Enormous thanks, too, to all those at Weidenfeld & Nicolson who have worked wonders to produce a complex book in such a short time, Michael Dover, my editor, whose unflappable and generous support was never more necessary, David Rowley, my art director and designer, who has done a fine job at a furious pace, ably assisted by Austin Taylor and Justin Hunt.
To Claire Marsden for making sure I spelt her name right, as well as about 4000 others. Thank you also to Tara Redmond and Angela Martin for making sure the world knows we exist and, finally, special thanks to Richard Hussey, who rejected a life of ease to stay on and see this book through production.
Reading Matter
Footprint, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides were never far from my side, but Isobel Shaw’s Pakistan Handbook, Michael Buckley’s Bradt Guide to Tibet and Francoise Pommaret’s Odyssey Guide to Bhutan were outstanding. The beautifully illustrated Insight Guides add a touch of local colour. I eagerly devoured Patrick French’s three books on the history of the region: Younghusband, Tibet Tibet and Liberty or Death, whilst among other favourites were Kathleen Jamie’s Among Muslims, Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard, Geoffrey Moorhouse’s To The Frontier, Peter Hopkins’ Trespassers on the Roof of the World, Sun Shuyun’s Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud, Namu’s enchanting Leaving Mother Lake and Romesh Bhattacharji’s travels in Assam, Lands of Early Dawn.
Partridge and mountain peaks. A romantic image of home comes to life in a truck painter’s yard in Peshawar.
PAKISTAN
At the Khyber Pass. The Grand Trunk Road (to the right) winds into Afghanistan.
Gunsmith, Darra, North-West Frontier.
Dental Alley, aka Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Peshawar. Abdul Wahid (bottom) thinks the whole head might have to come off.
Palatial hospitality at Chateau Fatehjang.
At Prince Malik’s travelling pavilion I meet an exjockey, on the left. The sport cost him an arm.
Bull-racing near Taxila.
At Rumbur. Kalash girls, barley field, dry-stone wall, traditional costume, modern foot.
Threading our way through the Hindu Kush. The rugged route out of the Kalash valleys.
Chitral.With Siraj Ul-Mulk at a madrassa (a religious school) in the mosque his grandfather built.
A boy recites the Koran, which he must learn by heart.
No lie-in when the band’s around. Early-morning music heralds the start of the Polo Festival at the Shandur Pass.
Winning combination. Truc and Bulbul Jan.
Pakistanis are cricket mad, even at 10,000 feet (3050 m).
Solving the world’s problems with Imran Khan. His dog’s heard it all before.
At Rawalpindi, crossing the most famous road in the subcontinent. First laid across north India some five hundred years ago.
My first taste of the high life. Dropping off at Concordia, where great glaciers meet K2 at three miles above sea level.
Street cleaners in Rawalpindi take a photo break. In the background, Shaan Shahid, Lollywood heart-throb, dominates the billboards.
Prayers at the 330-year-old Badshahi Mosque, Lahore.
My night with the stars. Shaan Shahid (left), and other top Pakistani thesps, on set at the Bari Studios, Lahore.
Who is the fairest of them all? Last-minute checks at Bari Studios.
Unblocking the fountains. Shalimar Gardens, Lahore.
Buffalo-assisted lawnmower, Shalimar Gardens.
Wagah border crossing. A red-letter day for the local porters as the BBC leaves Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Punjabi Rangers strut their stuff at the border.
With their Indian counterparts, they prepare for competitive flag-lowering.
INDIA
Ablutions in the Amrit Sarover, the ‘pool of nectar’, at the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
With two guardians of the temple. Their robes and spears symbolize the dual nature of the Sikhs: service and defence.
Kalka, Himachal Pradesh (Himalaya Province). The public pump still has a vital role in Indian life. And the railways are the biggest single employer in the world.
First glimpse of the scale of Shimla, 7260 feet (2213 m) above sea level. Provincial capital of Himachal Pradesh.
Aboard the Himalayan Queen on the 57-mile run from Kalka to Shimla.
The Vice-Regal Lodge at Shimla.
Keeping out of the sun or keeping out of the book? Shy ladies on the Ridge at Shimla.
On the road to Dharamsala. Our well-hennaed driver, ‘Red’, and a lunch bristling with green chillies.
Country life in Himachal Pradesh. Rich land, poor farmers.
Bulrush fields hide the river south of Dharamsala.
Tibet in India. Hanging prayer flags out near the Lhagyal Ri temple at McLeodganj.
At the Tibet Medical and Astrology Centre. I learn from Phurbu Tsering that I was an elephant in my previous life.
Surely the most approachable of all world leaders, the Dalai Lama is a powerful man, totally lacking the trappings, or the presumptions, of the powerful.
Mr Gulam Butt, proprietor of Clermont Houseboats through thick and thin times, runs through a lists of previous guests, including Nelson Rockefeller and George Harrison.
The Kashmir Martyrs’ Graveyard, one of many for those Muslims who’ve died fighting, or because of fighting, for freedom from India.
The remains of the Greenway Hotel, Srinagar, destroyed by the Indian army after Islamic militants holed up there.
A selection of the famous and once much sought-after houseboats of Srinagar.
NEPAL
Hindu Nepal. In Patan’s Durbar Square stone elephants, carved 380 years ago, guard the entrance to Shiva’s temple.
Kathmandu. In the grounds of the Royal Palace, the great and good of Nepal stand in line for the royal tika.
Before it all went wrong. Adrian Griffith talks to the galla, the recruiting officer, prior to addressing the village in fluent Nepali.