You're listening to an AirWave Media Podcast.

Hello and welcome to the Explorers Podcast. I hope you are doing well.

Today is part two in our series on British Adventure Richard Francis Burton.

Three notes for today's episode.

First, I want to remind you that you can go to our website Explorers Podcast.com if you want to see maps of Burton's travels as well as photos of the man and his famous mustache.

Second note is with regards to the names in this episode.

I want to point out that the names of some places have changed since Burton's time. I generally use the modern day names of a city or region or wherever.

And if something is really significant, I'll mention the old and current name.

But please know that I might end up using some names from Burton's world, which can cause a little confusion.

I'll try to avoid such things, but I can't promise it won't happen.

And a third note is about the major source for today's episode.

And that is Burton's book about his journey, called A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Medina and Mecca.

It was published in two volumes, totaling nearly 1000 pages.

The book is incredible in both good and bad ways.

The detail is absolutely extraordinary. Burton describes everything that he experiences.

And he provides historical and religious context to the reader as well.

At times, the book is like a travelogue, describing the people and customs and sites.

But he also tells his own story, very personal and, again, very detailed.

In a lot of ways, it's overwhelming.

That said, I want to stress that what I'm going to talk about today is a tiny fraction of what is described in Burton's books.

And if you want to nerd out on this subject, just go to our website, explorespotgas.com, and I have a link to both volumes, which you can read online for free.

Alrighty, enough with notes on what the show.

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