by Ian D. Robinson
David Bateman Ltd rrp $29.99
‘AFGHANISTAN: EXTREME RISK! Travellers are advised against all travel. ...the situation in Afghanistan is UNPREDICTABLE, VOLATILE,...Dangers include SUICIDE CAR BOMBINGS, KIDNAPPING OF FOREIGNERS that could result in DEATH, land-mines...BANDITRY is COMMON in large areas of the countryside...’
So read the New Zealand government’s ‘safe travel’ website.
Travelling to far flung outposts with a hint (or more) of danger is what drives ‘extreme’ traveller, New Zealander Ian D. Robinson. So once he had recovered from his trip on horseback through the mountains of Tibet (where he was arrested three times by Chinese police), and despite the risks, a trip through Afghanistan seemed an obvious next destination choice.
The result is a fascinating, highly readable tale of Ian’s travels through the troubled land. Read Tea with the Taliban and learn about the risks Ian took as he ventured discover the ‘real’ Afghanistan. It is a remarkable story, telling an adventure that very few of us would wish to undertake.
‘I wanted to find the ‘good’ side of the country; and to talk to ordinary Afghan people and find out what life was really like for them,’ says Ian.
‘Our view of Afghanistan and its people is so clouded with media portrayal of it as a place ruled by guns and extremist zealots. Sure this exists, but my view of the country after going could not be more different.’
Tea with the Taliban tells the stories of ordinary people of Afghanistan; their struggles, hopes and aspirations. In true Ian Robinson style he didn’t only venture into the hustle and bustle of the country’s cities and towns, he also went alone, on horseback, into the sparsely populated north-eastern region of the country. Frankly I think he was crazy but he pulled it off and now we can all read about it.
Maps and fabulous colour photographs, and an interesting epilogue which brings the Afghanistan situation right up to date, make for a complete and most entertaining book for the armchair travellers among us.
About the author:
Award-winning travel writer, Ian D. Robinson has explored much of Central Asia, South America and the Far East. He has travelled to and written about some of the most isolated and uncompromising parts of the world, including Mongolia in Gantsara, alone across Mongolia for which he won the 2005 Whitcoulls/Travcom Travel Book of the Year and You Must Die Once, the biographical account of his horseback journey across Tibet, which was highly commended in the Travcom travel media awards in 2007. Closer to home, he has researched, written and published Hauraki Gulf and The Coromandel. Last month Robinson’s Waikato River, a biography of New Zealand’s greatest waterway was launched.
Ian lives in Auckland.
2 comments:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book...Ian has such an honest way of portraying his travels and Im his biggest fan! An amazing story...eye-opening and quite heart breaking. It makes me appreciate being born in New Zealand.
Everyone should read this...learn the history of Afghanistan, read about the thoughts of every day Afghan people....understand their plight.
I have been researching and writing about Afghanistan for the past four years.What a pleasure it has been to walk places I have become familiar with in Ian's footsteps;and feel the fear and exhiliaration of travelling a place so different to NZ - alone. This is a "must read" book for New Zealanders. How many of us would have the courage to do what Ian did, and write so candidly about our experiences? My copy of Tea with the Taliban was a Christmas gift:the real gift was Ian's knowledge, experiences and wonderful story-telling.
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