Previous journeys had taught me the danger of taking too much stuff.

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

The Occident has never found it easy to grasp the strange netherworld of spirits that followers of Islam universally believe exist in a realm overlaid our own.

These days no one challenges us,' he said. 'And because there is no challenge, there is no reason to work hard. And with no reason to work hard, we have all become lazy.

Usually, there is nothing more pleasing that returning to a place where you have endured hardship.

One senses that, in these conditions, no amount of wet-wiping could bring true hygiene.

During the days I felt myself slipping into a kind of madness. Solitary confinement has an astonishing effect on the mind. The trip was to stay calm and keep myself occupied. I spent hours working out how to break free. But trying to escape would have been instant suicide.