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Summary: Great Book
Review: It takes a bit of time to get cozzy with this book, but once that happens, it just takes over. I loved the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for world travellers and armchair adventurers!
Review: Light hearted, well written tale of a quest to understand the often complicated ways of life in the Middle East. The protagonist enjoyed an adventure that led to respect and understanding for another culture that he hadn't sought nor imagined. A must read!
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Summary: "The most singular travel book I've ever read"
Review: Possibly one of the most singular travel books I've read, Motoring with Mohammed is the story of a young American shipwrecked in 1978 on a deserted island in the Red Sea. He buries seven years' worth of his travel journals in the sand for safety. Upon his rescue and subsequent boat ride to Yemen, he learns the island is off limits save for the Yemeni military and cannot return. The rest of the book follows his creative attempts 10 years later to recover his journals while traveling in the often-bizarre country of Yemen and its culture and customs.
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Summary: Exellent & Informative light read
Review: This book has anything you might expected from a traveller to experience.
The author give a very lively description on the places he traveled in.
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Summary: Makes you wish you could afford to travel
Review: This book not only makes me wish I could afford to travel, but it makes me wish I was a man(Well, kinda). Since most of the interesting stuff can only be experienced by men. Eric Hansen has an easy to read style that easily draws the reader into his story. It's a delightful read, especially since he is not an arrogant traveler and tries a lot of things that other tourists might snub. He also gives a lesson on the Yemen culture, without the reader ever suspecting that they're learning something. This is a great book for travelers at heart.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!
Review: This book totally delivers as a travel / adventure book. It is definetly worth buying! It is one of the best books I have ever read!!!
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Summary: A great book about middle eastern travel.
Review: This book, tied with Jeff Greenwald's Shopping for Buddhas, is my favorite travel essay book. In Hansen's case, he never intended to go to Yemen, let alone several times. His story of his journeys to recover seven years of lost diaries, hastily buried after a shipwreck, is well worth reading
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Summary: Great country, great book!
Review: This is without doubt the best travelogue I've ever read, and I've been recommending it to everyone I meet since the day I put it down, which was, incidentally, the same day I picked it up! The book's unhurried style fits in very well with what I know of Yemen, and with my experience of the "insh'allah" culture, and Yemen is such a varied and fascinating place that Hanson has great material to work with. I guess it is an indication of the quality of the work that Yemen has crept up to the top of my "Go to" list : a desire increased because so many Yemen veterans have it at the top of their "return to" list. Not to mention that qat sounds worth a nibble......
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: When Eric Hansen, an American, found himself shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Yemen in 1978, he buried his journals in the sand. Ten years later, he returns to try to retrieve these journals. This book is a result of those travels.The sights, sounds, and smells surround his narrative, whether describing a storm at sea, impressive architecture or the scent of perfume that follows the veiled women. There are government restrictions, of course, but he still is treated with hospitality wherever he goes. He joins the men in their communal qat-chewing sessions where whole afternoons are spent under the intoxicating effects of this slightly narcotic drug. He hikes for miles over extremely dangerous terrain. He visits the baths, the bazaars, the prison. And considering the fact that he only speaks English, he manages to have conversations with a wide variety of people. Always, his observations are clear and show his respect for the people of Yemen and their culture. As an armchair traveler I was delighted with this book. It was wonderful seeing the world through Mr. Hansen's eyes. However, he is a man and so therefore his experiences were that of the male world. This is no fault of the book or of his writing. After all, he only could write about what he experienced. I recommend this book heartily. It brought me to Yemen, taught be about the land and the people, and expanded my appreciation and depth of understanding of a place I will likely never visit. For this I thank the author.
Rating:
Summary: Expanded my knowlege and understanding of Yemen
Review: When Eric Hansen, an American, found himself shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Yemen in 1978, he buried his journals in the sand. Ten years later, he returns to try to retrieve these journals. This book is a result of those travels. The sights, sounds, and smells surround his narrative, whether describing a storm at sea, impressive architecture or the scent of perfume that follows the veiled women. There are government restrictions, of course, but he still is treated with hospitality wherever he goes. He joins the men in their communal qat-chewing sessions where whole afternoons are spent under the intoxicating effects of this slightly narcotic drug. He hikes for miles over extremely dangerous terrain. He visits the baths, the bazaars, the prison. And considering the fact that he only speaks English, he manages to have conversations with a wide variety of people. Always, his observations are clear and show his respect for the people of Yemen and their culture. As an armchair traveler I was delighted with this book. It was wonderful seeing the world through Mr. Hansen's eyes. However, he is a man and so therefore his experiences were that of the male world. This is no fault of the book or of his writing. After all, he only could write about what he experienced. I recommend this book heartily. It brought me to Yemen, taught be about the land and the people, and expanded my appreciation and depth of understanding of a place I will likely never visit. For this I thank the author.
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