NOT much more than 50 years ago, but a world so hugely changed since, is only part of what makes this book so fascinating.

The author, Dr Christopher Maycock, who was a GP in Crediton for 30 years, explains that some 55 years ago he was one of four young people, another doctor and two young women, to set out on a road trip to India "on the cusp of the hippie trail"; and how another, twice their age insisted on joining them.

She was Penelope, the 53-year-old author, adventurer, larger-then-life character and wife of the Poet-Laureate Sir John Betjeman.

They entered a world hugely different from today’s where they could travel in relative safety, which makes this book fascinating. But there is an intriguing dual narrative to the tale – with Christopher spiking the original overland trip with contemporary cultural references to reveal the way things have changed.

Travelling in a VW Dormobile with Cordon Bleu cook Penelope, Christopher used descriptions of their evening meals to mark the end of a long day of immense foreign landscapes and new sensory experiences.

"To duck out of the washing up I agreed to write a daily diary of the trip, a time capsule of 1963 and a window into a lost world," he wrote. That diary formed the basis of this book.

Penelope’s reputation went ahead of them, so that knowledgeable experts along the route were keen to meet her, giving the group the privilege of unique insights that they would otherwise have missed.

She was a mine of information on the history, architecture and religions of the countries through which they passed. "The journey opened our eyes to the remarkable interdependence of the architecture and religions of the dazzlingly varied countries we drove thousands of miles through,” he said.

Written in an engaging, accessible and lucid way, Christopher describes this exciting and often amusing journey – as westerners were increasingly drawn to the magic of the East. English ex-pats turn-up like characters in a novel.

Tigers lurk unseen in sub-tropical jungles and the party moves on, the “camera” always finding new and fascinating material.

Their trip took them 20,000 miles through the Eastern Communist Bloc, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, India and Kathmandu; then the two doctors worked in a hospital in tribal India, returning through Iraq, Baghdad, Syria and snowbound Tito’s Yugoslavia.

The book is a delight, and not simply a travel book. It would be a lovely addition to any bookcase.

"Summoned by the Hon Mrs John Betjeman" is available at Crediton Community Bookshop priced at £12.50.

In its dedication the book says Penelope transformed an exciting and hilarious adventure into a fascinating holiday of the mind. It is all that and more, with plenty of photographs to illustrate the point.