If one arrives in the Swiss village of Chandolin, in the canton of Valois, one is inevitably overwhelmed by the view of the mountains. It happens to anyone, even the most experienced travelers like it Ella Maillart. One of the great adventurers, writers and travelers of the 20th century.
When Ella Maillart arrived in this alpine corner she was over 40 years old. And he had already lived longer than the vast majority of people will ever live. He had enjoyed and undergone all kinds of experiences in Europe and Asia. He had written some of his masterpieces like Forbidden Oases either The hard path. Just as he had met characters of all kinds.
And of course he was a person with firm existential beliefs. She was a woman who knew what she wanted in this life.
Ella Maillart and her relationship with Chandolin
It was the painter Edmond Bille who told him about Chandolin. And he went there in 1946. He had spent the previous years, those of World War II, in India. There she had made one of her richest journeys, the one she made “through the unknown lands of my mind”, as she described it.
After this “analysis of her own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual existence” she was already prepared to have a place to anchor her existence. And that anchorage was Chandolin, where the Atchala chalet was built, the name of which recalls the sacred hill of Aruntachala in Mararishi.
There, at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, he decided to spend his summers “on top of a mountain lined with pine trees. Having the vast and varied horizon as a source of ever-renewed joys.’
Guide and reporter in Asia
From there she undertook her missions to Asia for decades, sometimes as a tour guide and sometimes as a reporter. And he always returned to those alpine mountains, where he died in 1997.
Without a doubt, the most prominent neighbor of this tiny village and that is why her neighbors, in collaboration with the Friends of Ella Maillart Association, are paying tribute to her with a permanent exhibition in the old Sainte Barbe chapel. The ideal enclave to discover this fascinating woman, through her photos, her articles, even by watching interviews or the films she shot in remote corners of the globe.
Ella Maillart was born in 1903 in Geneva. And he did so in a liberal family with cultural and sporting interests. Ella has been steeped in both aspects since she was a child. He devoured books while becoming an elite athlete. in fact represented Switzerland at the 1924 Olympics as a member of the sailing team or participated in a world skiing championship. Just as he was a pioneer of hockey in the Swiss country.
This need for movement transformed into a passion for sailing. At the age of just 20, young Kini, as her friends called her, began sailing among the islands of the Mediterranean. The sea became a natural environment until exactly 1924. That year the course changed.
The arrival of Ella Maillart in travel journalism
He travels to various European capitals and earns his living in the most varied ways. She can be a typist but also a saleswoman, she can be a sculpture model in Paris or an actress in Geneva, a stuntman in Berlin or a teacher in Wales. And meanwhile he doesn’t stop meeting interesting people.
At these meetings he meets Russian students in Germany, who make him want to travel to the USSR. Just as he makes contact with Jack London’s widow, to whom he tells his work. And this woman surely saw the desire for adventure in the young woman’s eyes, as she had seen them in the eyes of her husband, the famous author of The call of the wild. So he lent him some money to travel to Moscow.
This was the beginning of her life as a writer and travel journalist. Going to the Soviet Union in 1930 was crucial, because his stay was not limited to learning what communist life was like in the capital of Moscow. He made a trip to the Caucasus, the Black Sea and the Crimea, and from all of these came his first publication.
Important orders soon arrived. Especially the one from Le Parisien who asked him for a report on Manchuria, in the Far East. There he left, fulfilled the order but decided to start one of his great adventures.
The great adventure called China
Traveling through China from west to east, clandestinely, without any permit, and with a thousand dangers when crossing the country, the Tibetan lands, the Karakorum, Kashmir, or northern India. An odyssey told Forbidden Oaseswork published in 1936.
The book shows us a world that no longer exists. Or yes, who knows?, since it describes unattached places and landscapes. For many of them, now in 2022 it is still not common to see a Westerner, much less a woman.
For this work alone it is worth considering Ella Maillart a giant traveler and a wonderful writer of the genre. Although she herself admitted it “I’m bored and I’m not gifted. “I write about travel because I have to make a living somehow.”
Fortunately, this boredom and the need to earn a living led him to continue recounting his experiences in places like Turkey, Iran, Nepal and Afghanistan. And all this world is somehow present in Chandolin’s tribute exhibition. After all, as Chuang Tse, Mallart’s leading Chinese thinker, said: “If we approach things from their differences, even the liver and spleen are organs as far away as the cities of Ch’u and Yueh. If we approach them with their similarities, the world is one.
Travel books by Ella Maillart
- Solo Turkestan: A Journey through Central Asia (1933): In this book, Maillart recounts his solo journey through Central Asia, exploring places such as Persia, Afghanistan, and the Turkestan region. This book marked the beginning of her career as a travel writer.
- Forbidden Oases (1937): In this work, Ella Maillart recounts her journey to Tibet, which was an impressive feat in the 1930s, when the region was virtually closed to the outside world. He describes his encounters with the local inhabitants and life in Tibet, offering a unique insight into this remote region.
- Land of Fire (1938): This book records his trip to South America and specifically to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Maillart shares his experiences and thoughts as he explores the natural beauty of this region and encounters local indigenous cultures.
- Forbidden Journey (1942): Written in collaboration with Peter Fleming, this book recounts his perilous mission to the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan. The narrative captures the hardships and challenges of their journey, as well as their struggle to survive in a hostile environment during World War II.
- The Cruel Route (1947): In this work, Maillart recounts his journey from Switzerland to India via Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, in the company of his friend Annemarie Schwarzenbach. This account offers a fascinating insight into the challenges and adventures they encountered on their journey.
- Among the Sandmen (1949): This book is a chronicle of his experiences in Morocco, where he explored the culture and society in a context very different from his own.
- Immediate Life (1952): In this work, Ella Maillart reflects on her travel experiences and offers a deeper insight into her philosophy of life and her connection to exploration and adventure.
- The Land of the Sherpas (1955): In this book, Maillart recounts his journey to Nepal and his encounter with the Sherpa culture on Everest. It offers a unique perspective on life and culture in this mountainous region.
- The Swiss Without a Halo (1960): This book is an exploration of Swiss life and culture, where Maillart shares his observations and reflections on his homeland.
- Nepali Notebooks (1972): Published in French, this book brings together his diaries and notes from his time in Nepal, providing a more intimate picture of his experiences in that country.
These are some of Ella Maillart’s most notable travel books, although she also wrote many articles and essays throughout her life. His work continues to inspire travelers and lovers of travel literature, and his legacy lives on in modern exploration and writing.