Cirrus@Austlit

'What a ride! In a death-defying taxi with no windows, I was flown along the roads in a howling gale. Horrible. I sat directly behind the driver hoping he would act as an air bag when the inevitable collision came. In that position I couldn't see the worst that was happening around us, like pedestrians peeling off our fenders.

'Lydia Laube is no stranger to near-death experiences, including several while travelling to, from and through Myanmar, or Burma as it was known on her first trip there. As ever, Lydia takes the route less travelled as she discovers this wondrous land, with its pagodas, markets and attractions - including the world's biggest python and book. Midst Myanmar's magic, she falls in love with a horse named Madonna, and manages to work through language barriers and poor directions.' (Publication summary)

'In all her travels across the globe, Lydia Laube had always wanted to visit the intriguing island of Madagascar and meet its famous residents, the lemurs. So she hops aboard a French cargo ship, replete with cleaver-wielding cook, to begin a wayward journey. After escapades in Singapore, Egypt, Malta and Italy, Lydia eventually lands on the place Arab sailors called the Island of the Moon. Here she meets the friendly locals, attempts to familiarise herself with their tricky language, and sets off to sample the country's food, accommodation, sights, and sounds - and to find her lemurs. Lydia Laube is one of Australia's best-loved travel writers, and author of the bestseller Behind the Veil: An Australian nurse in Saudi Arabia. 'Laube's written style is folksy and familiar, but her travelling methods are unorthodox ...' - Herald Sun'  (Publication summary)

'The dinner menu at the Aspara had the usual interesting items such as 'Soap' and 'A Fried Monk' not to mention 'Chicken Amok'. The waiter couldn't tell me what amok meant, but I tried it and it turned out to be, not a crazy chicken running around with a cleaver, but chicken pieces in a soup made with coconut milk and lots of spices and coloured a kind of caterpillar-innards green that was very tasty. Deciphering the menu is half the fun in this mysterious land only just now opening to tourists and travellers. Despite its horrific history, Lydia Laube finds that Cambodia is an ancient, beautiful country populated by friendly, generous people who like to ride motorbikes very fast around corners. Join Lydia, squashed into a taxi with nine or so others, for an unforgettable adventure in Asia. A new book from best-selling travel author Lydia Laube, whose book Behind the Veil: An Australian Nurse in Saudi Arabia has sold 30,000 copies in Australia alone.'  (Publication summary)

'Featuring appalling rock overhangs, horrifying chasms, and waterfalls flanked by near-vertical precipices, this tale of travel through the wildest regions of the Andes is no Caribbean cruise story. The Panama Canal and the coasts of Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia are all described in a fast, furious fashion by a seasoned travel writer who survives a car ride along a mountain pass that claims an average of one vehicle a week. Also included are adventures to the last hideaway of the Incas, Machu Picchu, and a sail down the Amazon to the center of Brazil.' (Publication summary)

'It's funny how things turn out. A chance encounter with a Welshman on the Trans Siberian Express en route to Ulaan Bator had made me decide once again to take the long, and difficult, way home. I planned to sail down the coast of China to Shanghai, ride river-boats as far south as I could go on the Yangtze, make my way over the mountains to the border, and, with luck, be allowed to enter Vietnam's far north .' (Publication summary)

'My mount needed considerable encouragement. As we finally got into gear, I put up my pink parasol with a pop, frightening the donkey so much that we nearly got to the top at full gallop. Who else but Lydia Laube would climb the Great Wall of China on a donkey waving a pink parasol? Slow Boat to Mongolia is a hilarious account of her travels by ship, train and bone-shaking bus through Indonesia and China on her way to the almost mythical Outer Mongolia.' (Publication summary)

'Lydia Laube returns to Saudi Arabia, collects her pay and decides to take "the long way home" through Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, and India. Our Good Little Woman is as eccentric as ever . . . blithely she trots along, sunshade held aloft, while behind her ships sink, hotels explode and wars erupt.' (Publication summary)

'Cardiac resuscitation was often applied to a patient who was fast asleep. The hapless victim woke from a peaceful slumber to find somebody, often an infidel, jumping up and down on his chest.

'Lydia Laube worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia in a society that does not allow women to drive, vote, or speak to a man alone. Wearing head-to-toe coverings in stifling heat, and battling administrative apathy, Lydia Laube kept her sanity and got her passport back. Behind the Veil is the hilarious account of an Australian woman's battle against the odds. It will keep you entertained for hours.'  (Publication summary)