The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.

A man who embarks on a journey must know when to end it.

It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance with which ancestry is held in the Middle East and North Africa.

Respect was one thing. Survival was another. It was important that I kept my priorities in the right order.

There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.

The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.

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?