Eric Newby · 1958 · overland

Eric Newby's 1958 comic masterpiece, in which the author abandons the London fashion trade on a whim and, with almost no climbing experience, sets off with his friend Hugh Carless to scale an unclimbed peak in the remote Nuristan region of Afghanistan. Hopelessly underprepared and gloriously funny, it ends with one of travel writing's great moments, an encounter with the explorer Wilfred Thesiger. The route runs overland from England to the Hindu Kush.

1. 1
   London

   Newby, bored with the rag trade, cables Carless the immortal line proposing they climb a mountain in Afghanistan, and the two set off overland from England.

2. 2
   Istanbul

   By car across Europe to Istanbul and the threshold of Asia, the comforts of home falling away mile by mile.

3. 3
   Tehran

   Across the Persian plateau to Tehran, the roads worsening and the adventure becoming alarmingly real.

4. 4
   Kabul

   To Kabul, and a hasty, hopeless crash course in mountaineering before plunging into the wild country to the north.

5. 5
   Panjshir Valley

   Up the Panjshir valley and into Nuristan, among fierce tribesmen and impossible terrain.

6. 6
   Mir Samir

   To the foot of Mir Samir, which they fail, magnificently, to climb, before stumbling on Wilfred Thesiger in the wilderness.