1 comments about In the Naga's Wake: The First Man to Navigate the Mekong, from Tibet to the South China Sea.

1. Behind the 70s-looking action/retro cover is the tale of old-fashioned exploration and discovery detailing the author's trials and tribulations in becoming the first man to navigate the Mekong river from its source in Tibet to the South China Sea. This first-hand account of what is quite an incredible journey takes awhile to heat up, although the extract from O'Shea's journal at a dangerous and critical point of the expedition, given at the start of the book and set in italics gives a compelling and personal introduction to the journey.
   
   O'Shea's account includes the quest for funds, battles and fallouts with his team, as well as descriptions of the challenges he faced on the water as he kayaked the length of the Mekong. While it is a personal account, in many ways it reads more like a sequence of events rather than evoking a response from the reader - you are told it's cold, rather than feeling it. However, the book does not intended to be a literary masterpiece. It tells the tale of the impressive journey and includes interesting geological and cultural facts. It also introduces kayaking terminology such as `fat bastards' and `boils' as well as invites the reader to consider environmental ecology from a different point of view.
   
   While it is not a `must read' it is a worthwhile read. Once I had accepted that it was the books intention to document the trip first and foremost, as opposed to giving voice to the interesting people he met along the way, I was able to enjoy the book for what it is.
   
   SJ Fay

2 comments about The Crippled Tree (China : Autobiography, History, Book 1).

1. All the masses of people who loved "Wild Swans" will love this one too. It gives a slightly different perspective on the same situation. Gives less recent history, but more information on colonial exploitation in pre-communist times than Wild Swans does. This author has written a few other books too.



2. Very good reading for those who love history which is told in a simple way, thrue a live story of an Europen - China couple and their children at the beginning of the 20th century ; and for those, who are always seeking the real truth and are never satisfied with just one point of view.

No comments about Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary.

No comments about Culture Shock! Beijing (Culture Shock! Guides).

2 comments about Mantras & Misdemeanours: An Accidental Love Story.

1. This is an important and moving book both for those interested in buddhism and those interested in love. All I can say is read it as soon as you can.



2. for those interested in Tibetan culture, and also in finding love. It's exactly the kind of thing I write about in the chapter on making love (including inter-cultural romance in Travelling Magically: How to Turn Your Journey into a Life-Changing Experience

No comments about The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten to the East Indies: The first book, containing his description of the East. Volume 2.

No comments about The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten to the East Indies: 2 Volume Set.

3 comments about Precious Jewels of Tibet: A Journey to the Roof of the World.

1. Jane Bay has written a poignant memoire about her mystical journey to Tibet. How insightful it is for us to observe the allegory of her spiritual unfoldment, from her wounded life to wounded Tibet. Indeed, modernism has resolved a number of vicissitudes at the superficial realm of existence, but it has simultaneously magnified a piercing existential dismemberment, while escaping the most fundamental plight of the human being: the aspiration to surpass oneself, like The Buddha. Jane Bay has experienced an intimate experience of felicity. I recommend "Precious Jewels of Tibet" to anyone probing the same everlasting question : Who am I ? Graciously echoed by Jane Bay' s gifted prose, this book is a window to the quintessential matters of the soul, a longing that is invested right now, for each of us, with a very vital meaning.



2. "Precious Jewels of Tibet" speaks to us from the heart as Jane Bay shares with the reader her innermost thoughts and feelings on her life as she embarks on an incredible journey of transformation. We are lucky to have Jane share her story with us. As we feel her joy and sorrow, we get in touch with our own painful and joyous journeys of self discovery.



3. "Woven through a stimulating journey, filled with the surprises of travel in such an exotic land, are the wonderful pearls of Pablo Neruda, the Vajra-and-Bell Initiation, words from one of my favorites Chief Seattle, teachings of the Great Perfection and many more. Jane Bay's journey and narrative is the thread that holds the "Jewels" of this necklace as one piece. But most important of all, I gained from her book a new appreciation for the heroic struggle of the precious Tibetan people."

No comments about China: Ancient Empire, New Horizons.

1 comments about Fodor's Citypack Beijing's 25 Best, 4th Edition (25 Best).

1. I was highly disappointed by this book. Several of the 'Best 25' were all actually buildings within the Forbidden City. The book should be more appropriately titled 'Beijing's 20 Best'. It also did not warn people that different tours to the Great Wall are differentiated by either the most visited section which is almost completely restored and crowded versus another section that is less traveled and for the more die-hard culturalists. The map was also too large to read easily while in a taxi or traveling on foot. This book added almost no value to my trip.