Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia - India & South Asia    3. Civilization    4. Description And Travel    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. Mishra, Pankaj    7. South Asia    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Western influences   

Reviews (21)

A Small Novel -- as Big as the Sky!
This sweeping love story takes place in a terrain of harshness.That landscape/political climate reflects the angst of love and closure that is being pursued.Excellent.

Fantastic!!!!
Xinran's book is as good as a fictional classic! it protrays death, love, and hope wrapped into a short non-fictional novel. There is no comparison to this incredible book.
Awesome journey : amazing destination
This is one of the most moving books I have ever read.It is a story of great love, and of enormous sacrifice.It can be read as a form of social commentary but to read it solely this waydiminishes the story.
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Subjects:  1. 1958-    2. Chinese (Language) Contemporary Fiction    3. Description and travel    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. Literary    7. Tibet (China)    8. Translations into English    9. Xinran,    10. Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there,chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nervesof first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the mostjaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach.While still givinginsights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations anditineraries for those with less time than money.Read more

Reviews (10)

Perfect Also for the Armchair Traveler
I've never been to Tibet and probably never will get there, but reading about Tibet and Central Asia is one of my interests, so I bought this book to augment my reading.The book I was reading, "Younghusband" by Patrick French, told of the eponymous colonial Brit who explored and exploited Tibet late in the 19th century.It was interesting to compare his notes of more than 100 years ago with Lonely Planet's descriptions of the same places today.This book was incredibly detailed and well-written, and although I can't vouch for its accuracy, reading the other reviews here indicate that the authors were right on the money.Good job.

I went to Tibet
Last summer I went to Tibet with this book as a NGO officer. This book is very useful, but no information about dalily life of real Tibeatian. Acturally, in the downtown, there are few Tibetian people. There are only Hun people, majority ethnic group in China, who enjoy their prestages. On the other hands, Tibetian people live in the northen part with surveillance camera. Since some of them are sterllized, real Tibetean people would disapper in this century, apart from the exiles in Indea.

Best Travel Book
It's the best LP book ever.I bought the book a few months ago before leaving for Tibet.What a great help this book was!I read every single word one every single page!Went to so many facinating places This is THE book you must have if you plan to go to the snowland.Apparently, every independent traveller in Tibet has one.It has so many useful maps and hiking guide.I was in Tibet for two weeks, still wish I had more time there.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Asia - Tibet    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Tibet    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (7)

Lacking a few things
I've recently returned from a few weeks in Tibet. One of my group had this phrase book and we tried to use it to speak with our driver. A few things: First, a pronunciation guide would have helped. Second, we found some common words missing, or at least were not able to find them the way the book is laid out. We ended up drawing pictures on Post-Its to communicate with our driver and learn words from him in this way.

Invaluable When Traveling Individually in Tibet
I've been to Tibet five times now, and each time I have carried mynow well worn copy of this phrasebook with me. Without it, I'd be at a real loss. It is has proven wonderful for communicating with locals - not only in Lhasa, but also in far more remote parts of the country. It is safe to say that using this phrasebook has enhanced my experiences in Tibet many times over.
Probably the best you'll find for what you need
As a small language book that is only meant to give you the basics this is a great book.
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Subjects:  1. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    2. General    3. Language    4. Travel    5. Language self-study & phrasebooks    6. Tibetan   

Reviews (16)

A Fusion of Physical and Spiritual Enlightenment
How does a writer condense fifteen years of a journey to seek the sacred places of Tibet? Enter the covers of this fascinating if overly long book, release your sense of time, absorb the tenants of Buddhism, and discover how an obsession controlled the life and vision of one Ian Baker.
To the heart of the lotus realm "obscured by clouds"
Reactions here of readers appear to be largely ecstatic: it's a testament to Baker's evocative powers of description. I read this over a couple of weeks filled with unusual tension & stress personally, and it seemed as if the first half of the book took as long for me to traverse as the events did for Baker. Taking the journey vicariously with the author forced me to slow down, and adapt to a quite different mental as well as physical atmosphere. Exotic, Engrossing, Enchanting
An incredible book for anyone intrigued by the mysteries of Asia. The tale begins in 1982 when Baker overhears a conversation about a Tibetan sage who found a hidden paradise between vaulting cliffs in a little-explored corner of Tibet. Baker was curious. He had heard about Tibet's `hidden lands,' secret places that - Tibetans believe - can only be found by a devout pilgrim who can endure physical challenge, and spiritual challenge, too. Baker, an accomplished climber and a determined student of Tibetan culture,resolved to find out more. Read more

