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

Categorized in : Years Elephants Skeletons

Real travel is not about the highlights with which you dazzle your friends once you're home. It's about the loneliness, the solitude, the evenings spent by yourself, pining to be somewhere else. Those are the moments of true value. You feel half proud of them and half ashamed and you hold them to your heart.

loneliness real home

Calcutta's the only city I know where you are actively encouraged to stop strangers at random for a quick chat.

where-you-are stranger cities

With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything. by Tahir Shah

With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything.

team-building achievement teamwork

A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you. by Tahir Shah

A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.

tested merit journey

Respect was one thing. Survival was another. It was important that I kept my priorities in the right order.

priorities survival order

Money spent on good-quality gear is always money well spent by Tahir Shah

Money spent on good-quality gear is always money well spent

gears quality travel

If hot food is they key to maintaining an expedition's stamina, then low grade gut-rot alcohol is the key to sustaining its sense of pleasure.

alcohol keys hot

My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious... by Tahir Shah

My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.

heritage stories father

For my father there was no sharper way to understand a country th... by Tahir Shah

For my father there was no sharper way to understand a country than by listening to its stories.

listening country father

I believe that Marrakech ought to be earned as a destination. The journey is the preparation for the experience. Reaching it too fast derides it, makes it a little less easy to understand.

preparation journey believe

The very fact that a Frenchman was prepared, after two minutes of conversation, to be so friendly towards anyone, especially one who had come from England, made me restless.

friendly two travel

Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives. by Tahir Shah

Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives.

contemplation luxury alternatives

Most journeys have a clear beginning, but on some the ending is less well-defined. The question is, at what point do you bite your lip and head for home?

journey home travel

Enlightenment, and the death which comes before it, is the primar... by Tahir Shah

Enlightenment, and the death which comes before it, is the primary business of Varanasi.

varanasi primaries enlightenment

Back at the Chateau Windsor there was a rat-like scratching at the door of my room. Vinod, the youngest servant, came in with a soda water. He placed it next to the bag of toffees. Then he watched me read. I was used to being observed reading. Sometimes the room would fill like a railway station at rush hour and I would be expected to cure widespread boredom

reading doors water

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 home

home discovery watches

I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in... by Tahir Shah

I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in the mindset of the Incas.

upper-hand gains hands

The forest did not tolerate frailty of body or mind. Show your weakness, and it would consume you without hesitation.

weakness body mind

The desert was bad, but nothing could compare with the horrors of... by Tahir Shah

The desert was bad, but nothing could compare with the horrors of a tropical rain forest.

desert rain forests

My father used to tell me that stories offer the listener a chance to escape but, more importantly, he said, they provide people with a chance to maximize their minds. Suspend ordinary constraints, allow the imagination to be freed, and we are charged with the capability of heighetned thought.

eye dream father