order:

7.3
Afghanistan
Nicolas Bouvier
Is this a great piece of poetic travel writing, or has it been overly polished?

5.3
Afghanistan
Jean de Mandeville
Why is it so much fun to read Medieval travel stories that are at least partly untrue?

5
China
Stanley Stewart
Is China really that quirky, or do we sometimes just want things to be a certain way?

5.3
Afghanistan
Ibn Battuta
Did conservative ethics turn this great adventure story into such a slow read?

6.3
Cambodia
Fernão Mendes Pinto
If this is one of the classics of Portuguese literature, why is it such a slow read?