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Heads, Hats and Tall Tales: Travels in India, Nepal and Egypt
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781919212906
Publisher: Abefree Publishing
Published: Nov 3 2025
Pages: 592
Weight: 1.72
Height: 1.20 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Heads, Hats and Tall Tales: Travels in India, Nepal and Egypt is a travel memoir by Alun Buffry, published by ABeFree Publishing in 2025. At nearly 600 pages, it is one of Buffry's most comprehensive travel books, bringing together and expanding material from several of his earlier travel memoirs into a single narrative.
The book recounts Buffry's journeys through:
India in 1972, during the era of the overland Hippie Trail. India, Nepal and Kashmir in 1981 and 1985. Egypt in 1989, 1990 and 2010.Rather than simply combining previous books, it revisits these journeys with additional reflections, anecdotes and context, looking back on how both the author and the countries he visited have changed over the decades.
What the book containsThe memoir incorporates and expands on material from three of Buffry's earlier travel books:
All About My Hat: The Hippy Trail 1972 Back to the East: India, Nepal and Kashmir My Hat in Egypt: Through the Eyes of a GodIt also includes:
new linking chapters and commentary, poems, a fictional murder on the Nile mystery woven into the collection, reflections on changing cultures and landscapes, observations about history, religion and archaeology, and humorous tall tales inspired by the author's travels.ThemesSeveral themes run throughout the book:
Adventure - travelling overland with limited money and few modern conveniences. Cultural discovery - encounters with people, traditions and landscapes across Asia and Egypt History - explorations of ancient monuments, especially in Egypt. Humour - amusing incidents and colourful storytelling. Personal growth - how travel shaped the author's outlook on life. Spirituality - reflections influenced by Buffry's long-standing interest in meditation and inner peace.The Hat motifReaders familiar with Buffry's writing will recognise the recurring theme of his hat, which often serves as a humorous narrative device. In earlier books, the hat is given its own voice and perspective, allowing the author to tell stories with a playful twist. In Heads, Hats and Tall Tales, this imaginative approach continues while being balanced with more conventional travel memoir and autobiographical reflection.
Writing styleThe book combines several genres:
travel writing, autobiography, historical commentary, poetry, humour, and occasional fiction.Buffry writes in an informal, conversational style, mixing practical details of overland travel with philosophical observations and vivid descriptions of the places he visited.
Who it's forThe book is likely to appeal to readers interested in:
classic overland travel and the Hippie Trail, India, Nepal and Egypt, independent travel memoirs, travel mixed with humour and personal reflection, and stories that blend real experiences with imaginative storytelling.More than a simple travel diary, Heads, Hats and Tall Tales is a retrospective of more than forty years of journeys. It reflects on how travel changes both the traveller and the places visited, preserving memories from an era when overland adventures to South Asia were far less common than they are today.
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