Subjects:  1. Adventurers & Explorers    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Buddhism    4. Buddhism - General    5. Buddhism - Tibetan    6. Description and travel    7. Discovery And Exploration (General)    8. Discovery and exploration    9. Essays & Travelogues    10. Exploration    11. Religion - World Religions    12. Religious    13. Travel    14. Tsangpo Gorges (China)    15. Tsangpo Gorges Region (China)    16. Religion / Buddhism   

Editorial Review

In the harsh, forsaken landscape of Western Tibet, a holy mountain rises up, the legendary center of the world. Sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike, Mount Kailash had been in professor and popular writer Robert Thurman's mind for some time when he finally decided to organize a group and go--across the Chinese border, where he has always been persona non grata. Writer Tad Wise decides to tag along and put the adventures on paper. While recording Thurman's dharma lectures, Wise comes face to face with the magic of the mountain, its myths and its people, and haltingly transforms from cynical skeptic to tear-streaked pilgrim. Wise's writing leans toward the quirky, pushing ordinary sentences to their lapidary limits, and Thurman, as usual, tosses off tantalizing Buddhisms like "mind-body bubble" and "supreme orgasm of bliss-void-indivisible." For a book that's effectively about walking 32 miles over rubble around a remote peak, Read more

Reviews (12)

Enlightening Blend of Exotic Travelogue and Dharma Wisdom
Few of us will ever undertake this arduous spiritual journey to one of the world's most remote sites, but reading this book is the next best thing.The dialectic between intrepid students and wise dharma master is unique and often profound.Tad Wise's narrative of the journey and occasional skeptical asides blends well with Thurman's lessons on the essence of Tantric Buddhism.Especially poignant was Thurman's metaphor of motherly love as a device for linking us all together through an empathic heart.Recommended for all open-minded spiritual seekers.

Interesting for the Right and Wrong Reasons
This is a spiritual travelogue in which Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and his backsliding sidekick Tad Wise lead a group of pilgrims to circumambulate Tibet's sacred Mount Kailish, believed by Tibetans to be the Home of the Gods and the Center of the World.
Armchair Travel and Tantra
If Tantra is the union of opposites, this book works pretty well.Tad Wise seems likeable enough, except for the fact that he has 3 kids by 3 Moms, and leaves Mom #3 behind with a newborn to go off on this spiritual adventure. So I'm rooting for him to get it right this time and go home and help with the laundry.And Robert Thurman seems to use Tad as a whipping boy, teasing and taunting him, which doesn't make Thurman exactly shine in my eyes either. The other members of the trek are more or less invisible, though they are mentioned from time to time.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Buddhism    3. Buddhism - General    4. Buddhist pilgrims and pilgrima    5. Buddhist pilgrims and pilgrimages    6. China    7. Kailas Mountain    8. Religion    9. Religion - World Religions    10. Thurman, Robert A. F    11. Thurman, Robert A. F.    12. Tibet    13. Travel    14. Journeys    15. Religion / Buddhism   

Reviews (2)

80 years after...
80 years after, we know a voyage thru the Tibet, Chine and Mongolia for the eyes and the pen of a young lady. A different land and people, a great aventure, great images, someones hand-coloured.

A rich archive of treasures
In the early 1920s, explorer Janet Wulsin and her husband Frederick journeyed the far reaches of China and Tibet to study the people and the lands of these remote regions - the photos from their expedition come to life in this collection, along with several dozen hand-painted lantern slides that appear in color. Vanished Kingdomsis a rich archive of treasures which charts the findings and peoples of a bygone world. Any serious collection of Asian treasures - both art and cultural - will find Vanished Kingdoms an essential addition, unparalleled in scope and coverage. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Janet Elliott)    2. Asia - China    3. China    4. Discovery and exploration    5. Photo Essays    6. Photoessays & Documentaries    7. Photography    8. Photojournalism    9. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Asia    10. Tibet (China)    11. Travel    12. Wulsin, Janet E    13. Wulsin, Janet E.    14. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    15. Other prose: from c 1900 -    16. Photographic reportage    17. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. Buddhism    2. Description and travel    3. Lhasa (China)    4. Tibet (China)   

