“Time spent in India has a extraordinary effect on one. It acts as a barrier that makes the rest of the world… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
In some peculiar way, indeed, the rules were now beginning to seem quite logical. It was then I knew that I had… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
Calcutta's the only city I know where you are actively encouraged to stop strangers at random for a quick chat. — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
Where does one go in a tremendous city like Calcutta to find insider information? I recalled India's golden rule: do the opposite… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“The ancient paused for a moment, as if his strength were failing. Yet I sensed that there was more to tell. Looking… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Back at the guest house I tried to acclimatise. A travel-worn adventurer had once told me that leaning with one's head dangling… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
There is nothing quite as unpleasant as wearing a pair of briefs which have been trailed through a Calcutta courtyard. Nothing, that… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
Back at the Chateau Windsor there was a rat-like scratching at the door of my room. Vinod, the youngest servant, came in… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Prideep pointed to the flames of paraffin lamps as they came alive in the distance and cackled in awe at the experience.… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
Foras Road has a sordid reputation (…) Old crones sat in doorways, while their daughters were pushed out to earn money. It… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Osman and Prideep had been in my employment for some weeks. Every Friday I would take the to lunch. It was the… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“At the last moment, the fish and I exchange a troubled glance. The murrel seems to be demanding an explanation. Alas, I… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“As the head of an expedition, you can't pussyfoot around being polite to everyone. You have to show your teeth once in a while;… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“The last thing we wanted was for the Machiguenga to be sad again. Sadness appeared to bring out their violence.” — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
If hot food is they key to maintaining an expedition's stamina, then low grade gut-rot alcohol is the key to sustaining its sense of… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Normally I would have been the first to go in search of cannibal monks, particularly as I had heard of a similar tradition at… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Inscribed on it was a verse from the Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, the eleventh-century Persian mystic. Reading the words aloud I prepared for a… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Moroccan traffic isn't like normal traffic. It's armed combat, a war of wills, in which only the very bravest have a chance to survive.” — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Prideep pointed to the flames of paraffin lamps as they came alive in the distance and cackled in awe at the experience. (…) I… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“The very fact that a Frenchman was prepared, after tow minutes of conversation, to be so friendly towards anyone, especially one who had come… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways. — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“As anyone who's ever taken an Ethiopian bus knows, there is an unwritten rule that the windows must remain firmly closed.” — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.” — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
“Back at the guest house I tried to acclimatise. A travel-worn adventurer had once told me that leaning with one's head dangling over the… — Tahir Shah Copy Share Image
