4 comments about The Siege of Shangri-La: The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise.

1. McRae recreates the journeys of several adventurers seeking an undiscovered waterfall in Tibet. Old notebooks, rumors, sacred writings, and guides from remote villages lure these explorers into an exquisite landscape of dense rhododendrons and ferns, steep rock canyons, and snowy peaks, all framing an elusive river that became impossible to map. The physical challenge is overwhelming, sometimes leading to despair and even death. Rainstorms, clouds of insects, waist-deep mud, impassable vegetation, leeches, steep and slippery rock walls, and even a tribe of women known to poison visitors, all demand constant mindfulness. A chance meeting with a Lama, the sudden appearance of a rainbow, the discovery of refuge in a hidden temple, a gift of food and the guidance from a native are intermittent rewards for the constant struggle. 

   Motives for the search were diverse, with some seeking ego-less spiritual enlightenment, while others lusted for recognition and glory.

   McRae brings to life a world totally foreign to me in engaging prose, full of facts and well-researched details. I appreciate glimpsing the exotic, strange land McRae presents in his fascinating account of travels into this magical place.




2. This is not just a book about exploring remote places, but the spirituality of exploration itself. The Tsangpo River's gorge through the Himalayas in southern Tibet was probably the last place on Earth to be explored and mapped. This was not completed, at least by Westerners, until 1998. This is due to the area's extreme remoteness and isolation, and its impossible terrain. Add to that the West's not entirely accurate glorification of Tibetan geography and culture. Here McRae covers both the Western explorers who tried to "conquer" the gorge, and the native attitudes toward surrendering to it. "Classical" explorers made many attempts until the 1950's when China "liberated" Tibet and closed it off, followed by extreme sports adventurers in the 1990's. Also in the 90's, two expatriates named Ian Baker and Hamid Sardar became adepts at Buddhist/Tibetan spirituality and explored the gorge from a completely different standpoint - that of a pilgrimage to Tibet's spiritual centers. Theirs is the most interesting story of the book, as the Tibetans believe that any landscape can only be truly discovered if one surrenders to it (the Eastern way) rather than trying to conquer it (the Western way). Sadly, all the hubbub in the pro-conquest Western press of recent years will probably ruin the gorge's extreme beauty and isolation. But with this book's great coverage of the cultural and spiritual dimensions of Tibetan exploration, we know that this paradise will continue to confound conquerors but offer rich rewards for surrenderers. [~doomsdayer520~]



3. I am doing research for an upcoming trip to Shangri-la region, and this is the first English book I read on the subject. It did not offer much information on anything other than some very limited history of the exploration in the Tsangpo River Gorge region. Since the names of places used in the book is different from those used in another Chinese book I read before, I had hard time cross-referencing and squeezing any useful information out of this book at all. Book reads like a C+ to B- college term paper on the subject.



4. Sets the scene of a beautiful but forbidding region: jungles, glaciers, leeches, rainbows, frequent rearrangement by earthquake... discusses the meaning of exploration and discovery, of regions with indigenous populations. More respectful of nature, culture and spirituality than the brash kayakers who visited and published, but not as deep as - a useful pre-read to -
   The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet's Lost Paradise by Ian Baker.

1 comments about Where Three Empires Meet: A narrative of recent travel in Kashmir, western Tibet, Gilgit, and the adjoining countries.

1. Where Three Empires: A Narrative of Recent Travel In Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the Adjoining Countries, with a Map and 54 Illustrations by E.F.Knight, Longmans, Green, and Co. 1905, reprint Asian Educational Services, 1993, p. 528.
   
   The travel writer E. F. Knight is a find! This narrative travelogue of the 1890's allows us to accompany him on his way through many locations of the British Empire.
   
   The descriptive travel narrative is filtered through the experience of an Englishman before the decline of the British Empire. That said, with all it's bias, some what over inflated sense of superiority and all that goes along with this...Mr. Knight captures the rarefied air, the magnificence of the mountains, the variation in landscape, people, weather and delivers it to the reader.
   
   He transports the reader through a year of travels of British-occupied Kashmir. His description of Kashmiris, Ladakhis, Baltis, and all the tribal peoples through whose land he traverses is brought to life by the smells, the dirt, the friendliness, the guardedness of some and the open curiosity of others. An example was his description of playing golf in the mountains, where he enlisted local boys as caddies. He overhears locals input on what golf is and is not; it is viewed as ludicrous as there aren't the ponies usually included in local polo. The visual picture of these Brits on high mountain snowfield, playing golf to pass the time, paints an odd picture.
   
