Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson

After months of camping at one of K2 bases, a failed attempt to summit and then getting lost and risking his life on the mountain itself, Greg Mortenson stumbles across a remote Pakistan village, Korphe. It is 1993 and he stays here for several months, and in return for their kindness he promises to build them a school. These remote villages in Pakistan, have no support from their government, they live very basically, hunt for their meat, and support each other. Greg Mortenson is an American who has been drifting through life, enjoying his passion for climbing. He is not a wealthy man, he is an agency nurse, only working when called upon. He lives rough in the ...  Read the complete review

I was recently given this book as a birthday present by my brother. As I love reading travel books and also enjoy mountain climbing, presumably he thought that he was onto a sure-fire winner with this book. Also, when you add in the fact that I am also involved with development work in a developing country, then I guess that he felt he couldn't go wrong with this gift!! Well, as it turns out, he made an excellent choice as I absolutely loved reading this book. In very brief summary, the book tells the true story of an American man called Greg Mortenson who goes to Pakistan with the sole aim of climbing the second highest mountain in the world. However, ...  Read the complete review

MY PRE-PURCHASE EXPERIENCE: ======================= I have an appalling lack of manners when it comes to reading books which authors have slaved over for years. I quickly skim through the first page and if it doesn't immediately capture my imagination I discard it. No second chances. My free time too short to expend valuable energy on something which will turn out to be a lemon ...neither changing or impacting my life nor giving me pause for thought. The first few paragraphs of this book had me smiling (jerking my memory back 10 years ago to India, remembering similar past little idiosyncracies). The book therefore got its ...  Read the complete review

I heard about this book from someone I met travelling and decided to go and hunt it out as it sounded like a fascinating true story. The book is an account of the amazing achievemments of American climber Ben Mortenson who after a failed attempt to climb K2 only survived thanks to the good favour and hospitality of the villagers in a remote Pakistani village called Korphe. He makes the promise that he will build he village a school as a way of showing thanks for the help they provided in an area that gets no government funds and is very remote. Now Mortenson is not a wealthy man and the book details his struggle to raise any sort of money until he coes across ...  Read the complete review

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was lost in a remote village on his way back from a failed ascent on K2. He was a tired, sick and lost American in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalayas. After the generous and heartfelt care that he received from these complete strangers, Mortenson decided to thank them for their kindness by one day building them a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of Mortenson's journey to build schools in Taliban territory. Mortneson attempts to single-handedly combat terrorism by building schools, with special attention paid to the future of girls in this area. Journalist David Oliver assists Mortenson in his writing of this ...  Read the complete review