Why a Booktrail?
Pakistan as you have never seen it before
Travels in a Dervish Cloak
What you need to know before your trail
Spellbound by his grandmother s Anglo-Indian heritage and the exuberant annual visits of her friend the Begum, Isambard Wilkinson became enthralled by Pakistan as an intrepid teenager, eventually working there as a foreign correspondent during the War on Terror. Seeking the land behind the headlines, Bard sets out to discover the essence of a country convulsed by Islamist violence. What of the old, mystical Pakistan has survived and what has been destroyed?
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Pakistan
We meet charismatic tribal chieftains making their last stand, hereditary saints blessing prostitutes, gangster bosses in violent slums and ecstatic Muslim pilgrims. Navigating a minefield of coups, conspiracies, cock-ups and bombs, Bard is reluctant to judge, his ear alert to the telling phrase, his eye open to Pakistan s palimpsest of beliefs, languages and imperial legacies. His is a funny, hashish- and whisky-scented travel book from the frontline, full of open-hearted delight and a poignant lust for life. Like a cat with nine lives, Bard travels and parties his way to the remotest corners, never allowing his own fragile health to deter him.
This is the Pakistan that the tourist and visitor never sees. It’s the country seen through the eyes of the The Daily Telegraph correspondent who worked in Afghanistan before becoming ill and having to return home to Ireland. He took a less dangerous assignment in Pakistan and the result is this book
Pakistan he writes is a country which has seeped into his soul. He was 18 when he first visited the country but ending up as the foreign correspondent there allowed him to see it with new eyes.
This is a very colourful read. A patchwork of a country with shades of culture, history, language and more. The people in the book are a cast of characters in a grand show
Some highlights:
Chitral
A stunning part of the country which remains largely unchanged in appearance although the same can’t be said for the geographical sense
Baluchuiustan – He goes on the trail of the Nawab
Punjab – Chummacha, Chaudhry and Chilli
Sindh – Heath Robinson country, the real pakistan and return of an empress
And oh, wait till you see the Sulaiman Mountains!
This is a man who is not afraid to go where he shouldn’t, explore where others fear to tread and depends on drivers who quite possibly fall asleep on the job. A glossary and general map are included at the start of the book which aids this travelogue and guide to a region, many of us will never go.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Travels in a Dervish Cloak
Destination: Pakistan Author/Guide: Isambard Wilkinson Departure Time: 2000s
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