Rubies and Rucksacks

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 genre bending work is the budget version—think less Four Seasons, more Four Cockroaches in a Dorm. Its protagonist navigates the traveller guest houses with antics like Rick Steves in ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL, but the stories ratchet up the drama and pressure the unexpected, rather than remain wholly faithful to memory. Similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s ambitions in EAT PRAY LOVE, the interconnected narratives of Rubies and Rucksacks focus on our ever-youthful desire for escape while offering even more locations to get lost in.

So how did it come to this?