Over Sand and Sea: A Traveler's Tales Hardcover - 2004

From the publisher

Over Sand & Sea is a voyage to the remote regions of the planet. On the Karakoram Highway, the ancient trade route of the Silk Road, Pfister takes us on a breathtaking trip through the clouds. In Turkey he seeks to pay a debt of gratitude to the Sufi mystic poet Rumi and in Florida he chases a teenage dream of bikini-clad girls on golden beaches. As he weaves his spell, we follow him in search of a paradise island in the Philippines and across the desolate Nullarbor Plain of Australia. In the Carmelite convent church of Alba de Tormes, Spain, founded in the 16th century by Saint Teresa, he pauses in contemplation. Later, he finds himself trapped in the midst of a revolution in Central America. Along the road he meets a whole range of fascinating characters. There is Pete, the rugged, foulmouthed carpenter in Northern California, and Ajaan, the jolly abbot of a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. In India, Pfister arrives at the Pushkar Camel Fair with a flamboyant British film actress. Finally, he must journey home to face the death of a beloved brother. Both personal odyssey and thrilling adventure, Over Sand & Sea is a meditation on the art and poetry of travel. With humor, insight and deft literary magic, Pfister reminds us that a voyage to the wildest reaches of the world still echoes in the quietest corner of the human heart.