Under the Bright Sky

Under the Bright Sky: A Memoir of Travels through Asia brings together ten personal travelogues set in ten Asian countries over a period of several decades. Each story is a snapshot of a distinct time and place, covering a vast and complex landscape, both physical and emotional. Intimate recollections stretch from a father's desire to revisit Sri Lanka, where he had been posted fifty years earlier during WWII, to a spouse's search for long-lost relatives in the small villages of southern China. A widowed husband mourns; the stages of a new romance are celebrated in India and Indonesia. Cultural conflict is encountered in Turkey; cultural cooperation in Vietnam. Together, these intimate recollections are a meditation on the relationships between cultures. Interlaced with each new experience is a sense of familiarity and appreciation as Scott places his own travels into the context of those before him, exploring our interconnectedness--a Thai Buddhist abbot in search of the perfect piece of BC jade, and the first Japanese visitors to the Pacific Northwest, a group of seamen who arrive the hard way, drifting in their disabled vessel for more than a year. In Under the Bright Sky, award-winning author Andrew Scott ventures through time and space in search of connection and meaning. His devotion and insight will inspire travellers and historians alike.