Ghorband Valley
Valley in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, on the old road from Kabul to Bamyan. ‘The most wonderful cycle-ride’ of Dervla Murphy’s life in Full Tilt.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Tilt | Dervla Murphy | setting | Her finest day’s ride, ending in the Governor’s household as ‘one of the family’. |
Full Tilt — Dervla Murphy (1965)
Source: Full Tilt - Ireland to India With a Bicycle · Original · Readwise highlight
Beyond a doubt today’s run up the Ghorband valley was the most wonderful cycle-ride of my life. Surely this must have been the Garden of Eden – it’s so beautiful that I was too excited to eat the lunch my hostess had packed for me and spent the day in a sort of enchanted trance.
- Role: setting
- In the book: Leaving Kabul, she rides seventy-eight miles up the Ghorband valley under armed escort and ends the day at the Provincial Governor’s modest house. There she shares venison with Mohammad Musa, his young wife and baby, and his formidable old mother.
- Why it matters: The high point of her cycling in Afghanistan, and the household where she is accepted as ‘one of the family’.