Culture Quote by Tahir Shah

“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

“The last thing we wanted was for the Machiguenga to be sad again. Sadness appeared to bring out their violence.”

— Tahir Shah

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.

— Tahir Shah

“As anyone who's ever taken an Ethiopian bus knows, there is an unwritten rule that the windows must remain firmly closed.”

— Tahir Shah

“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.”

— Tahir Shah

“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