John Pilkington Shares His Journey from Georgia to Afghanistan this January

A BBC Journalist, writer and speaker who has been called “one of Britain’s greatest tellers of travellers’ tales” will speak in Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline and Edinburgh from the 7th-10th January.

John Pilkington will share the story of a trip from Georgia to Afghanistan following a less-travelled branch of the Silk Road.

This talk is part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Inspiring People talks programme.

John Pilkington, a journalist and broadcaster with the BBC World Service and Radio 4, followed a spectacular branch of the Silk Road from the Caucasus across the Caspian Sea to Samarkand. He then turned south-east to explore the High Pamirs of Tajikistan and Afghanistan – a region well-known to Marco Polo – before finishing in Kashgar, China’s so-called ‘Crossroads of Asia’.

John Pilkington.

John says “Afghanistan was an absolute highlight. Crossing the river from Tajikistan was like stepping back a hundred years. On the Tajik side there were cars, electric lights, piped water and central heating; on the Afghan side donkeys, candles, water buckets and smoky yak-dung fires.”

Pilkington has been called “one of Britain’s greatest tellers of travellers’ tales”.  People are always at the centre of his story-telling. His BBC Radio 4 programmes have won him several appearances over the years on Pick of the Week and one on Pick of the Year. He also contributes to Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent and Excess Baggage, and writes occasionally for Geographical magazine. But it’s for his thought-provoking talks and spellbinding photos that people know him best. 

John’s talk “Georgia to Afghanistan” will take place at:

Aberdeen:
Monday 7^th January, 7:30pm. 
Fraser Noble Building, University of Aberdeen, Kings College, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE. 
Dundee:
Tuesday 8th January, 7:30pm.
Dundee University’s Tower Building, Perth Road, Dundee, DD1 4HN.
Dunfermline:
Wednesday 9th January, 7:30pm.

Carnegie Hall, East Port, Dunfermline, KY12 7JA

Edinburgh:

Thursday 10th January, 7:30pm. 

Appleton Tower, 11 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9LE

Tickets are £8 for adults, free for students, under 18s and RSGS members. Tickets are available on the door at each venue.  To find out more about the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, visit www.rsgs.org.