5 comments about A Season in Heaven: True Tales from the Road to Kathmandu.

1. I made the overland trip to Kathmandu in 1974 when I was 16. This book is the closest I've ever read to explaining what was going on and some of the crazy trips we got into in India and elsewhere,getting there through Afghanistan and other wild places. Tomory writes with his usual wit and insight. This book should also appeal to the younger generation of travellers now hanging out in the sub-continent.



2. Although uneven, this book is nevertheless a good accounting of the great adventure of the 60s and early 70s, the trek to India. If you made this trip, as I did in 1972, it will flashback the hardships, the highs, and the attitudes. If you didn't, this book will let you taste what you missed.

   Travelling through Asia and the Middle East was for the hippies what road travel was for the beatniks. And just as there is a masterpiece of that experience of the beats, Kerouac's "On The Road," there is a masterpiece of the hippie experience, Cleo Odzer's "Goa Freaks." Read Cleo's book now!




3. "A season in Heaven" is a collection of true stories told by the hippies of the late sixties and early seventies, who embarked on the Hippy trail from Istanbul to Katmandu.
   If one wants to learn how it all begun, how the hippies financed their trips, how they survive long term on the road and the things they've learnt along the way, this book explains it all.
   The writing is simple and easy to follow. The approach is straightforward: David Tomory, a hippy traveler himself, combined these short interviews in order of the towns and places visited along the trail.
   The hippies, as we all know, were the people who wanted everything free. They'll leave their hometown with little money in their pockets and survived years on the road. How they did it? The answer is simple: begging, dealing drugs, opening small businesses, doing small chores for other people or staying for free in ashrams or in caves with the sadhus.
   "If you were really hip - it was like being the first to wear a minidress - you went to India. India was seriously fashionable." "In 1968 the Indian Prime Minister herself called the hippies "the children of India". Later she wanted to throw them out." These two quotes explain exactly how the hippies felt about India and vice versa.
   They traveled with no guidebooks: "Didn't I have a guidebook? Guidebook, what effing guidebook? No, I had the best guidebook in the world, word of mouth;" and they called their journey: "A spiritual quest? For sure."
   "In the early seventies, after his missionary period, Harry Deissing begun to drive `freak busses' to India. The passengers boarding his Istanbul-to-Delhi bus asked "How much?" and that was all. But in later years, he says, the question changed to "How long?"
   The ride from Istanbul to India turned into a long one, full of obstacles: the bus breaking down several times, problems crossing the borders and passengers falling ill.
   Once in India, the mystical and country welcomed them all and offered a home for a long while.
   Being a traveler myself and having traveled to some of those places talked about in the book, makes me want to pack my bag and return there. Not only I can relate to their stories, but I also learn about the places I have missed and the stories I never heard along the way. If you are amongst the ones who never been in any of the places described in the book, I can only imagine that you would learn a great deal of the hippy trail.
   I loved the book as it takes me to another world, a world free of laws and expectations, where you can just be a freak and a drop-out and that is ok with everybody else around you.



4. Sometimes I think it was all a dream - is it possible we once lived so free? I loved this book because it allowed me to relive that era, but I also found it an exercise in frustration because it could have been so much better. This book captures the history in bits and pieces, and left me longing for a more cohesive, comprehensive account. Among the interviews I found masterpieces of insight that brought me to tears, mixed in with trivial nonsequiturs.
   
   I joined the sub-culture of travelers (as opposed to tourists) in 1969, towed along by my restless, unconventional mother. When I was fifteen we reached Istanbul and there encountered the freaks returning from India. After having a vision of myself in a white robe I stole $50 from my mother and caught a ride east in VW bus with a dead battery to Kandahar, where we left the broken-down bus with a note on the windshield gifting it to the "people of Afghanistan. (The following week we saw it as a taxi in Kabul). My mother caught up with me in Kabul and on we went eastwards to Kathmandu and India, where I broke free of family ties for good and joined an ashram. It would be seven years before I returned to my native California, shattered and disillusioned, and yet I will always hold those crazy years close to my heart.
   
