One of the most absurd and delightful expeditions to attempt a Himalayan Peak: two amateur climbers attempt Mir Samir in Nuristan, and survive to tell a very funny tale.
Eric Newby has achieved a considerable success with his first book, The Last Grain Race, which described his experiences as an apprentice on the four-masted barque. Moshulu. During the war he joined the Special Boat Service and was captured after attacking a German airfield in Sicily. Whilst a prisoner-of-war Eric Newby was smitten with the ambition to explore and in his latest book A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush he tells the exciting and highly entertaining story of his journey with Hugh Carless of the British Foreign Service into the mysterious region of Nuristan in north-east Afghanistan.
Although their main objective was to climb Mir Samir, a mountain in the 20,000-foot zone, they had only four days' experience of scrambling up rock in Wales, a most inadequate assortment of climbing equipment, and a meagre supply of canned food.
Their many adventures on the 7,000 mile journey by jeep from Istanbul were often ludicrous. From Kabul, accompanied by three surly Nuristani porters they set out on foot along the ancient trail route leading to Mir Samir, hot, arduous and windblown. Defeated by the mountain after a gallant attempt involving appalling hazards and hardships, they finally penetrated the wild and wondrous country of Nuristan to set their feet where only few Europeans have trod.
