Rubies and Rucksacks
An Asian Odyssey
by Mel Christie William M Christie
In Burma, warriors believed that rubies would make them invincible, and according to folklore, they would implant them in their skin before battle. In China, these jewels, the colour of pigeon blood, also provided the owner with good fortune, success, and protection from evil.
The plan was to spend a year in Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, in search of life, love, and meaning. But with hustlers, mercenaries, jailors, and a Brotherhood of Nigerians in the way, the search took much longer—and it required going further afield.
For fans of THE WHITE LOTUS, this literary genre bending travel memoir set in the 80s and 90s is the gritty, budget version—think less Four Seasons, more Four Cockroaches in a Dorm. Its backpacker protagonist navigates the traveller guest houses with antics like Rick Steves in ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL, but the stories ratchet up the drama rather than remain wholly faithful to memory. And similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s ambitions in EAT PRAY LOVE, the interconnected narratives in Rubies and Rucksacks focus on our ever-youthful desire to travel whilst avoiding the standard tourist sites and covering even more locations in which to run aground.
Fifteen. The Language Divides
The man watched me, his face in shadow from the shack’s awning, as he chewed on his stick. I could feel his eyes on my back while I held the pump in the tank of the car.