Curious Encounters of the Human Kind – Southeast Asia
Posted on 07. Oct, 2015 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Curious Encounters of the Human Kind
This is the fifth book in a five-book series of unusual (and true) personal travel tales.
What’s the attraction of coffee that’s been digested by a civet? Can 200-million-year-old fossilized freshwater shark dung bring you good luck? Why do boys like to make things go bang — hey, lemme try the AK-47!? Why is the belching and slovenly widow of Laos’s first president so possessive about the animal she considers her white elephant? How did Vietnam’s last elephant hunter, at the age of 90, get a lucrative sponsorship deal for a tonic that makes men more powerful? Did a love potion help a Filipino politician become governor? And what role did an absurdly-rich, secretive American businessman (who enjoyed deflowering virgins) have in creating Vietnam’s golf boom?
Read MoreCurious Encounters of the Human Kind – Borneo
Posted on 07. Oct, 2015 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Curious Encounters of the Human Kind
This is the fourth book in a five-book series of unusual (and true) personal travel tales.
How has a town named after a female vampire ghost spawned an entire genre of kitschy horror films? Why did a quiet Swiss man choose to live rough in the rainforest with the semi-nomadic Penans — and what inner spirit drove him to fight a David vs Goliath rebellion against timber tycoons and corrupt officials who were destroying the Penans’s home? Has White-Brown colonialism been replaced by Brown-Brown arrogance? What’s the story of the grandmother who spits at meddling ghosts (but only because they spit first)? Why did the first White Rajah of Borneo amass a vast harem of concubines? What happened when I tried to ride the tidal bore that almost killed Somerset Maugham? In what way was an illiterate Borneo teenager instrumental in helping Alfred Russel Wallace develop the theory of natural selection? How close are we to orangutans — “our poor cousins who look like they haven’t done so well in life” — and why do some rehabilitant orangutans go bi-polar?
Read MoreCurious Encounters of the Human Kind – Himalaya
Posted on 07. Oct, 2015 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Curious Encounters of the Human Kind
This is the third book in a five-book series of unusual (and true) personal travel tales..
What’s a girl to do when a Hindu god doesn’t return her mountain? Would you risk your life by hugging a tree? How do you find a nameless young girl you first met (for five minutes) twenty-six years earlier? For environmental consciousness should we trust the international-bureaucrats or a Bhutanese farmer? Does the Himalayan yeti illuminate the dark side of our souls? Why do we share a need with Tibetan refugees to “rid the land of demons”? How do “often frothy” phalluses protect Bhutanese villagers?
Read MoreCurious Encounters of the Human Kind – Indonesia
Posted on 07. Oct, 2015 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Curious Encounters of the Human Kind
This is the second book in a five-book series of unusual (and true) personal travel tales.
Why do prominent modern Indonesian sultans continue love affairs with the Mermaid Queen? Why is the island of Flores Ground Zero for Hobbit sightings? How does a Papuan hunter juggle the preachers and other do-gooders who want a piece of his soul? Why did a now-neglected spice cause historic mayhem among greedy Europeans? Why does it make good business sense to make friends with the dragon princess? Why is discovering a new species almost as good as sex? What is the allure of Waltzing Banana Island? Can an elderly village woman armed with just a broom and gumption kill giant mosquitoes ‘til they’re dead?
Read MoreCurious Encounters of the Human Kind – Myanmar (Burma)
Posted on 07. Oct, 2015 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Curious Encounters of the Human Kind
This is the first book in a five-book series of unusual (and true) personal travel tales. Within the first three days of the book’s publication it has become an Amazon best-seller in its category.
What do jumping cats have to do with Buddhism’s Middle Path? Did Orwell really hate everyone in Burma? How did Myanmar’s ruling junta use white elephants to consolidate their power? Will a synagogue caretaker’s improbable dream ever come true? What arrogance drives western travelers to seek the “unknown” in Myanmar’s Nagaland? And why should you never disrespect the nat spirits who guard a sacred forest?
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