
Michael Palin reads his own entertainingly written account of his journey accross the countries of the Himalayas, accompanying a major BBC TV series in 2004. In his most challenging journey to date, Palin tackles the Himalayas, the greatest mountain range on earth. It is a virtually unbroken wall of rock stretching 1800 miles from the borders of Afghanistan to south-west China. Penetrated but never conquered, it remains the world`s most majestic natural barrier, a magnificent wilderness that shapes the history & politics of Asia to this day. Having previously risen to the challenge of seas, poles, dhows & deserts, the highest mountains in the world were a natural target for Michael Palin. In a journey rarely, if ever, attempted before, in 6 months of hard travelling Palin takes on the full length of the Himalaya including the Khyber Pass, the hidden valleys of the Hindu Kush, ancient cities like Peshawar & Lahore, the mighty peaks of K2, Annapurna & Everest, the bleak & barren plateau of Tibet, the gorges of the Yangtze, the tribal lands of the Indo-Burmese border & the vast Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh. He also passes through political flashpoints including Pakistan`s remote north-west frontier, terrorist-torn Kashmir & the mountains of Nagal&.