   Mr Tomory, I urge to revisit this project with a new publisher and editor. This was a unique time in history, one deserving of documentation for the benefit of future generations. Instead of just names and initials give us a better idea of who these people were, and what became of them. Please consider the possibility of a well edited, fleshed out version of this book, including photographs, although I know there aren't many from that time because it was so uncool, so not in the moment, to have a camera.
   
   This book is recommended reading for anyone who was there or wished they had been, though I'm still waiting for THE book about the Hippie Trail.



5. The overland trail from Istanbul to Kathmandu brought thousands of idealistic young Americans and Europeans into the Indian subcontinent between around 1965 and 1975. These travelers, who often wandered East on little to no money, sought spiritual enlightenment, a more open and understanding society, or just loads of marijuana and LSD. By the mid-1970s, however, the phenomenon was over as more and people just flew into India, and political changes made the overland route increasingly difficult. In A SEASON IN HEAVEN David Tomory, himself a veteran of the trail, has collected reminisces by 37 others who had wild times in this golden era.
   
   These oral histories touch on many aspects of the India experience. Of course, drug use plays a major part and there's hardly a page without mention of it. But some of the stories treat more substantial themes, and show how within the same milieu people could have vastly different experiences. Take, for example, religion. Stephen Batchelor, a contemporary Buddhist and author of the provocative Buddhism without Beliefs, tells of how he was so enchanted by Eastern spirituality that he decided to stay in India and dedicate himself to constant study. Other writers, on the other hand, found the holy men that they fell in with to be outright charlatans and left India disappointed.
   
   Since the contributors passed along the route at different times over its ten-year span, this collection helps to show how India changed under the onslaught of Western freaks, tourists, and pilgrims. In Tomory's book, Goa and Sri Lanka pass from a beach paradise with no electricity and understanding locals to impersonal thronged resorts.
   
   Though I found Tomory's collection interesting as a frequent wanderer myself, I was unsatisfied with the editing. The focus is almost entirely on India and Nepal, with the bulk of the overland trail getting little attention (Iran almost none), and indeed some of the contributors didn't even take the trail. The sequence of the stories in one part is out of whack, with a history of adventures in Nepal coming long before the Nepal chapter. Finally, I wish the editing of these oral histories had been done to the standards of ethnological research as published by university presses.
   
   Nonetheless, for all its faults, I would highly recommend this book to those who like to travel slowly overland, get in touch with local cultures, and maybe even find themselves.

No comments about India with Sanjeev Bhaskar.

2 comments about Jackals' Wedding: A Memoir of a Childhood in British India.

1. Jackals' Wedding is a fascinating book about growing up in British India, and the authors' trip back as an adult trying to understand the mysteries of her childhood. Her family's buried secrets, particularly the mysterious disappearance of her father, make for an interesting exploration into the culture of the times and family dynamics.

   I picked up this 500-plus page book on a Wednesday and barely put it down until it was completed on Saturday, four days later. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.




2. The author shares her memoirs of British India, through this clever narrative, shifting back and forth from present to past. Her story truly tugged at my heart. As each early 1940's memory unfolded, I became more involved with this little girl. Her fear, pain, shame, and disappointment, as well as her hope, excitement, joy, and love left me crying or cheering. There will be more, as this is the first of a trilogy. "Reprints" is my favorite of several of the author's poems, included after the narrative ends...for now.

