The Downhill Hiking Club cover art

The Downhill Hiking Club

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Downhill Hiking Club

By: Dom Joly
Narrated by: Dom Joly
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Dom Joly was born in Beirut and lived there until he was 18. He lived through the civil war, went to school with Osama Bin Laden, and learned to ski and speak French and Arabic. At the age of seven, he was sent to an English boarding school, where he would spend term times before returning to his war-torn home. It was a schizophrenic existence. Dom's parents divorced when he was 18, and he moved permanently to the UK, becoming a diplomat, a political journalist and then famous as a man who dressed as a giant squirrel. He has been back to Lebanon only twice since.

Then he read about an attempt to encourage tourism in this long-suffering country: The Lebanon Mountain Trail. This is a hiking trail that runs from the Syrian border in the north of Lebanon, along the spine of the country's mountain range all the way to the Israeli border in the south. The trail takes 30 days to complete.

Dom immediately decided that he must hike the trail in 2018, the year of his 50th birthday, and invited two friends along. Essentially this is a bonding adventure that just so happens to take place right in the middle of the most important geopolitical region of our times.

The Downhill Hiking Club is a funny, heartwarming travel book full of insight into the Middle East, religion, friendship and growing old disgracefully....

It's three men on a camel...without the camel.

©2019 Dom Joly (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK
Biographies & Memoirs Middle East Travel Writing & Commentary Funny Thought-Provoking Witty Feel-Good
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Dark Tourist cover art
The Conspiracy Tourist cover art
Such Miserable Weather cover art
Scary Monsters and Super Creeps cover art
Here Comes the Clown cover art
Travel Seekness cover art
A Journey of Days cover art
Abroad in Japan cover art
Don’t Go There cover art
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days cover art
The Accidental Feminist cover art
Into Iraq cover art
China Cuckoo cover art
Another Fine Mess cover art
Utterly Brilliant! cover art
Monte Carlo for Vagabonds cover art

What listeners say about The Downhill Hiking Club

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    313
  • 4 Stars
    94
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    344
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    278
  • 4 Stars
    88
  • 3 Stars
    37
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully entertaining!

Loved it, a very entertaining, informative and in some ways educational account of Don and his dear friends undertaking more than they can chew!! I had always dismissed the Middle East as a travel destination, particularly this part of the world. I now want to go to Lebanon and walk on the LMT! Another cracker by Dom, keep them coming!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb, human, witty and above all very funny

Another win for Dom Joly. Highly amusing, and more to the point wets the appetite for both food and travel at the same time. I am booking my flights to the Lebanon right after this. A must read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Always Hits the Mark

Everyone of these books is funny thought provoking and entertaining. Can’t listen to one need to hear them all

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning

I have just finished listening to this for the second time. Funny and with great poignant moments.

Makes you wish to go to Lebanon and for the country to be at peace for all the people of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I’m honest with my reviews

The book wasn’t boring and loved the characters, definitely felt like I was with them in the background hiking. This is my second book I got on audible by Don Joly I also have the dark tourist. Hope he’s other books are as good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

This is travel the Dom Joly way. I just love the way he puts a story across with some great facts and a fun background.
Dom just has a way of making you feel immersed in the story.
I have read all of Dom's books and must say have enjoyed all of them.

Dom's passion for adventure comes across really well. He goes to unusual places and makes them seem normal.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous journey

Thank you for the experience. Could flavour the food and visualise the views plus the humour was apposite.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great humourous travel book

really really enjoyed this. fun story and 3 mates going for a walk in the middle east. I've never given the place much thought (other than war torn hell hole) but this made me view the place in a whole new light. the book was funny, light hearted, yet informative. up there with bill bryson (all praise him) in my opinion.

highly recommended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but not great.

A thoroughly enjoyable book but I felt it was a bit drawn out compared to The Dark Tourist and Scary Monsters. I personally preferred reading about Dom's travels to lots of varied destinations and his shenanigans on the way.
Maybe that's more to do with my short attention span. But his comic style is still there peppered with depth and emotion. Still highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Inspirational & wonderfully entertaining

A really fantastically well written and narrated book that makes you feel you are on the hike with them. Truly inspirational with the perfect balance of every narrative form to ensure there is never a dull moment. There are two editing slips that mean you hear a couple of sentences repeated but this does not distract for long from this engaging, inspirational and entertaining travel book that I highly recommend to any fan of Bill Bryson (peace be upon him / blessed be his name 😉).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!