Today, I'm giving hats off to someone. I'm reading an incredible book by Rory Stewart and just can't help but to share his amazing story.
Mr. Stewart, a historian and Scotsman, in 2000 started an epic journey of walking, yes walking, through Pakistan, Iran, India, Nepal, and finally Afghanistan. This walk followed in the steps of Babur, the first Mughal emperor. The memoir of his incredible feat through Afghanistan is written in Stewart's book, 'The Places In Between'.
The author starts his journey in the western city of Herat, Afghanistan in late 2001. Whereupon he assigned by the Security Service 3 guardians (against his will) to walk with him. Depending on the hospitality of villagers, the men are fed and spend their nights in homes of strangers. Mr. Stewart sees firsthand what the war and hard times have done to the land and to the people.
One of my favorite excerpts thus far:
'The slender shadows of thorns fell like a jagged Kufic script over the new mud wall. Out of sight, beyond the wall, the desert into which we would walk stretched unbroken. We stood up and Abdul Haq picked a pink flower and put it in my cap. There was a large full moon to the east, the air had stilled enough for the snow to be visible on the upper slopes, and a low orange sun was descending dust-muffled to the west. I, with a tiny pink flower in my cap, strode with the three armed men down the avenue cypresses toward the sunset.'
There is just something about going to lands so far away from the world you have known. This unknown world in time easily, other times not so easily, becomes your own; the people may, perhaps, become your friends, sometimes family. And though, I'm sure, Mr. Stewart did not befriend all he came in contact with, I am quite certain his life is forever changed - maybe for the better.
To be continued...
Mr. Stewart, a historian and Scotsman, in 2000 started an epic journey of walking, yes walking, through Pakistan, Iran, India, Nepal, and finally Afghanistan. This walk followed in the steps of Babur, the first Mughal emperor. The memoir of his incredible feat through Afghanistan is written in Stewart's book, 'The Places In Between'.
The author starts his journey in the western city of Herat, Afghanistan in late 2001. Whereupon he assigned by the Security Service 3 guardians (against his will) to walk with him. Depending on the hospitality of villagers, the men are fed and spend their nights in homes of strangers. Mr. Stewart sees firsthand what the war and hard times have done to the land and to the people.
 |
| Rory Stewart |
One of my favorite excerpts thus far:
'The slender shadows of thorns fell like a jagged Kufic script over the new mud wall. Out of sight, beyond the wall, the desert into which we would walk stretched unbroken. We stood up and Abdul Haq picked a pink flower and put it in my cap. There was a large full moon to the east, the air had stilled enough for the snow to be visible on the upper slopes, and a low orange sun was descending dust-muffled to the west. I, with a tiny pink flower in my cap, strode with the three armed men down the avenue cypresses toward the sunset.'
 |
| The author with his good friend, Babur :-) |
There is just something about going to lands so far away from the world you have known. This unknown world in time easily, other times not so easily, becomes your own; the people may, perhaps, become your friends, sometimes family. And though, I'm sure, Mr. Stewart did not befriend all he came in contact with, I am quite certain his life is forever changed - maybe for the better.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment