In Search of King Solomon's Mines Quotes

“A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“Usually, there is nothing more pleasing that returning to a place where you have endured hardship.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“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?”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“The first rule of an expedition is that everyone should stick together.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“It was an awkward moment. We were burning down our host's house, a situation which any guest seeks to avoid.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“In moments of great uncertainty on my travels, I have always felt that something is protecting me, that I will come to no harm.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“But in Africa bureaucrats are usually too proud to accept a bribe, something I admire when I'm not the one being arrested.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“Money spent on good-quality gear is always money well spent.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“As anyone who's ever taken an Ethiopian bus knows, there is an unwritten rule that the windows must remain firmly closed.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“The desert was bad, but nothing could compare with the horrors of a tropical rain forest.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“[T]hrough bitter experience I have learned that it is best to promise little and then to reward hard work with generosity.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“There's nothing quite like a good quest for getting your blood pumping.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“I am all for curses and superstition, but there's a point at which they start getting in the way. That point had arrived.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“As far as Samson was concerned I was just another foreigner in pursuit of a lunatic quest.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“When I am about to embark on a difficult journey, I comfort myself by reading the accounts of the great nineteenth-century travellers, men like Stanley, Burton, Speke, Burckhardt and Barth.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“The first few hours in the cell were quite stimulating. I'd never been in a prison cell before and was quite enjoying the experience.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“I had learned years ago never to give original documents to anyone if I could help it.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“None of them seemed to mind sliding around in the faeces and choking in the smoke. They were determined not to miss the opportunity of watching a foreigner make a fool of himself.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“In any case, a little danger is a small price to pay for ridding a place of tourists.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines

“I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in the mindset of the Incas.”
― Tahir Shah, In Search of King Solomon's Mines