Tiger Balm: Travels in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia

First of my catchup reviews.

Stewart's book was published in 1992, and describes the authors travels for 6 months in 1990, blended with a brief earlier visit in 1989. So it is dated, but it still has enough relevance, and more for my reading experience it is closer in time to my own visits to these countries.

This isn't a book to go to for history or a succinct look at culture, but it is an interesting travelogue. Yes, there are plenty of snippets of history woven with the travel narrative, as with the cultural aspects, but it is certainly supplementary to the travel experience.

In most locations Stewart relies on a local guide/fixer to gain her access to people and places, and to interpret where needed. These are usually well selected people who assist the narrative and fill in gaps where required with background and context. Cambodia and Laos had only recently opened to tourism, and many areas were restricted from entry, so the fixers were able to help navigate some of those barriers, although in other cases they restricted Stewarts ability to talk to people who were on the other side of the system, so she relied on some clandestine meetings with those people.

While the book contained no photographs, there was a small scale map which showed the main points of interest, but no route or locations visited etc. A good map always assists my reading, and better could have been done here.

Overall, pretty readable as a travelogue.

3.5 stars, rounded down.