Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 15
SULTANS OF SWING
Two days later we were back down at Bandikhan, having collected all our gear
from base camp. Until an hour before, it seemed we were safely on the road home.
'Are they going to kill us?'
Alex was half-sat, half-slumped inside our small dome tent. He looked very tired,
but more curious than scared. My stomach churned with uncertainty. Voytek was
sprawled unconscious across a greasy sleeping bag beside Alex. Three turbaned
men squatted in the dust a few feet away among the litter of soup packets and
sardine tins marking the boundary of our civilisation. One of them had a rifle.
'I don't know what they'll do. It seems in the balance. These younger guys are
really pissed off.'
I recalled the tale of three British climbers travelling overland to the Himalaya
who stopped to kip by the road near Band-e Amir in Bamyan. They laid their
sleeping bags out side by side and fell into a heavy sleep. In the morning, the guy
in the middle woke up puzzled to find his friends had swapped places in the night,
before confusion turned to horror as it dawned on him it was only their heads that
had switched. This was one of the more sanguinary practical jokes in the annals of
climbing lore, but at least the remaining climber made it home to tell the tale. We
were in a far more remote and wild part of Afghanistan than Band-e Amir.
Having descended to Bandikhan, Voytek and I had made a final journey up to
base camp leaving Alex with our gear. It was an exhausting haul up onto the glaci-
er. The only relief was the pleasure in seeing the massive wall we had climbed rear-
ing up as we approached. We found base camp completely intact and untouched.
The sight of the tents made us whoop for joy. We had half-expected it would all
have been stolen.
Opening the food barrel, we got out a tin of bread, sardines and chocolate. When
I was a kid, there was a disc jockey on WMEX in Boston who raved about how
good sardine and chocolate sandwiches were. I made one for the first and last
time. We drank coffee and then I packed a sack of food to take back down to Alex.
Voytek stayed behind to break camp and pack loads for the porters who were due
to come up next morning.
As it turned out, I got benighted and then lost, but that's another story. The real
action was back at base camp, where Voytek was busy negotiating on his own. The
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