Blue is the Colour of Heaven - Richard Loseby

Another book about a "westerner"'s (albeit that Richard Loseby hails from New Zealand) travels in and impressions of Afghanistan, but Blue Is the Colour of Heaven is a million miles away from Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul.

Following a childhood dream, Richard Loseby's travels took him to Iran and Iraq before managing to meet up with one of the many Mujahedeen and persuading them to take him across the border and into the west of Afghanistan. From then on, he found himself passed from group to group and village to village travelling by jeep, horse and on foot, and finally making an illegal crossing over the border into Pakistan. A far cry from Kabul, and a fascinating account, with good photos of people and places that news reports make and made sound altogether different and less likeable.

Buy it: Amazon link

And looking at Amazon, I see Richard Loseby went back in 2002 to try to trace some of the Afghans who made such a deep impression on him. Looking for the Afghan is now on my Amazon wishlist!