   At this time England was attempting to conquer parts of this vast land and build roads. Mr. Knight accompanied several of these campaigns as well as forged off on his own. There's adventure and enjoyment of all things physical. There is curiosity, of the polyhusbandry of Ladakhi women, the cloistered hiding of Musselman (Muslim) women from public view, the hordes of children in Musselman areas. He speculates on the population explosion due to polyandry compared to the contained population growth of Ladakhis. He interacts with the rich, the poor, the village tribal leaders, all in his efforts to find a common language. Much effort is driven by his desire to push on into and through these then non-European traveled lands.
   
   Much of his travel had nothing to do with people but rather crossing rope bridges over great crevasses, noting pack animal plummet over the edge of the narrow trails, and even a war maneuver and subsequent skirmishes. He hears the crack of ice with an avalanche ensuing.... more than once. This book includes photographs, which he took upon occasion. Where Three Empires serves as a historical document as well as a benchmark for travel writing.

1 comments about Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life.

1. More than a coffee table book, to be sure. The images are stunning and emphasize the mythic narrative that gently reveals Tibetan culture in a sensitive and compelling way. Unfortunately, there is not quite enough info on the Chinese point of view and China's 3000 year old history of interference with and claims (generally bogus at best but still rather important) on Tibet which no doubt played no small role in the PRC's occupation and colonization of Tibet. While this book does eloquently provide the Tibetan in exile perspective, it's useful to understand what China's claims over Tibet entail and the history behind it, if for nothing else, to simply be more effective in refuting some of the more egregious and specious claims made by the PRC. The book does at least mention the interference by the UK and USA, specifically Nixon's pulling funding and support from the Tibetan guerillas resisting the PRC invasions and occupation of the 1950's, but it doesn't go far enough to name the names of the culprits in the US corporate juggernaut responsible for abandoning the entire nation and culture of Tibet in favor of the racist Chinese imperial/colonial occupation nor the US's help to China in getting maps redrawn which effectively eliminate Tibet from younger generations' minds. That's criminal and should have been in this book. The book also falls prey, unfortunately, to the Shangri-La myth common among American Tibet supporters; that Tibet was blissful and egalitarian prior to Chinese invasion. It decidedly was not, although tremendous compassion is due to the 14th Dalai Lama for recognizing their shortcomings and taking steps even in exile to overcome this. And, in no way should that justify China's actions by any stretch. If you read the book with the view that this is one narrative, one presentation, it's quite a good one, and at least a fully fleshed out version. It begs for a companion book that allows the grit and grime of everday Tibetan working class reality and the real shocks to Tibet culture the Chinese "modernization" and "liberation" propaganda nonsense represent. If the world gets to know the truth through this book and others like it, Tibet may yet have a chance. The book is gorgeous and really well written, the latter being something most "coffee table" books lack.

No comments about Living in Shanghai (Odyssey Guides).

No comments about The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in Japan. Volume 2.

1 comments about The Lost Temple of Java (History/Journey's Into the Past).

1. A real surprise - a fantastic account of the infamous Raffles and his discovery of a cool temple in Java. Great pics - well written. Could have done with bit more on Raffles.

2 comments about China (Tintin's Travel Diaries).

1. We found this book to be VERY VIOLENT. There are several disturbing photographs and sketches that are inappropriate for any child. One of the sections is about Chinese tortures and states "The 'lightest' penalty was beating - 4 to 100 blows . . might also be condemed to have his ears cut off or be shut inside a tiny cage. The frame torture consisted of placing a piece of wood weighing over 80 pounds around the convict's neck. He was not able to sleep or rest, and the slightest fall could break is neck and kill him." This is accompanied by a VERY DISTURBING photograph of men and a child being tortured! A children's book?

   Also, of the many photos, only one is of a woman or girl. She is working in a silk work factory.

   Overall, my opinion of the book was very negative - especially in its depiction of China and it's people.




2. This book was not violent. There were many pictures of woman and children and there was nothing disturbing about it. The reviewer from Boston obviously did not read this book. There is one picture referring to chinese torture. It is realistic and tasteful. Children need to understand history and the world around them. This book helps.

No comments about Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, including a summer in the Upper Karun region and a visit to the Nestorian rayahs: Volume 2.

No comments about The Great Wall of China.

No comments about Men Against the Clouds: The Conquest of Minya Konka (Revised Edition).