Walking across Afghanistan through dangers and landscapes

The Places in Between is a travel narrative by Rory Stewart, a British writer, academic, broadcaster, former diplomat and Member of Parliament, detailing his solo walk across north-central Afghanistan in 2002. Stewart arrived in Afghanistan in January 2002, beginning his journey in Herat and proceeding on foot to Kabul.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 16 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   walking across Afghanistan as travel writing · Wikipedia · 3 min read

   Walking across Afghanistan, Stewart faced winter hazards: while crossing landscape covered by nine feet of snow, he was physically assaulted and shot at by humans, and also attacked by wolves. The Places in Between won the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, a Scottish Arts Council prize and the Spirit of Scotland Award in 2005.

2. Read
   Review - 'The Places in Between' by Rory Stewart (2004) · jamescakebread.blogspot.com · 7 min read

   Rory Stewart survives gunfire from roaming headmen, evades death in former Taliban-supporting compounds, repels wolves hungry for the flesh of his dog and endures exhaustion and dysentery. The reviewer says readers will be more informed about geopolitics and international relations by the end, though the book is not about those subjects.

3. Watch
   

   How the US failed to rebuild Afghanistan · YouTube · 6 min watch

   The video describes the US effort to rebuild Afghanistan's roads, the unfinished Ring Road, and how the war in Iraq diverted resources. Its focus on roads and travel between Afghan cities offers context for writing about walking across Afghanistan.

4. Book
   

   The Places in Between · Bookshop.org

   The Places in Between, by Rory Stewart, follows his January 2002 walk from Herat to Kabul, passing historical sites including the Minaret of Jam, Chist-e-Sharif's dome and the Bamiyan Buddhas. The synopsis places those encounters within a winter journey across Afghanistan.

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