LATEST BOOKS BY MARK EVELEIGH
VAGABOND
A hiker's homage to Spain
“Vagabond is classic travel writing at its finest… Mark takes you on a journey through the heart of Spain which is rich in detail and bursting with life.” – Sir Ranulph Fiennes
This incredible true story of one man’s 1,225-km hike across the Iberian Peninsula is a celebration of rural Spain along the road less travelled
Inspired by a nomadic “vagabundo“ he met decades ago, Mark eschews the fast pace of modern life and sets off on a solo hike 1,225 km across the Iberian Peninsula – from Gibraltar in the far south to Estaca de Bares, Spain’s most northerly tip – carrying just a backpack and a hammock.
Recounting Mark’s fascinating nomadic journey through Spain’s least-visited region, Vagabond is a homage to the disappearing lifestyle of the vagabundo, as well as a celebration of rural Spain and its forgotten communities. It reminds us of the value of slowing down and finding connection with others, and the beauty that can be found in taking life one step at a time.
DRIFTWOOD CHANDELIERS
A haunting tale of life and death on the other side of Bali
The life and death cycles of an idyllic Balinese village have been going on, almost undisturbed, for generations – but when the bodies of two foreigners are discovered life for the entire village is altered forever.
Driftwood Chandeliers is set in a traditional village in rural Bali, where Brazilian surfer Natalia de Souza has been hired to manage a small resort. Life flows to the rhythm of ceremonies that honour and appease the island’s gods and spirits, and all is peaceful – until an unexpected chain of events drives a wedge into the harmonious community of fisher-folk and paddy-people.
As the character-rich plot unfolds – in an evocative, fast-paced story that is part mystery, part magical realism – it becomes clear that everyone must ultimately choose sides. Even the ghosts and demons cannot remain neutral forever.
KOPI DULU
Caffeine-Fuelled Travels Through Indonesia
A journey of 15,000 kilometres – by rail, road, on foot and under sail – through about 50 Indonesian islands, shining a light on what has been described as the world’s most invisible country. From tracking tigers in the Sumatra jungle to the mystical Dayak tribe that lives near the geographical centre of Borneo, this book touches on some of Indonesia’s most intriguing secrets. Mark meets Tana Toraja’s ‘living dead’, the Bugis people who build and sail the spectacular Sulawesi schooners and the villagers who are literally besieged by dragons in the Komodo archipelago. He surfs the legendary reefs of G-Land, Nias and Occy’s Left. He road-trips across Sulawesi and Flores and sails in the wake of Alfred Russel Wallace around Spice Islands, which have remained largely unchanged for centuries.
FEVER TREES OF BORNEO
Sponsored by Heineken to reach the parts other explorers cannot reach, itinerant traveller Mark Eveleigh sets off on foot and by canoe across the heart of Borneo. On the way he endures shipwreck, malaria, leeches and exhaustion, not to mention enforced alcohol abuse and
barbecued mouse-deer foetus. Such hardships, you would imagine, might be enough to put a man off his boiled fish and rice, but the author
confronts each challenge with a spirit that is as understated as it is refreshing. All too often travelogues dwell on the downside of
discovery, but Mark’s unique blend of enthusiasm and humour is genuinely absorbing and immensely readable.
– Global Adventure Magazine
An extraordinary read and one that shows a level of exploratory zeal that belongs to an earlier century. The reader can’t help but be
impressed by Eveleigh’s enduring of leeches, malaria and chocolate deprivation in his determination to understand life in one of the
world’s more rough and ready communities.
– Metropolist Magazine
HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL WRITER
How to Become a Professional Travel Writer takes you way beyond that much-touted dream of 'travelling for free'. It will show you how to earn from your travels and, more than that, how to carve a privileged lifestyle out of that dream. Whether you want to kick-start a career as a globe-trotting travel writer or simply want to make extra cash by monetising your holidays, this book will show you how.
MAVERICK IN MADAGASCAR
‘A personal account of two decidedly unusual Malagasy journeys – trips no tour operator would recommend – completed with a plodding, somewhat touchy zebu pack-bull and a guide in a bulletproof vest. Fascinatingly crazy stuff that makes for good reading.
Snippets of the country’s history – pirates, cruel queens, capitalising colonists included – dot the pages and there is also an intimately experienced
vision of things distinctly Malagasy – hôtelys, rum, rice and zebu stew, endemic lemurs and chameleons, and the infamous fadys (taboos).
Everything is presented with insight and humour. Maverick in Madagascar is a fascinating mix of adventure, history and humour that makes for excellent reading.’
- Travel Africa
SECRET BANGKOK
Discover a temple boasting a million Buddhas that's often overlooked by visitors; offer bacon and eggs to tiger temple guardians; visit the lair of giant monitor lizards; meed David Beckham, Donald Duck and Popeye in a Buddhist temple; gain merit by sponsoring a coffin; or decipher, from a tree trunk, the winning lottery numbers offered by a beautiful female ghost. Meet a unique community of flute-players; eat a communal vegetarian breakfast with Bangkok's Sikh community; learn about the traditional Thai pastime of 'baldy butting' and meet a celebrated 'healer' who goes by the name of Madame Breast-slapper.
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Secret Bangkok is more than just an indispensable guide to the hidden face of the city; it is written also to offer fascinating background information for those who love to connect with the soul of a place.
SECRET BALI
Black sand that has healing power; why you should not whistle when you walk along a beach at night; Bali's most beautiful and least-visited rice terraces; a workshop where batiks are created with natural dyes; a place to petition the spirits for a baby; the flute-playing pigeons of Ubud; a haunting reunion of some of Bali's most outrageous demons; one of the world's best unofficial street-art exhibitions; a tree that is impossible to plant; an ancient fertility statue with 'more than the usual quota of penises'; a village of the deaf; spectacular traditional fishing craft; an architectural wonder in Bali's Christian heartland.
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Far from the crowds and the usual cliches, Bali is still a reserve of well-concealed treasures that only reveal themselves to those who know how to wander off the beaten track.
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Secret Bali is a guide for those who would like to discover the hidden face of the island.