Some of you might be familiar with Karl Pilkington - the reluctant traveler of An Idiot Abroad. You might have seen one or two episodes from his TV show on TLC Channel. Karl was thrown with a challenge to do a 7-wonders of the world - Chichen Itza (Mexico), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Great Wall (China), Machu Picchu (Peru), Taj Mahal (India), Petra (Jordan) and Collosseum (Italy). The show is documented in an award winning travel series, An Idiot Abroad.
Unlike other travel shows with a happy host that recommend you the things to do, Karl is the completely opposite. His complaints, moans and nags are hilariously funny and entertaining. No travel host would have done it the way he did.
If you have watched An Idiot Abroad, this book is a complementary to what's behind the scene. Bits and pieces of the events that not on camera are pen down in a diary which later produced as this book. Random opinions and ramblings of Karl are also written in it, perhaps the selling point of this book is his potty humour.
My favourite part of the book is Great Wall of China and Brazil. If you have been to these places featured in the book, you can totally relate to those ramblings because it is a true reflections of the place - for example, public spitting in China, cows on the road in India. Karl turned all these bad experiences into funny situations. And it is so well-described that I can imagine being there. All these ramblings didn't give me a bad impression of the place, but it shows the difference of cultures and lifestyles in other countries. In fact, it instigated me visit the place since I have a glance of the place from Karl's point of view.
This is one of those book that you can't put down until you're finished. When you're done, you wish for more. In fact, I immediately purchased the second book from Karl Pilkington right after I finish the last page. It is funny, delightful, and a new take on traveling. I would say, Karl is idiotically amazing.
This book is also a light reading, which you can bring for traveling or for a weekend read. If you are going to hit the bookstore this weekend, be sure to check out this book. I bought it from Kinokuniya (travel guides section) for only RM46.90. I think it is a pretty good price to pay for such entertaining book.
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