Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

by Bernard Ollivier, Dan Golembeski (Translator)

Overview

“A journey with heart.”—New York Times. Acclaimed journalist Bernard Ollivier begins his epic journey on foot across the Silk Road.

Upon retirement at the age of sixty-two, and grieving his deceased wife, renowned journalist Bernard Ollivier felt a sense of profound emptiness: What do I do now? While some see retirement as a chance to cash in their chips and settle into a comfy armchair, Ollivier still longed for more. Searching for inspiration, he strapped on his gear, donned his hat, and headed out the front door to hike the Way of St. James, a 1400-mile journey from Paris to Compostela, Spain. At the end of that road, with more questions than answers, he decided to spend the next few years hiking another of history’s great routes: the Silk Road.

Out of Istanbul is Ollivier’s stunning account of the first part of that 7,200-mile journey. The longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time, the Silk Road is in fact a network of routes across Europe and Asia, some going back to prehistoric times. During the Middle Ages, the transcribed travelogue of one Silk Road explorer, Marco Polo, helped spread the fame of the Orient throughout Europe.

Heading east out of Istanbul, Ollivier takes readers step by step across Anatolia and Kurdistan, bound for Tehran. Along the way, we meet a colorful array of real-life characters: Selim, the philosophical woodsman; old Behçet, elated to practice English after years of self-study; Krishna, manager of the Lora Pansiyon in Polonez, a village of Polish immigrants; the hospitable Kurdish women of Dogutepe, and many more. We accompany Ollivier as he explores bazaars, mosques, and caravansaries—true vestiges of the Silk Road itself—and through these encounters and experiences, gains insight into the complex political and social issues facing modern-day Turkey.

Ollivier’s journey, far from bragging about some tremendous achievement, humbly takes the reader on a colossal adventure of human proportions, one in which walking itself, through a kind of alchemy, fosters friendships and fellowship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510743755
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	06/18/2019
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	367,946
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Career journalist turned traveler, Bernard Ollivier believes that walking has the power to transform. His publications include Out of Istanbul, numerous travel guides, both adult and young adult novels, and Life Begins at Sixty. In 2000, he founded the Seuil (“Threshold”) Association, helping troubled teens get back on track through walking. He lives in Normandy, France. 

Dan Golembeski has worked as a French and Linguistics educator, a summer study abroad director in France, and has conducted fieldwork on language contact in Canada. An occasional, albeit fervent traveler, he increasingly crosses borders with words. In addition to Out of Istanbul, he is currently translating a science-fiction novel. He lives in Petoskey, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Maps ix

I The Cities Where the Road Begins 1

II The Philosophical Woodsman 16

III Misafirperver 37

IV Doubts 59

V Kangals 84

VI Veni, Vidi… 107

VII One Thousand Kilometers 127

VIII Jandarmas… 145

IX Caravansaries 168

X Women 189

XI … and Thieves 214

XII Down on High 242

XIII The Great Pain 264

Translators Acknowledgments 286

About the Author 287

Editorial Reviews

07/08/2019

In this thoughtful memoir, French journalist Ollivier, grieving after his wife dies, writes of walking from Istanbul to Tehran in 1999, the first of his planned three-stage solo trek along the Silk Road. Almost immediately, dangers and doubts plague the sexagenarian’s journey: his watch is nearly stolen by thieves; the Turkish army stops him multiple times along the way and, at one point, forcibly removes him from a shelter; sheep dogs block his path; and he fears encountering terrorists (“Of course, I’m fully aware that they could hold me hostage”). Ollivier animates the landscape with vivid accounts of people he meets along the way, including a Turkish philosopher named Behçet who is eager to debate after years of solitary study in the woods, as well as several drivers who offer him rides, both amazed and stupefied by his undertaking. Suffering from dysentery, Ollivier doesn’t quite make it to Iran and returns home. However, the scope of his project remains extensive, as he chronicles the history and culture of the Turkish people. Adventurers will relish his enthusiasm and bask in his rugged sense of outdoorsmanship. (July)

Publishers Weekly

A journey with heart.”— The New York Times

“Ollivier takes us on an absorbing walking tour of the Silk Road, experiencing many of the same marvels and dangers as the ancient caravans. . . . Though having an episodic feel, Ollivier's account brims with a sojourner's passion and an insatiable hunger for new vistas and peoples.”—Kirkus

“Bernard Ollivier is a man eager to learn about the world around him, a writer who opens his readers’ eyes. As a journalist, he knows how to extract life’s real secrets from people’s memories. Truth is, in heading out onto the Silk Road, he wasn’t seeking history, but wisdom. And he finds it in the exceptional openness of nomads. This is the gift he offers to us.”—Dominique Gerbaud, president, Reporters Without Borders

“Ollivier is a traveler. He doesn’t consider himself a writer. As a result, his prose is at times better than that of professional travel writers: he writes simply, focused not on fancy phrasings, but on providing a true-to-life account of his experiences. He doesn’t travel in order to write or publish a book. He travels as do so many of Conrad’s protagonists: for self-discovery.”—Le Monde

"Though Ollivier's walk in this book comes to an end, it continues to evoke images and prod the reader’s wonderings long after it has been set aside, such is the author’s unrelenting candor and bent for description. In the end, it is not a solitary journey you read about, but one in which the reader is with him every step of the way."—Rick Antonson, author of Full Moon Over Noah’s Ark: An Odyssey to Mount Ararat and Beyond
 

From the Publisher

2019-04-23
Ollivier takes us on an absorbing walking tour of the Silk Road, experiencing many of the same marvels and dangers as the ancient caravans.

Originally published in France in 2001, the book is the first installment chronicling the author's arduous three-stage journey on foot from Istanbul to the former imperial Chinese city of Xi'an. Ollivier, then 61, began his trek through Turkey in 1999, planning to end the initial stage in Tehran. Firmly believing that walking is the only form of transportation that allows us to connect with cultures and individuals on a fundamental level, the author refused all offers of a ride—until he had no choice. Endlessly curious, Turkish villagers were amazed that anyone would actually walk the breadth of their country, and they barraged him with questions at every stop. Paranoid soldiers and arbitrary constables were more suspicious and aggressive. Ollivier spoke little Turkish, but given Muslim custom, he enjoyed the most extraordinary generosity and hospitality through much of his route. Still, the perils of solo travel, especially hiking through a country torn by armed conflicts and beset with banditry, surfaced the farther east he walked. With determination battling doubt, the author traversed daunting distances on a daily basis, often in mountain country. A fierce attack of amebic dysentery near the Iranian border brought him up short, though he does offer snippets of Silk Road history and longer expositions on Turkish and Kurdish traditions. Ollivier occasionally comes across as judgmental, though not without cause. He romanticizes or overstates certain points, yet he admits to Western prejudice and imperfect understanding. As fascinating as his odyssey can be, this English-language edition suffers from observations on Turkish politics and culture that are 20 years old—fine for timeless village life but lacking for the nation as a whole.

Though having an episodic feel, Ollivier's account brims with a sojourner's passion and an insatiable hunger for new vistas and peoples.

Kirkus Reviews