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Book Review: Playing with Fire (Nicholas Langston-Able)

01st July 2007

Indonesia seems to be a country shrouded by mystery and intrigue, wrought with conflict. Nick Langston-Able begins his incredible account of a month-long trip around Indonesia with some shocking and disturbing facts about this often overlooked part of the world, referencing the 2005 tsunami, the Bali bombings and the devastating earthquake that rocked the tiny, beautiful islands in 2006, killing thousands.

Having been reminded of these tragedies and with the internal governmental conflict in our mind, it is understandable why many travellers miss it off their worldwide tours. Langston-Able however, does the opposite. Like he says, as a backpacker, you feel indestructible.

Comprising 17,500 diverse islands, only around 6000 of which are inhabited, with vast areas of wilderness, and the fourth largest population in the world, Langston-Able is drawn to the many active volcanoes dotted across the country.

Seeing Indonesia through his eyes, it is striking and alluring. We witness the cosmopolitan diversity of Jakarta, where he commissions a guitar to be handmade for twenty pounds, to the astonishing magical isolation of Mount Bromo and Rinjani and the supremely welcoming, friendly attitude of the local people.

Langston-Able does not strike me as a natural born storyteller; much of the narrative appears overly factual and meticulously detailed. However, his mission to Rinjani stands out as particularly gripping, his passion and exhaustion evident. You get to know his travelling companions at the same time as he does, you are beside him in his struggle to reach the summit, and you feel his apprehension.

It is a travelling account with a difference - it is not a boozed-filled bleary-eyed amble along the beaten track, it is a physically and emotionally testing volcanic expedition undertaken by only the most dedicated and ambitious backpackers who are willing to go four days without a shower, eat the local delicacies with an eager smile and utterly immerse themselves, with an open mind, in a completely different culture.

Although some parts seem irrelevant and long-winded, as a travel blog, Playing with Fire is fascinating and inspirational and will entice any reader with wanderlust to Indonesia to begin their own adventures.

Kate Fletcher