Editorial Review

In any time, Alexandra David-Neel would have been considered an extraordinary woman, but in the Victorian era, she was truly exceptional. Born in 1868, David-Neel eschewed the dances, dinners, and formal marriages common to women of her era and social standing in order to indulge her fierce independence and insatiable intellectual curiosity. Her interest in comparative religions dated back to early childhood; even as a student in a Catholic convent school, she kept statues of both Christ and the Buddha in her room. She made her first trip to Asia in 1891, then supported herself as a light-opera singer and journalist before marrying a seemingly conventional man, Philip Neel. Fortunately for both Alexandra David-Neel and for posterity, Philip was less stodgy than his position as a well-off engineer might imply; though he did not accompany her, he supported his wife's explorations and even acted as her literary agent when she began to write about the places she visited. Alexandra and Philip remained the closest of friends until his death in 1941.Read more

Reviews (9)

The Pilgrim was a Lady
In 1923 at the age of 55, Alexandra David-Neel put on the robes of a Buddhist monk and walked across Tibet for four months on a pilgrimmage to the holy city of Lhasa. No European woman had ever entered the holy city before, and the road promised many dangers, from wild animals to blizzards to bandits. Her descriptions bear witness to a spunky evolved soul whose scholarly knowledge of Buddhism served her well in her adopted role as an itinerant monk. Her writing is elegant, punctuated by an unselfconscious humor and relentless perspicacity. Truly an adventure trek of many wonders.

An unusual journey to say the least
When I was reading the reviews of this book, I was struck by the one of the reviews.It was very negative, and the reviewer missed the beauty of this book entirely.I was glad that I had already read it.I read the reviews because I was curious to see if others had enjoyed the book as much as I did.I was buying it again as a present for a friend.The author was a very unusual person, and this book is very much worth the read.Shewrote about customs and values honestly as she saw them.She was not a dispassionate viewer, but I also felt that she was not judgemental or superior.When customs of two peoples are as different as some of Tibet and France are, they will shock a person and that person will remark.However, I felt that she loved and respected the people she wrote about, and she did a remarkable job in recounting what she saw.She gave her readers the pleasure of a most unusual journey with her and her young companion through a country that was worth writing about.

Massively Overrated
I did not see what the big deal was, and would not recommend it. Her language and the way she treated people is offensive, Eurocentric, condescending and narrow-minded -- typical of many travel books of this period. For those trying to learn about Tibet, there is not enough here to satisfy. This is your classic I-am-to-be-admired-because-I-left-the-comforts-of-civilization-applaud-me themed books.She is not a traveller but a trophy collector. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1868-1969    2. Asia - Central    3. Asia - General    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. China    6. David-Neel, Alexandra,    7. Description And Travel    8. Lhasa    9. Lhasa (China)    10. Religion    11. Travel    12. Travelers    13. Women    14. Women's Studies - General    15. Religion / Buddhism / Tibetan   

Reviews (9)

The New Testament challenged by Indian Scrolls
Much has been made of Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered in Qumran during the late 40s to mid 50's. Little has been noted however about scrolls located within Buddhist monasteries and convents in Kashmir, Tibet and India.
--
The book is very rich in details on the author's journey through Asia. Basically half the book is about his journey to the Tibetan monastery. I was expecting more details on his findings. He simply cites the findings in a chronological order he made, which are interesting by the way (e.g saying that Pilate was the one to condemn Christ), but I'd like more exploitaion into the findings.
THE EVIDENCE IS COMING !
The Unknown life of Jesus Christ is a surprise and a shock only to those who are still under the influence of their cultural programming. And the assumtion that there is only one path to God.Read more

Subjects:  1. Apocryphal and legendary liter    2. Apocryphal and legendary literature    3. Biography    4. China    5. Christianity - Theology - Christology    6. Christology    7. Description and travel    8. General    9. Jesus Christ    10. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    11. Notovitch, Nicolas,    12. Religion    13. Tibet    14. Tibet (China)    15. Travel    16. b. 1858    17. Journeys    18. Notovitch, Nicolas    19. The historical Jesus   

Reviews (7)

Ambitious & Successful
'Mapping the Tibetan World' is a very ambitious project, and one that succeeds brilliantly. Ambitious & Successful
'Mapping the Tibetan World' is a very ambitious project, and one that succeeds brilliantly. Informative but limited for climbing, biking...

