"There is in an antique land a small black stone that once fell from the sky." Duncan Lyon has a good enough job, a fine circle of friends, a life in the City of London. But as he faces his 30th birthday, he realises that the time is right for a journey into something different. Having converted to Islam a number of years before, he makes the decision to perform a pilgrimage to Mecca during the holy month of Hajj. Facing an array of obstacles as a white Englishman with no outward signs of being a muslim, Lyon finally reaches his intended destination. But there he discovers the true meaning of the old adage, 'be careful what you wish for'. Lyon describes his surreal encounters with the notoriously strict Saudi authorities, dealings with army checkpoints and the privilege of pleading his case to inscrutable government ministers. Yet more tellingly he details the impact that his presence at this most holy site has upon him and his attempts to make sense of it. By the end of this trial of self-discovery, he is running across a runway in the middle of the night, boarding a jetliner on an eerily empty flight, leaving Saudi Arabia as a million more people arrive. Beautifully written, atmospheric and immediate yet with the light touch that comes from reflection and hindsight, Sand Paper Stone offers an insight into a common experience that is rarely shared. In a world where great cultures collide, this is fundamentally more than a simple traveller's tale.