4 comments about Lonely Planet Mumbai: Bombay (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

1. This is a good if somewhat inadequate guide to Bombay. It focuses mainly on the Southern sections of Bombay - namely Colaba, Fort, Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, Malabar Hill and Breach Candy. These neighnourhoods are collectively referred to as "Town" by many Bombayites. However much of the population of greater Bombay lives in the areas north of town along the western and central railway suburban lines. it used to be that all of Bombay's best attractions and restaurants were in town but these days a lot of the more interesting places and restaurants are found outside these areas and in the suburban city neighborhoods. The book has a good list of accommodation, places to eat and interesting sights. The maps are good but do not capture all of the narrow side streets and alleyways in Bombay that make city life so interesting. Finally in a city as chaotic as Bombay things are constantly changing and some of the information here is already out of date. Yet this remains one f the few practical guides to this giant and rather chaotic city. Bombay does not offer much in itself for tourists but it is a great place to experience the full variety of life in India. Bombay is also a good location from which to start travels in India. The Bombay - Delhi overland route passing through Rajasthan and Agra is fascinating and very rewarding for the adventurous traveler.



2. I read this book on my way to Mumbai and when I arrived I thought the plane landed in another country or city. The book was great for Mumbai proper, but once you get out to the suburbs, where people actually live, the book was useless.



3. There are several problems with this "guide" to Mumbai. When you visit a city, you usually want to experience it through the eyes of someone who loves it. Someone who can share their enthusiasm for the city and the cultures and artifacts that make that city interesting.

   When I go to foreign countries I like to meet the local people who are best at sharing their culture, or at least someone who gives it some respect, dignity and balance.

   The worse aspect of this book is to consistently read Collins distaste for Hinduism. It is nearly talibanistic and overall very ignorant. He sums up complex political, cultural and religious ideas into very simplistic, ignorant and negative statements throughout.

   He is also very ignorant of the Hindi film industry and yet insists on being a so called expert by providing a section on it. Though he admits that he finds "Bollywood" (I am not too comfortable with this term myself but I see that the locals seem to accept it) films to be not to his taste, he shows his ignorance by making some obvious generalisations.

   This film industry is rather quite big and many popular films do come out that are innovative in many aspects, cinematography, narrative, etc. But just like Hollywood, there are also films that are very commercial. Though these more commercial films get greater international distribution, they are not representative of most of the films that actually do come out of Mumbai.

   I personally find that there are great films that are consistantly coming out of that region. But I tend to explore foreign films in general with more depth than maybe most.

   In the end I would much rather there be a guide that celebrates the multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance that makes Mumbai one of the most enigmatic cities in that part of the world. There is enough of a propaganda campaign against the pacifist Hindus and Buddhists. India is possibly the most inclusive country and government that exists. And it is because it IS a free country that many are aloud to publish so much negativity against it unhampered.

   There is a market for a positive guide to Mumbai for someone who loves the city, culture and people. I for one would look for it.




4. We bought this book on the stregnth of our previous lonely planet guide books , and it proved itself to be every bit as valuable. We were only in Mumbai for 4 days, but during that time we were able to visit all the places that we wanted to go, thanks to the clear directions and advice. Although when we arrived at our hotel and shown the first room it was difficult not to giggle at the truth of lonely planets description"the paint is not always attached to the walls asfirmly as it could be"!!
   The descriptipn of the caves on Elaphanta Island were invaluable.
   A good, comprehensive guide on every thing you need to know from prices to hotels, don't leave home without it

1 comments about An Indian Affair: From Riches to Raj.

