Beyond that Last Blue Mountain: My Silk Road Journey - Softcover

Sandys, Harriet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1911487167 ISBN 13: 9781911487166

Publisher: Medina Publishing, 2020

Synopsis

Harriet’s parents hoped that, after leaving boarding school and doing ‘the Season’, she would meet and marry a suitable young man. But she was to disappoint them. Just after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, she set off for Peshawar to see for herself the plight of thousands of displaced Afghan refugees. Determined to do something about their dire situation, Harriet set up a small silk weaving project for illiterate Turkmen refugees, and was sent by UNESCO to Mazar-i-sharif to work with Afghanistan’s last remaining silk ikat weavers. During those years she was arrested by the K H A D, narrowly missed being blown up, survived acute bacterial meningitis in a Kabul hospital, and rescued an abandoned pi-dog puppy who became her devoted companion.

At the end of the first Gulf War she travelled with the Peshmerga in the newly-liberated Iraqi Kurdistan. Then in 1994 she joined a group of unemployed builders and decorators driving convoys of food and aid from Croydon to the Muslim enclaves in Bosnia Herzegovina. Much has been written about conflicts in these countries, by war correspondents, diplomats and military personnel, but this is a different story. It is about young woman from a sheltered and privileged background travelling and working alone, in and around war zones, frequently with no financial or practical support, at a time of increasing Islamic fundamentalism.

About this title

About the Author:

Harriet Sandys was born in Cumbria and lived a sheltered and rural life near Lake Windermere until the age of 18. In her 20s Harriet travelled alone to Afghanistan to see for herself the plight of the refugees. Having trained as an oriental carpet restorer in London, she spent her time in the bazaars and learnt to speak Dari. Over the next 15 years she would travel alone across the Middle and Near East, sourcing textiles for her business and starting the silk weaving project for refugees in Afghanistan. She now runs her own business selling oriental textiles and decorative items in Somerset, where she lives with her husband. She is a world-renowned authority on silk ikat and oriental carpets and has spoken at the Society for Oriental and African Studies and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Medina Publishing
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1911487167
• ISBN 13: 9781911487166
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 400