Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
apologised for interrupting the game of crib I was playing with Rose. Had I not been in awe I might have remembered to tell him about this battle
of the bands.
[back]
3. On the return journey, we found caviar on the menu in the dining car on one of the rare occasions it was open. I asked the attendant if it was
possible to buy some caviar. 'Только за доллары' came the reply and I understood 'dollar'. I returned with a large empty honey jar, which he
promptly filled to the brim with black caviar for $5. I gave it as a present to my aunt and uncle whose ambassadorial home in Geneva was a useful
watering hole when the weather turned foul in the Alps. My aunt is Russian and was overwhelmed. She told me later it was worth at least $500
and of the finest quality. This in a small way repaid some of the losses incurred by my aunt and uncle when some of the Leeds team discovered the
secret stash of wine and luxuries like the tinned lobster that cost John Syrett his climbing career.
[back]
4. The Mandaras team had a hugely successful time. Terry King climbing with Zawada, and Piotr with Marek made the first ascent of the north
face of Mandaras. It was a technically difficult climb throughout. Terry led Zawada the entire way. The rest of the team got up major routes on
mountains nearby.
[back]
5. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan from the north on 27 December 1979. The initial force comprised 1,800 tanks, 80,000 soldiers and 2,000 ar-
moured personnel carriers. As in all previous wars in Afghanistan, resistance from united tribes was fierce despite the official Soviet story that the
Afghan government had invited the Red Army in for security reasons. The war against the mujahideen, supported by US military aid to a host of
'freedom fighters' including Osama Bin Laden, dragged on until the final troop withdrawal in February 1989. When I got back to the UK, I contac-
ted the UK foreign office with details of everything we had seen in Termez. They were very appreciative but were told: 'You've got nothing that we
don't already know.' The good news for the West was that most of the tanks and eight divisions had been withdrawn from Eastern Europe to wage
the Afghan war.
[back]
6. The Russian invasion, the years of the Taliban, new countries with 'borders' and the rush of modernity has almost completely wiped these no-
madic people from the face of the planet.
[back]
7. Football hooliganism was a major problem in the UK in the 1970s amongst violent followers of some football teams. Gangs came just to fight
rather than watch the football. There was also intense rivalry between the talented groups of climbers based in Barrow and Carlisle at the time.
Nearly every weekend saw the addition of high-standard, high-quality routes by rival teams on the high crags of the Lake District.
[back]
8. At the height of the Taliban expansion in the 1990s, Faizabad remained one of the few cities unscathed, and was the stronghold from where
Massud and the Northern Alliance began their fightback.
[back]
9. The Spanish had already paid their bribe and had hired two trucks, each of which, we later discovered, cost three times what Zawada negotiated
for their two trucks. The Spaniards were happy for us to contribute a quarter of the cost for one of their trucks.
[back]
