The Well at the Worlds End - the epic true story of one mans search for the secret to eternal youth
by Mackinnon, A.J. (Alexander James) (1963- )
pub. by Skyhorse Publishing, NY - 2011 - -     isbn 978-1-61608-366-3 - - sketch illustrations in the text - - few hand drawn sketch maps - - 298 pages.
Chapter 1 begins with a flashback to 1983, which sets up the rest of the book with a visit to the island of - Iona, a tiny island lying off the coast of Mull, which in turn lies off the west coast of Scotland. It then the book moves to 1990 where Mackinnon quits his teaching job in Australia and heads off on the adventure described in this book.
It must be noted that this took place in 1990. The world was a different place then and the international situation was different from now in 2021 not only in time of COVID pandemic, but also with politics and the ability to move more freely.
Mackinnon has a bad case of youthful -itchy foot- and after a sojurn in New Zealand decides that he must travel on the surface of the earth to Iona. No flying at all, just by land transportation or by boat. This involved some travel as a working passenger on a few yachts, some travel by train, some by bus, some by hitching a ride on a truck and some on a freighter across the Indian Ocean, Red Sea through the Suez Canal. The part crossing from Thailand into Laos, crossing Laos and ducking into and being aprehended in China was remarkable. His travel across Europe did not elicit much in the way of remarks, but the last major adventure on the French side island abbey/fortress of St. Michelle was well worth the read.
It should be noted that the incidents in this book happened years before the book A.J. Mackinnon wrote previously The Unlikely Voyage of Jack DeCrow published in 2002.
~2021-01-20~


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