"There is a peculiar anonymity about being in tents. Once the zip is closed and the outside world barred from sight, all sense of location disappears," Chapter 1, p. 15.

"Forty-six people were crammed into a ramshackle vehicle designed to carry twenty-two, and we were not fortified by the sight of so many wayside shrines to dead bus drivers and their passengers. The engine was held together with nylon string and a flat tyre was changed with a pick-axe," Chapter 1, p. 17.

"It took us some time to realise that the whole pedestal had detached itself from the pillar and dropped straight off the mountain face. There was a good deal of nervous swearing and hysterical giggling as, gradually, we became aware of the seriousness of our position," Chapter 2, p. 38 (as Ian and Joe dangle from their safety lines).

"For the first time in the last four days the tense concentration...