BOOK REVIEWS
Timeless On The Silk Road
Heather Ellis
2019
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Twenty years in the making; there’s little wonder that Heath-
er Ellis’ second book, the second half of her ride around the
world, Timeless On The Silk Road has the impact that it does.
Heather’s first book; Ubuntu, One Woman’s Motorcycle Odys-
sey Across Africa ends with a shock, something that most of us
could never imagine, this is where the new story begins and it
begins with a bang.
Forthright from the start, Heather tells of her diagnosis. Her
thoughts, emotions, mental state are all challenged and with
this we, the reader, are challenged to assess our own beliefs,
our existence and place in the world. It’s confronting yet we
have little choice, we are on the back on Heather’s Yamaha
TT600 and heading east, taking the long way back to Australia.
With a dark cloud of death shadowing her every kilometre,
Heather is open and candid, we know that at some point her
diagnoses will kill her. She is in a constant fight with her emo-
tions as an outstretched bony hand wants to take her.
There’s a beauty in the world, in Russia, and the former
Soviet states. The people, they want Heather to finish her ride,
to finish her journey, and through extreme generosity and love
they will her on. Heather realises that perhaps there is hope.
Timeless On The Silk Road is a biography of not only travel,
it is the story of journey through ones own mortality where the
reader is often challenged to think, “what would I do in that
situation?” Heather, in her own words, admits that at times
she was probably trying to take her own life, to end what at
the time was a stigma to be wished upon no one, she wanted
an honourable death. It’s a reoccurring theme throughout the
journey, making, for the reader, it an all the more richer expe-
rience.
Follow up travel biographies often fail to stand up to the
original; world renowned travellers, writers, have
struggled with the second book, not Heather El-
lis. Timeless On The Silk Road is an outstanding
account of travel, by motorcycle, through an area
of the world that was only just opening its borders
(1990’s), yet through Heather's personal struggles it
offers so much more.
If you’ve ever questioned your own ability, your
own struggles, then Timeless on The Silk Road will
give you a firm slap and say, “get on with it, life is
far too short”. This is a book that every traveller, in
fact every one, should read.
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