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Once in a very long time you come across a book that is far, far more than the ink, the glue and the paper, a book that seeps into your blood. With such a book the impact isn't necessarily obvious at first..but the more you read it and re-read it, and live with it, and travel with it, the more it speaks to you, and the more you realize that you cannot live without that book. It's then that the wisdom hidden inside, the seed, is passed on.Tahir Shah
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As a travel writer I've specialized in gritty, fearful destinations, the kind of places that make a reader's hair stick on end.Tahir Shah
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Once in a very long time you come across a book that is far, far more than the ink, the glue and the paper, a book that seeps into your blood.Tahir Shah
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For me, a journey to Damascus is an amazing hunt from beginning to end, a slice through layers of history in search of treasure.Tahir Shah
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For me, nature is something you watch on the Discovery Channel, or on the evening news -- as you learn how much more of it's been savaged to make way for the Blackberry realm that is my homeTahir Shah
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Move to a new country and you quickly see that visiting a place as a tourist, and actually moving there for good, are two very different things.Tahir Shah
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The idea of my heart dancing with delight was far too good to pass up.Tahir Shah
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Lured by the wilderness, and by the chance of spotting rare desert elephants, a few intrepid tourists make their way to the Skeleton Coast each year. It's just about as remote as any tourist destination on earth, but one that pays fabulous dividends.Tahir Shah
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A little imagination goes a long way in Fes.Tahir Shah
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One senses that, in these conditions, no amount of wet-wiping could bring true hygiene.Tahir Shah
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The Occident has never found it easy to grasp the strange netherworld of spirits that followers of Islam universally believe exist in a realm overlaid our own.Tahir Shah
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Visit Cape Town and history is never far from your grasp. It lingers in the air, a scent on the breezy, an explanation of circumstance that shaped the Rainbow People. Stroll around the old downtown and it's impossible not to be affected by the trials and tribulations of the struggle. But, in many ways, it is the sense of triumph in the face of such adversity that makes the experience all the more poignant. .Tahir Shah
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It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance with which ancestry is held in the Middle East and North Africa.Tahir Shah
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At the last moment, the fish and I exchange a troubled glance. The murrel seems to be demanding an explanation. Alas, I am in no position to start justifying the unusual treatment. What comes next is a new experience for both the fish and me.Tahir Shah
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Explorers like to pretend that they are a select breed of people with iron nerve and an ability to endure terrible hardship.Tahir Shah
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During the days I felt myself slipping into a kind of madness. Solitary confinement has an astonishing effect on the mind. The trip was to stay calm and keep myself occupied. I spent hours working out how to break free. But trying to escape would have been instant suicide.Tahir Shah