1. AN INDIAN AFFAIR: FROM RICHES TO RAJ by Archie Baron was written as a companion book to a British television historical documentary series. It is therefore clear and beautifully written for the general public. It chronicles the interaction of Great Britain with India before 1858.
   My ideas about the British in India were fuzzy at best and basically informed by tales and legends from the Victorian age. This book turns all my ideas upside down. It's wonderful.
   It begins with an introduction and ends with an afterword and inbetween are 9 chapters. Chapter 1 entitled Rogue Traders and Spice Girls relates the beginnings of the British East India Company. Chapter 2, Accidental Empire gives information about Clive and the beginning of military power in India to protect trade. Chapter 3, Nabobs tells of the British who lived in India and got rich off her wealth. Chapter 4, An Indian Love Affair basically gives details about Warren Hastings, a governor-general of India and William Jones, an intellectual. Both these men loved India and thought the Indian culture was on par with most any cultures and maybe exceeded those of Great Britain. Chapter 5, Going Native, is about men like Hindoo Stuart who embraced India, not just intellectually but in all ways. These are the White Mughals. Chapter 6 First Fusion informs us about the profound influence Indian culture had back home in Great Britain and about some of the Indians who visited or came to live in Great Britain. Chapter 7, First Among Equals is about the schemes and military actions between France, the Indian rulers, and Great Britain. Chapter 8, The New Rome, chronicles the events that started the beginning of the British Government as the rulers of India. Chapter 9, Brown Englishman, tells how native Indian languages and learning were thrown over for English and western culture in India and even, for good and bad, embraced by Indians.
   AN INDIAN AFFAIR has gorgeous color plates and pictures interspersed throughout the chapters. It is 254 pages in length with Sources and Further Reading, Acknowledgements, and an Index. It is altogether a satisfying, beautiful reading experience.

5 comments about No Full Stops in India.

1. A collection of 10 essays by Tully, this book presents some of the facets of Indian life in a very objective manner. Certainly, the content reflects the fact that Tully understands India as well as any Indian. He covered mostly politics and religion only. The books includes a few pictures too.



2. Mark Tully writes with great sympathy for India and this book of impressions is full of surprising insights. I recommend it strongly!



3. This book gives a far more in depth picture of India than one is able to get by traveling around the country as a Westerner not familiar with the many languages of India. Tully has a great love for the country, but bares the many contradictions and conflicts that exist in the vast Indian society beyond the small English speaking elite.



4. Mark Tully blends his reporting objectivity and opinions in the essays he has written about different places and events that I could relate to in my time in India. Provides a very refreshing commentary on the different perspectives and at the same time finding enough room to provide his judgements.
   The accounts of the Roop Kanwar episode and Operation Black Thunder have a historian's touch to them. DEfinitely a must read.



5. Mark Tully has been a house hold name in most of India for his quality commentaries about happenings in India for many years. Way back in 1975 and thereafter, he was a known name and voice over BBC world service to me as a child of 14 and a collage student later. His deep love for India and things Indian is well known. He has been awarded `Padma Shree' one of the famous state award by Indian Government for his genuine affection to India and services rendered by him to India apart from OBE that he received from UK.
   
   Reading the book called `No Full Stops in India' I could not but admire him for his deep understanding of Indian Affairs. He is right. India is such a long winding and unending story by itself that there can not be a full stop to it. A full stop in itself signifies end of a line or a paragraph or a story. A country like India can never have a full stop, it can at the best have some commas coming and going in its saga of deep rooted values. It is here in India that modernity coexists with ancient values of humanity and sacrifice.
   
   Each of his story, may it be about Sati (the whole world wants to hear only dramatized versions of few negativities that occur very rarely to sustain the image that they perceive about India) at Deorala, highly deplorable act even by local standards, which he has put in the correct perspective or the description of Kumbha Mela, the greatest confluence of Indian culture and religious values, in a very objective and unbiased manner, are master pieces.
   
   The way he brings out Indianness, the simplicity of its people, the peace and tranquillity of common men and women of this country in the midst of stark materialism in the immediate neighbourhood is admirable. Mark Tully is very observant but unlike many others who are judgemental with out in depth analysis or knowledge about India and its people, his deep understanding has made him admire it better and it shows.
   
   The other topic covered (Ramayana, the traffic / work stopper show on Door Darshan (Indian Television)), or story of his visit to a Gond aboriginal village near Jabalpur, riots between Hindus and Muslims at Ahmadabad in Gujrat and all other stories are also well covered and have detailed accounts of every thing he observes but in a very understanding manner.
   
   It is very simple to condemn anybody and any thing by looking at it through `coloured glasses' of individual perspective, prejudices and value system. It takes a Mark Tully with his deep love and understanding of India to bring out finer aspects of India even in the depth of tragedy apart from its good times when any one can praise India. A well respected man in India that he is, my respect for him has increased manifold after I read through this book.
   
