Again, Rory Stewart’s guide-bodyguard, Qasim, resorts to invention in presenting his ward to people they meet on their hike across Afghanistan. In general, Qasim does not appear to have regarded Stewart’s real identity, as a writer and a hiker, as worthy of mention.

Here, he blithely paints a picture of a man able to disburse pharaonic sums of money to whoever he chooses.

See similar economies with the truth, meant to burnish Stewart’s prestige with their hosts.

‘His Excellency Rory,’ continued Qasim, ‘gives international financial assistance to villages in Afghanistan.’

Source: Rory Stewart, The Places in Between (London: Picador, 2014), p. 82

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