01/10/2021
Preparation for the publication of West of Arabia: A Journey Home is going well. Below is a review of the original edition of the book published on Goodreads by Denise.
"To say the author, Gary Heath, is not your average travel writer is the ultimate understatement. Mr Heath decided at the end of a teaching assignment in Saudi Arabia, to return to his native UK. But a simple plane ride back home was not for him. He decided to travel back across the Arabian peninsula, hopefully through Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and then west by way of Libya, Algeria and Morocco and then finally to the UK by way of Spain.
We are much richer for his experience. Along the way, we read about his encounters with soldiers, dealers on the black market, students, Bedouins and political activists as well as visits to historical sites and stays at rundown hotels. Mr Heath was in the unique position of travelling through the region just before the fall of President Mubarak and Libyan President Gaddafi. In his book, he gives just the right blend of historical background leading up to the political situations in each country he visited, as well as recounting his own personal experiences and those of others, such as a visit Bill Gates made to Libya, by mooring his private yacht off the coast and flying in by his private helicopter to visit the "nice beaches" while his wife went shopping. This book is a must-read, along with his first book "Travels in Taiwan."
!["The cabin turned out to be a grand palace fit for kings [...] It was actually a really beautiful spot, and when the sun...](https://img4.medioq.com/007/624/151029560076247.jpg)
