Amazon.com Actor Michael Palin has managed to keep busy since his days with the British comedy group Monty Python. First， he traveled Around the World in 80 Days while a BBC crew filmed his adventures; in Pole to Pole， Palin once again straps on his old kit bag--this time to traverse the globe from north to south. Accompanied once again by a dauntless film crew， Palin begins in the far， frozen wastes of the Arctic Circle， then passes through 17 countries， including Norway， the former USSR， Turkey， Egypt， South Africa， and Chile， before standing at last at the South Pole. Along the way the company is faced with revolution， illness and injury， and not a few bumpy plane rides--occurrences they meet with the obligatory stiff upper lip. Palin also rides in a hot air balloon， acquires a camel， consults a witch doctor， and plunges into the heart of a South African diamond mine， two kilometers beneath the surface of the earth. These adventures and more are related in Palin's journal entries and illustrated by dozens of color and black-and-white photographs. The best travel stories often chronicle trips no sane person would care to experience herself; in Pole to Pole， Michael Palin has done the suffering for us， leaving readers to enjoy the humor， excitement， and joy of exotic climes from the comfort of our armchairs. From Publishers Weekly The ultimate travel adventure of the jet age may be to journey from the North Pole to the South Pole by every means but airplane. British actor-writer-TV producer Palin (a member of the Monty Python troupe) rose to the challenge in 1991， when he and a BBC-TV crew undertook a five-month trip along the 30 east line of longitude. Through 17 countries they traveled by bus， train， barge， ship， bicycle， car， balloon and raft; when prearranged transport failed them in the last leg of their journey， from South Africa to Antarctica， there was nothing for it but to take a plane. While the sheer mechanics of getting from one place to the next occupied most of the time， Palin vividly reports on the almost daily changes in panorama and the acutely experienced differences in climate， culture， politics， plumbing， lodgings， food and mores. He recoups the keen sense of fun--and of trauma--during the days of this Grand Tour. The narrative is witty and Palin's exuberance contagious. Crew photographer Basil Pao illustrates with a profusion of seductive color shots. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.