A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

Newby’s adventure classic tells the story of two unassuming friends who decide to go mountaineering in one of the world’s most remote and forbidding regions.

This book helped show me that anything is possible; all you need is the positivity of spirit and focus of drive to take on seemingly overwhelming physical and mental challenges.

His self-deprecating humour and ability to communicate and share the grandeur and beauty of Afghanistan is a must read for anyone who would rather make up their own mind about an oft maligned and feared region of the world.

I rarely read books twice (just because there are so many great books in the world and not enough time to read them), but I recently reread this book and I’m so glad I did. It was as fresh and funny a second time around as it was the first. Newby has such deadpan humour and often describes himself as a bumbling fool. The title is classic Newby understatement – the hike that he did was no ‘short walk.’ The fights he had with his fellow hiker, a diplomat called Hugh Carless, were so entertaining. 

Newby reveals very little about… show more.

This quintessentially British tale of two novice mountaineers, heading off into the far reaches of the Hindu Kush, to scale Mir Samir, a daunting 7,000m peak, is a true travel classic. Always understated and self-deprecating, it carries you back to a different era, both in terms of the landscapes and cultures of those Newby, and his travelling companion Hugh Carless, encounter and in terms of their attitude to travel. So inspired was I by this book that it was one of the reasons I travelled to the same region of Afghanistan for my second travel book, For A Pagan Song,… show more.