Where the Indus is Young
Where the Indus Is Young is a travel memoir by Irish author Dervla Murphy, first published in 1977 by John Murray. Often listed with the subtitle A Winter in Baltistan, it is sometimes called Midwinter in Baltistan. The book is Murphy’s second travel work in which she describes a journey with her six-year-old daughter, Rachel.
In the story, the pair trek through the Karakoram Mountains near Pakistan’s disputed border with Kashmir during the cold of winter. They follow the gorge of the Indus River and stay with local families along the way.
Jan Morris praised the book, calling it “the most appallingly fascinating travel book that I have ever read.” After the original publisher’s editor Jock Murray passed away and the publishing house changed hands, Murphy’s book was later reissued by Eland Books in 2011.
This memoir sits between Murphy’s other works, following On a Shoestring to Coorg and preceding A Place Apart.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:26 (CET).