The more I see of life in these ‘undeveloped countries’ and of the methods adopted to ‘improve’ them, the more depressed I become. (page 58)ĭervla Murphy loved the Afghan way of life and deplored the modernisation of countries: The majority wear watches as ornaments and I was diverted to discover that they can’t read the time and don’t see why they should learn! Yesterday is over, today is something to be enjoyed without fuss, and tomorrow – well, it’s sinful to plan anything for the future because that’s Allah’s department and humans have no business to meddle with it. … people here have no concept of time as we understand it. There, no one took the slightest notice of either my kit or my passport, no uniformed officials appeared and no series of dingy, uncomfortable offices had to be visited. I quietly raised the barrier for myself and continued towards the Customs and Passport Office two hundred yards ahead. Three miles further on a long branch served as Customs barrier and beside it lay a very young soldier in a very ragged uniform, sound asleep with one hand on his rifle. The only indication of the Persian-Afghan frontier is a seven-foot stone pillar, conspicuous from far across the desert, which lucidly announces ‘Afghanistan’. The border between Persia and Afghanistan

Here are a few quotes to give a taste of the book: It would certainly be a different experience if anyone tried to do the same these days! T Reading this book made me wonder about the countries she cycled through and how they’ve changed since the early 1960s. I’m full of admiration for her courage and determination. She travelled on her own, with a revolver in her saddle bag. In a Book Beginnings post I wrote about how when she was ten she decided she wanted to cycle to India. And that is what she did 21 years later.įull Tilt: Dunkirk to Delhi on a Bicycle, first published in 1965 is an account of her journey in 1963, which took her through Europe, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, over the Himalayas to Pakistan and into India. Dervla Murphy was born in County Waterford, Ireland.

Full tilt murphy