Tim Cahill has made a career, he says, of remote journeys oddly rendered. He wanted to title his latest offbeat travel book something else, but his publisher insisted on another quirky title to go with JAGUARS RIPPED MY FLESH, A WOLVERINE IS EATING MY LEG, and PECKED TO DEATH BY DUCKS. His first chapter describes his horseback riding trip to Mongolia. His quest—bringing back hair to help researchers determine whether Mongols might be the original New Worlders. They'll compare the hair with ancient hair retrieved from archeology sites.
His insights on the Mongolian's horses fascinated me. Mongolians, he says, almost never name their ponies, the Mongolians being about as sentimental about their horses as Americans are about their cars. Plus, the ponies are never fed and are expected to forage, punching their hooves through ice in -60F weather. No wonder they're the toughest horses on earth.
Also by the same author: ROAD FEVER, an account of his record-breaking trip with a professional driver from the tip to top of the Pan-American Highway—Tierra del Fuego to Point Barrow, Alaska.
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