There, he is welcomed and cared for by the village elder, Haji Aji (who gave Mortenson the saying that inspired the title of the book).

His wandering brings him, serendipitously, to the mountain village of Korphe.

A last-minute medical emergency involving a fellow climber requires his climbing team to make a sudden descent during the descent, Mortenson, exhausted and disoriented, becomes lost. His goal, as he describes it, was to honor his deceased sister, Christa, by leaving a piece of her jewelry at its summit. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family.” Three Cups of Tea begins with Mortenson's attempt to climb K2, the second tallest mountain on earth. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The title of the book is inspired by a Balti saying told to Mortenson, 'The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. Nonetheless, it won numerous awards in the first years after its publication. Three Cups of Tea, a much-discussed story, is as well known for the various scandals that have plagued Mortenson and Relin in its wake – including Relin's suicide in 2012 – as for the book itself. In brief, the book tells the story of how a mountaineering trip gone awry was the basis for Mortenson's career as a humanitarian a career that would center, officially, on the building of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the aim of reducing poverty and increasing education, especially among young girls. The men are given equal billing as authors, though Relin debated this.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace.One School at a Time is a 2007 Greg Mortenson's memoir about purported events from life coauthored by journalist David O.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson