INTO AFGHANISTAN WITH BOB DYLAN, 1976

DIARY OF AN 18 YEAR-OLD: THE FIRST IN A SELECTION OF POSTS FROM MY OVERLAND ADVENTURE TO KATHMANDU IN 1976 – TAKEN FROM MY DIARY

[This day saw our arrival in Afghanistan via the high Khojak Pass at Chaman - an age-old trading, smuggling and invading route.  My first impression of Afghanistan was of the starkly beautiful landscape and evening skies.  I remember entering Kandahar after nightfall and being entranced by the rows of open-fronted shops lit up by oil lamps; horses eating and snorting contentedly in the chill evening air.  We stayed at a cheap, hotel with groovy music where the friendly staff lent us heavy black woollen blankets - I've never come across such warm ones again.  Over the years I've watched the news of Kandahar being bombed, captured and reduced in parts to rubble, and grieved for this place and the people who were kind to us.  I still hold onto my memory of a magical winter evening there - my first night in Afghanistan]

SATURDAY 20TH NOVEMBER, 1976

“Left Quetta early, headed for Afghan border.  Had breakfast on outskirts of small village.  Shirley was shown round the prison!  Climbed to Spin Boldak – stark hills covered in shale.
3 checks on Pakistani side of border and 2 on Afghan side – had to fill in loads of forms, while officials scribbled what we’d declared into our passports.

A real character of a moneychanger – very bossy but rather friendly and open – was in charge of stamping forms and made a mess rather like a big thumb print (must be stuck for things to say in mine!)

Afghan scenery – flat plains surrounded by dark barren mountains – really impressive in the evening sun – dramatic clouds with bright yellow sky behind grey-purple hills.  Then a fantastic crimson sunset across the plain.
Reached Kandahar – six of us dossed in a room (a floor same as camping rates).  At the moment am sitting in the eating room of hotel listening to Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits and writing this (obviously!)  Room decorated with streamers and pop posters – quite a few young Europeans etc eating here.  Neva and I had a chat with 2 American girls – next to them were some Dutch blokes.  Chatted with an Irishman, Italian and Frenchman!
Super warm night on floor of hotel room.”

Balochistan And The Vanishing of Ruth

Much of the inspiration for The Vanishing of Ruth came from the overland trip I made from the UK to Kathmandu in 1976. I kept a diary, and wrote letters home, using aerogramme stationery. You wrote on the special, lightweight paper, which you then folded up to make the envelope – like this one I sent from Kabul in Afghanistan:

As you can see, I had a LOT to tell the folks back home!

When I came to write The Vanishing of Ruth, I had plenty of source material, but still needed to do the things that every author has to settle down to sooner or later – mapping out the overall plot and characters, in this case with a mind map:

I also needed to fill in a whole bunch of gaps – I’d travelled just one route through Afghanistan and Pakistan, and for certain key events in the book a LOT more detail was needed. I spent many hours hidden away in Newcastle’s Lit. & Phil. Society library, poring over Stamford’s Compendium to get the details right on Balochistan (it’s the south west corner of Pakistan, where some critical twists in the plot take place):

I’m not entirely sure that my handwriting’s improved over the years!

The Vanishing Of Ruth: Exhibition Material

I’m really pleased about this – some of the original research materials for The Vanishing of Ruth is to be featured as part of the Lit & Phil (that’s the Literary and Philosophical Society) exhibition on North East authors.

The exhibition – Creative Passions: An exhibition celebrating literature in portraits and words runs from 1st February to 3rd March 2012.

Hopefully if you’re in Newcastle in February, you’ll have time to pop into the Lit & Phil – it’s one of my favourite buildings in the North East, and a great place to work on my writing. The materials I’ve submitted for the exhibition include:

• Diary extracts from Day 1 and Day 53 of my overland trip of 1976 from the Isle of Skye to Kathmandu.
• Day 53′s entry was written in Balochistan, which formed one of the key settings for The Vanishing of Ruth. I refreshed my knowledge on the area some thirty-odd years later with the help of the Lit & Phil’s copy of Stanford’s Compendium on Balochistan.
• A letter written home from Afghanistan. Beautiful country, and wonderful people!

More on the Vanishing of Ruth later in the week…