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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Asia - Far East    3. Asia - Southwest    4. Guidebooks    5. Reference / Maps    6. Tibet (China)    7. Travel    8. Travel - Foreign    9. Travel / Asia / Central    10. Travel / Asia / General    11. Asia - Central    12. Asia - General    13. Bhutan    14. Gansu Sheng (China)    15. India    16. Ladakh (India)    17. Maps    18. Nepal    19. Reference    20. Sichuan Sheng (China)    21. Sikkim (India)    22. Tibet    23. Travel & holiday guides    24. Walking, hiking, trekking    25. Yunnan Sheng (China)    26. Zanskar (India)   

Reviews (1)

Left Out in the Cold in Tibet
I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Certainly, the noble Ms. Bird had made this remarkable journey (and many others) in a time (the late 1800s) when 'women didn't do such things'. For that I applaud her spirit and determination.
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Subjects:  1. (Isabella Lucy),    2. 1831-1904    3. Asia - China    4. Asia - Tibet    5. Bird, Isabella L    6. Bird, Isabella L.    7. China    8. Description and travel    9. Essays & Travelogues    10. Sociology    11. Special Interest - Adventure    12. Tibet    13. Tibet (China)    14. Travel    15. Travel - Foreign    16. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    17. Travel / Adventure   

Reviews (8)

Americans at the court of the Dalai Lama
Lost in Tibet is a rare kind of book, that gives more than it promises. It deals with an apparently remote and forgotten, or better not renowned episode of WWII. During a flight on "The Hump", the airway help provided by the USA to China, an aircraft carrying five not well acquainted militaries, gets lost in a storm and crashes in a remote Tibetan valley. With great difficulties and much suffering the five survive and are conducted to Lhasa. In 1943 Lhasa was exactly how we see it in Harrer's "Seven years in Tibet", a forbidden and xenophobic city, where only Englishmen and Chinese were accepted and tolerated (making exception only for Harrer and Aufschneider, which were Austrians). The arrival of the Americans is widely misinterpreted by the touchy Tibetans fearfull of Chinese invasion and they are object of a diplomatic upheaval.
Valuable Insights!
My dad never confided in anyone about the true story.All we knew as kids was the story about how he split his chin open when parachuting out of a plane.
Excellent research
I found the book to be most informative and am quite amazed at the amount of research that must have gone in to the creation of this book.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Description and travel    5. Military    6. Personal narratives, American    7. Special Interest - Adventure    8. Tibet (China)    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Reviews (2)

when you feel like something other than politics
This book differentiates itself from others that I've seen and read about Tibet. If your looking for indepth political comentary on the Chinese-Tibetan struggle you won't find too much here. The focus of this book is more about giving you the reader a sense of the people, the place, and the history behind it.
Another go 'round
Another book by Peissel. This one, much to my syrprise, is atually quite good. Various aspects are presented in self contained chapters. It is also telling for what it doesn't say. For istance, Peissel writes he's been trekking Tibet for the last 40 years. I believe him, but where are his personal experiences in this book? Also he (almost)glosses over the Chinese invasion and the horrors that followed. I guess he needs a visa to visit Tibet in the future... Nonetheless, this is a wonderful book. Great photos and a succinct description oth the country. Well worth the time and money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Tibet    2. Civilization    3. Description    4. Description and travel    5. Pictorials    6. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    7. Tibet (China)    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Travel / Pictorials   

Reviews (2)

The most comprehensive and updated of all Tibet guidebooks
This book provides a more profound insight into Tibet for those interested inTibetan culture, trekking and adventure travel, than the others that are on the market. It is the most comprehensive guide- uniquely including the vast eastern regions of Kham, Amdo and Gyarong, as well as Ngari and Utsang. The book avoids the traditional steriotypes of Tibet and includes much information directly translated from original Tibetan sources as well as data derived from more than 50 fieldwork expeditions and trips in Tibet. The author, Dr Gyurme Dorje,is a Tibetologist, who has been involved in Tibetan studies for over 30 years, and has authored several books on diverse aspects of Tibetan culture. His handbook has the advantage of being continuously updated.

