An account of a gruelling journey through remote and hostile regions of Ethiopia, alone except for a pack-mule. Originally published in 1968.

In Ethiopia with a Mule

Travel

dervla-murphy

Africa

Flamingo

During the particularly harsh winter of 1963, Dervla Murphy rode her bicycle across Europe, Persia, Afghanistan, the Himalayas, Pakistan and India. This account of her extraordinary solo journey tells of her resourcefulness in the face of personal dangers and unexpected encounters. Dervla Murphy has also written "In Ethiopia with a Mule", "Muddling through in Madagascar", "Eight Feet in the Andes", "On a Shoestring to Coorg", "The Waiting Land" and "Where the Indus is Young".

Full Tilt : Dunkirk to Delhi by Bicycle

Reference

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Spine creased, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

South from the Limpopo : Travels Through South Africa

Cameroon with Egbert tells the story of a journey through the remote areas of Cameroon undertaken by indomitable author Dervla Murphy and her daughter Rachel, accompanied by an endearing horse named Egbert.During the course of their wanderings they are frequently mistaken for husband and wife, forcing Dervla to bare her chest to prove her femininity; they continually get lost, are obliged to eat repulsive local delicacies; are arrested, fall ill, are baked by the sun and soaked by tropical storms and, disastrously, lose Egbert.The two women's charm, wit and sense of adventure shine through all these setbacks, which would have daunted lesser travellers. They eventually leave this laid-back, peaceful country with great reluctance, having been `enspelled' by its beauty and the friendliness of the Cameroonians.`Anyone who has read a book by this author will want to read another. She brings to Cameroon all the sympathy, wit and perception that we have come to expect from her.' Sunday TelegraphThis is vintage Murphy' Irish Independent`This is the very stuff of travel' Irish Times

Cameroon With Egbert

Tibetan Foothold

In July 1963 Dervla Murphy arrived in a sweltering Delhi by bicycle. Deciding that the heat precluded further cycling until November, she worked in Tibetan refugee camps in Northern India. Using extracts from the diaries she kept at the time, Dervla describes the day-to-day life in the camps where hundreds of children are living in squalor while a handful of dedicated volunteers do their best to feed and care for them, attempting to keep disease at bay with limited resources. Quickly falling in love with the "Tiblets" - cheerful, uncomplaining, independent and affectionate children - she pitches in with a helping hand wherever it is needed (just about everywhere), and even finds time to meet the Dalai Lama and his entourage.

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Wheels Within Wheels

A first-hand account of the life of travel writer Dervla Murphy in which she tells of her early life in Lismore, Co. Waterford, in her rather unusual household. Her father was the county librarian and her mother a chronic invalid. An only child, Dervla was allowed from the age of seven to freely roam on her own. At ten, she cycled ten miles to a local mountain, climbed it, then lost herself on the way down, and was forced to stay out all night - much to the distress of her parents. Living in a house that was crumbling around their ears, she reveals how her family hid a Republican who was later hanged, how she tested herself (with hot water) to increase her pain threshold, how she avoided an insane and shrieking maid, who was convinced that Dervla's parents were fried eggs, and how she helped another maid give birth under the kitchen table. An early love of books and writing, led her to enter a writing competition arranged by a local newspaper, and she won first prize for five weeks in a row. Encouraged to leave school at the age of 14 to nurse her mother, she portrays the strain that her mother's increasing illness had on the family, and the resulting breakdown in family relationships.

One winter, Dervla Murphy, the four-footed Hallam and her six-year-old daughter Rachel explored `Little Tibet' high up in the Karakoram Mountains in the frozen heart of the Western Himalayas - on the Pakistan side of the disputed border with Kashmir. For three months they traveled along the perilous Indus Gorge and into nearby valleys. Even when beset by crumbling tracks over bottomless chasms, an assault by a lascivious dashniri, the unnerving melancholy of the Balts - the heroic highland farmers who inhabit the area - and Rachel's continual probing questions, this formidable traveler retained her enthusiasm for her surroundings and her sense of humor. First published in 1977, Where the Indus is Young is pure Murphy.

Where The Indus Is Young. A Winter In Baltistan

Asia

Arrow Books

Page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Wheels Within Wheels: Autobiography

Sports & Outdoors

Penguin Books, Ltd.

Tales from Two Cities: Travels of Another Sort

Century Publishers

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Books by dervla-murphy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by dervla-murphy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

In Ethiopia with a Mule

Full Tilt : Dunkirk to Delhi by Bicycle

South from the Limpopo : Travels Through South Africa

Cameroon With Egbert

Tibetan Foothold

Wheels Within Wheels

Where The Indus Is Young. A Winter In Baltistan

Wheels Within Wheels: Autobiography

Tales from Two Cities: Travels of Another Sort

In Ethiopia with a Mule