Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, Salman Rashid is author of several books including jhelum: City of the Vitasta and The Apricot Road to Yarkand, Riders on the Wind, Between two Burrs on the Map, Prisoner on a Bus and Sea Monsters and the Sun God. He is the only Pakistani to have seen the North Face of K-2 and trekked in the shadow of this great mountain. His work – explorations, history, travel writings – appears in almost all leading publications. Salman Rashid blogs here.

Odysseus was a very simply choice, says Salman Rashid, “He travelled, either driven by storms or by his will to discover strange and wonderful lands where he met all sorts of people. Though I never met a Cyclops, I too have travelled to wonderful places across the length and breadth of Pakistan. The Odyssey lasted twenty years, mine is still ongoing – though it is not in one stretch and there is no danger of returning home and not being recognized by anyone. It was Odysseus’ spirit of adventure that made me adopt him name.”

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