An indispensable guidebook with great scope for improvement
Tibet Handbook with Bhutan, by Gyurme Dorje(Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England, 2nd edition 1999, 952pp plus maps).Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Tibet    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Asia / China   

Reviews (15)

What a travelogue!
Do you remember a picnic or a party in your past that was so delightful that it has always stayed with you? It might not have been profound or life changing or anything like that, but it must been something you look back with a 'wow, what fun that was!' and cherish the thought?.
Celebrating wanderlust
Much has been said about travel broadening vision, and the journal of a traveller who has a universal view of life makes a rich reading experience. From Heaven Lake is more than a travel book that traverses the length and breadth of a place with smatterings of history, geography and local culture - It is a verbal album of direct images that personify the soul of the areas. Unique viewpoint
Very well done travelogue around China. A perfect counterpoint to Salzman's Iron & Silk. Salzman stayed in one spot for his sojourn in China; Seth, although he spent two years at Nanjing University, here is concerned with an impromptu hitchhiking trip through western China and Tibet. Seth isn't afraid to put some dangerous questions to his hosts and fellow travelers--questions about the cultural revolution and Red Guard, how life is now under the communists compared with before, could Tibet be a separate country once more? But the best thing about this book is Seth's viewpoint: an Indian writing about China and Tibet for an English/American audience. He takes the time to ruminate on the relations between the countries and the conditions in each country. In particular, his comparison of the living conditions of the poor and aged in China (cared for, if not greatly) and India (left destitute) was eye-opening. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1952-    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. China    4. Description and travel    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. Seth, Vikram,    7. Tibet (China)    8. Travel    9. Travel - General    10. Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu    11. Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu (China)    12. Journeys    13. Seth, Vikram    14. Tibet    15. Travel / Asia / General    16. Travel writing   

Reviews (1)

Masterful Translation of a Ge-luk-ba Cornerstone
Maps of the Profound is a career-capping work for Professor Jeffrey Hopkins, who has worked with this text for decades. This book contains a short translation of the terse root verses of the late Ge-luk-ba doxographical work Great Exposition of Tenets by the quintessential Tibetan Buddhist scholastic author Jam-yang-shay-ba, followed by an enormous commentary unpacking the significance of each word.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1648-1721    2. Buddhism    3. Buddhism - General    4. Buddhist sects    5. China    6. Doctrines    7. Early works to 1800    8. Grub pa'i mtha'i rnam par bza    9. Jam-dbyans-bzad-pa Nag-dba    10. Religion    11. Religion - World Religions    12. Tibet    13. Oriental & Indian philosophy    14. Religion / Buddhism   

Reviews (7)

Award Winner for Book Design
This book has received an Honorable Mention from the 2001 Southern Books Competition. "An unusually effective travel album beckons the reader with a truly dramatic dust jacket. Exceptional end papers charm and lead the reader forward. Color and theme continue from the clear, attractive dedication page. Bright, energetic color images engage the reader in a simple, easily viewed format." Congratulations to the author, designer Erin Kirk New, and the University of Georgia Press.

Heart-grasping Work
This exquisite pictorial collection captures my heart just like the previous "The Spirit of Tibet: Portrait of a Culture in Exile" by Alison Wright.William Chapman has captured the soul and spirit of the Tibetan people, a people in exile.I have always have a strong interest in Tibet, and, hpefully, one day I can experience the roof of the world myself.The collection has unveiled the people, the land, and the religion behind the facade.You may experience and sense the peace, joy, meekness of the people.Beautifully done!

The Face of Tibet
This amazing pictorial record of Tibet as it is today - its people, its children, the religious orders, the landscape, is breathtaking in its scope & beauty.Mr. Chapman has captured the very soul of this country and its people.You will treasure this book and the window it provides to a far & little known place. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Photo Essays    2. Photoessays & Documentaries    3. Photography    4. Photojournalism    5. Pictorial works    6. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Asia    7. Tibet (China)