Of comforts no man speak
Dervla Murphy
A RIDE ALONG THE GREAT WALL by Robin Hanbury-Tenison
Century, L12.95
The label 'explorer' is too often misap- plied; by now there is nowhere left to explore, unless one is a Spaceperson. However, the youthful Robin Hanbury- Tenison did earn that label almost 30 years ago when he made the first crossing of South America at its widest point. Other gruelling journeys followed and, as a founder-member of Survival International, he has energetically campaigned on behalf of the world's rain-forests and their threatened inhabitants. In middle age he deserves the luxury of travelling frivolously — as he did when riding across France with his wife, which journey provided material for a good BBC film and a mediocre book (White Horses Over France). Unexpected- ly, the Hanbury-Tenisons' sponsored ride along part of the Great Wall of China (a stunt to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund) was also comparatively luxurious. Foreigners would not have been allowed to attempt this feat without the sort of support-team that from Day One drains a potentially challenging journey of its excit- ment.
Had the Hanbury-Tenisons been permit- `The place is always deserted during Happy Hour.' ted to ride close to the Great Wall, unaccompanied and along its full length, this might have been an enthralling book. But the authorities decreed that: For the first 400 miles . . . we were given leave to follow the Wall virtually as closely as we could. Only in the province of Shaanxi would we not be permitted to ride at all for `security' reasons. A long detour by rail and road via Xian was indicated. In Northern Shaanxi we were allowed to start again on fresh horses and cross the whole of Ningxia. In Gansu we would once again have to go through the `Flexi Corridor' by train but then we could ride again the last stretch.
These restrictions meant that the Hanbury- Tenisons were allowed to ride along the Great Wall for a little less than half its length. Their determination to ride — a form of transport much more conspicuous than walking, bicycling or train travel ensured that they would be repeatedly impeded by local officials. They could have gained far deeper insights into contempor- ary China had they abandoned their Great Wall gimmick and followed the example of Brian Schwarz, John Lowe, Vikram Seth, John Ballingall, Christopher Hough, Tiziano Terzani, Christina Dodwell, Colin Thubron and the many other enterprising travellers who have recently defied official- dom and quietly insinuated themselves into remote corners of China not yet open to tourists. But such low-profile wanderings do not, it seems, greatly appeal to Robin Hanbury-Tenison.
For this three-month expedition a ludic- rous amount of equipment was assembled. One sponsor, Marconi, had offered 'their most modern walkie-talkie radios . . . in case we got lost'. Mr Hanbury-Tenison admits that 'That equipment alone com- prised three packing-cases and a ten-foot aerial'. In Peking he hired a minibus support-vehicle to carry the 600 kilos of gear the Hanbury-Tenisons imagined they needed. This included a three-room tent and a round table and five chairs, which these intrepid travellers regarded as vital pieces of equipment so that 'we could, if necessary, be completely independent'. Sacks of maize and bran for the horses were also carried in the minibus, thus sparing the Hanbury-Tenisons the main worry of those who travel with equine companions — the daily quest for sufficient and suitable fodder. Every evening, at the end of the day's ride, they met up with their 'crew': a driver, an interpreter and a cook. Their cook on the first 400-mile lap had 'won a prize for gourmet Chinese cooking in Peking' and regularly 'created incredible feasts'.
The expedition does not get going until page 69 of a 207-page narrative, always a warning sign. So little happened en route that Mr Hanbury-Tenison had to make the most of those bureaucratic snags which occupied the travellers' first four weeks in China. When at last all forms had been filled in and all permits issued, a Reuters photographer was 'sent from Peking to cover our departure . . . James duly took his pictures of us looking pretty miserable and wet. These were published quite wide- ly in a number of countries, including in the Times.' Throughout this book the author shows symptoms of acute camera- addiction. He was thrilled when a Dallas film-director, one Mickey Grant, agreed to film his latest exploit and A Ride Along the Great Wall may be described as yet another example of that unwholesome hybrid, the television-centred travel book. It is attrac- tively produced and lavishly illustrated with superb photographs — though an embarrassingly high percentage of these feature the author and his wife who both happen to be remarkably photogenic. Too many inferior texts are now allowed to get into print as the accompaniment to excel- lent photographs. Significantly, the best of several recent books on China (Colin Thubron's Behind the Wall) has no illustra- tions — and needs none.
Robin Hanbury-Tenison refers to the `pleasure of being independent in China', yet two pages later is explaining that at the end of a 40-mile ride:
Our crew had found somewhere for the horses, but . . . the local authorities had been adamant that we could not stay in Yangheying ourselves as it was a 'security area'. Instead we had to be driven to the county town of Lulong, where there was a hotel.
In Luotun the travellers were told that if they did not obey local bureaucrats the person held responsible for their safety `might be executed' should any misfortune befall them. In Wuqi 'while our crew went off to see if they could find a restaurant for lunch we were told not to leave our bus'. The presence of this crew disastrously curtailed spontaneity on numerous occa- sions. Near Zunhua the -riders were invited Into a village house for a drink but 'we had to refuse . . . to delay might mean we would not arrive at our destination before nightfall'. Soon after, when 'a friendly crowd came in to watch us eat . . . our crew, who were very security conscious, kept shooing them out . . .
The final photograph depicts author and wife sitting around a bonfire with two camels and their drover. Both travellers are reclining against saddles wrapped in sleeping-bags and this scene, contrived for Mr Grant's television crew, is wildly unrep- resentative of the Hanbury-Tenisons' ex- pedition life-style. Despite the television crew's presence, with all that that implies, Mr Hanbury-Tenison claims that 'we gave ourselves over to the moment, enjoying the sensation of desert space, peace and beauty to the full. Would . . . that we could have been allowed to sleep out in the desert under the stars'. But alas! By page 203 even the least discerning reader will have developed doubts about the Hanbury-Tenisons' enthusiasm for sleep- ing `out in the desert under the stars'.
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