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 provide the owner with good fortune, success, as well as 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.
Fifteen. The Language Divides
The deaths peaked in 1991 when almost five hundred died that year out of a population of 606,901.