Silk, Spice and Furry Dice

Not for the first time veteran overlander Andy N Robinson dragged himself out of retirement, unable to resist the lure of 'one last trip'. What happened in Central Asia almost finished him off for good. Silk, Spice and Furry Dice is an amusing real life account of the challenges faced trying to film a documentary abroad. People from different countries and cultures collided for a one-off project and promptly proceeded to make life as difficult as possible for themselves. Supporting a Japanese film crew on an epic journey along the Silk Road from Istanbul to Beijing certainly had its moments with blowouts, broken ribs, trouble with the police, internal wrangling, enforced changes of personnel, film permit issues, full-scale riots and an unexpected romance. Andy recounts life on the road with a refreshingly honest look at not only his own sometimes wayward actions, but the inner workings of the film crew, the relationships simultaneously forming and crumbling around him, as well as painting a picture of the magical world that is Central Asia. There is a whole load more that goes into making a documentary than meets the eye and there is far more to travelling overland than just seeing the sights...