as having produced some of the most celebrated works originating from Latin America—such as Fresa y Chocolate and La Muerte de un Burócrata—as well as many prominent artists—including directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Humberto Solás. In A Cuban Cinema Companion, editors Salvador Jimenez Murguía, Sean O’Reilly, and Amanda McMenamin have assembled a collection of essays about more than 100 films across six decades, including feature films, documentaries, and animation. These entries also provide information on directors, actresses, and actors of Cuban cinema. Entries range from films like Retrato de Teresa to Buena Vista Social Club and include descriptions of each film’s plot, themes, and critical commentary, as well as comprehensive production details and brief suggestions for further reading. Beginning with the victory of the Cuban revolution—from the first ten years of what is often referred to as Cuba’s “Golden Age� of film to the present—this volume offers readers valuable insights into Cuban history, politics, and culture. An indispensable guide to one of the great world cinemas, A Cuban Cinema Companion will be of interest to students, academics, and the general public alike.

This book will appeal to: lovers of travel literature the thousands of writers who entered the Solas Awards over the past ten years and counting readers who love powerful, inspiring true stories about life and the world

Since 1993, readers have looked to Travelers' Tales for award-winning stories about the world, adventure, spirituality, and the transformative experiences that accompany life on the road. The Best Travel Writing 2008 is the fifth volume in the series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing — much of it never before published — from Nobel Prize winners to up-and-coming new writers. The stories provide a perspective and depth of understanding that can only come from people who have actually been there, and encompass everything from high adventure to misadventure, spiritual growth to romance, service to humanity to encounters with exotic cuisines. Reading the book is like sitting in a café filled with fellow travelers, swapping tales about destinations near and far — readers emerge changed, eager for more, and ready to plan their next trips.

For ten years the editors of Travelers' Tales have run a writing competition to find the best travel story of the year: The Solas Awards. Over those years, thousands of stories have come across their desks, from writers famous and unknown, covering all corners of the globe with stories of adventure and discovery, love and loss, humor and absurdity, grief and joy. In this collection appear all of the top prize winners of the last ten years, stories that bring readers along for journeys that are inspiring, uplifting, and, very often, transformative. These tales are powerful, moving testaments to the richness of our world, its cultures, people, and places. In this book, readers will: Deposit a loved one's ashes in a Bolivian River Find the Celtic soul you never knew you had in rural Ireland Grope through the maze of sorcery and madness in Cameroon Rediscover your sense of self on a return to Russia after many years away Follow the spirit of John Wesley Powell down the Grand Canyon in Arizona Engage loss and the specter of death in Mexico Face your deepest fears alone in an Alaskan winter Encounter the realities of prostitution in Thailand Absorb the rhythms and soul of Flamenco in Spain Fall in love with a home in rural France and make it your own... and much more

The Road Within is a very different kind of travel book, a venture into the hidden territories of the human spirit and heart. A book of transformation, of lessons learned, maps drawn and burned, and spiritual blessings bestowed by that great and hard teacher: travel. It will show you what the great mystics and saints have always known—that you are closer to yourself, the world, and the divine, than you can possibly imagine, and that wondrous things await you on your journeys. In this book you will discover the Garden of Paradise in the human heart with Natalie Goldberg; get swept up in a dance of dervishes with Paul William Roberts in Cairo; and feel the chill that accompanies Annie Dillard with a long-time Communist Party member in China. You will meet an angel in Paris, have strange sexual encounters on Asian seas, play a vomiting game in an African initiation ceremony, get a taste of satori, and discover the strange and haunting beauty of Mother Meara in Germany. You will go on a worldwide quest at the invitation of a Shinto priest and have your sins forgiven, but most important, you will encounter the ultimate stranger—you.