   Being Indian, I know, in spite of modernity and onslaught of external culture, eventually, every Indian reverts to his culture and values, may be at 20 years of age (generally unlikely), may be at 30 years (more likely) or at 45 years of age (definitely). That's what makes us special.
   
   Mark Tully deserves a applaud for bring out a free flowing unstoppable India with few commas and no full stops to the world for them to see.
   
   An immensely readable book, even for non Indians.

3 comments about The Spirit of Tibet: The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher.

1. Matthieu Ricard, a French scientist who left a lucrative and prestigious research job in Paris to explore the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and ended up becoming a monk and spending most of his life there, provides us with a remarkable book of photographs and memorable quotes chronicling the life of his teacher, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to whom he dedicates this worthy tribute.

   Although little known outside of the world of Tibetan Buddhism, Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991) has been called "one of the twentieth century's greatest spiritual figures and a teacher of many of the Tibetan masters of today, including HH the Dalai Lama" (Snow Lion Press). Indeed, this book features a good-length preface by the Dalai Lama, in which His Holiness names Khyentse Rinpoche as one of his teachers (gurus), especially in the Dzogchen teachings and "rigpa" (the awareness of mind). Just reading a few of the excellent quotes provided in this volume from this remarkable teacher will convince all but the most hard-hearted of skeptics that this was a truly great spiritual master who embodied the teachings of Buddhism in a remarkable way.

   Even for the non-practitioners, the book is filled with so many stunning photographs of Tibet, Bhutan, the rituals, the people, and of course, the master himself, that it would bless and honor any coffee table in any home. Indeed, I cannot but feel that any home would benefit from having a copy of this book. For those who follow the path, it is, of course, much more than that.

   I was amazed when I saw this book -- it is lovely in every sense. I hope you will also enjoy it as much as I have. May all beings enjoy peace and happiness!




2. Do not purchase the two books about Khyentse Rinpoche (listed above at a special price if both are bought together). They are the same book. One is hard cover, and the other paperback. The titles are slightly different, but the books are the same. It is a wonderful book, but you probably don't need two of them!



3. A stunning integration of photography, biography, history, and spiritual teachings, this book touches readers on many levels. The images, from the expansive landscapes of Tibet, to the intimate features of Tibetan faces, are inspiring and telling. The biography, of one of the great spiritual teachers of the past century, is fascinating. (What actually transforms in a human being who spends decades in solitary meditation?) The history of what happened when China invaded Tibet and proceeded to decimate its culture is necessary, dramatic, harrowing. The spiritual teachings are sublime, yet accessible to those of all faiths. A rare book: beautiful, compelling, liberating....

No comments about The Travels and Journal of Ambrosio Bembo.

No comments about The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth-Century Journey through India.

4 comments about Lonely Planet Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, Seventh Edition.

1. This latest edition of Stan Armington's guide to trekking in the Nepal Himalaya (note the lack of an "s", as in "Sierra") provides a panoply of information for both the trekker and the armchair traveler. First traveling to Nepal in the mid-sixties, Mr. Armington has lived there since 1971. He has been in the business of organizing treks longer than almost anyone. He knows the country and the people and writes from a wealth of first-hand knowledge.

   Whether one treks solo (not recommended, really, but certainly possible) or with a trekking company, this informative book provides ALL the information one needs to have a successful, delightful, and authentic trekking experience in this ancient and remote kingdom. (Nepal is a Hindu kingdom, with a Hindu king.)

   As Mr. Armington acknowledges, trekking is neither a walk in the country nor a climbing experience. Hence, he goes into great detail to prepare the adventurer for what will for most people be one of the major vacationing events of their lives.

   Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. A visitor must know how to take care of oneself and also how to have a minimal impact on the environment and social structure. Mr. Armington covers all these matters excellently.

   The trekking routes are there, too, almost all of them walked--and measured (with a GPS)--by the author to ensure complete accuracy.

   Armchair travelers will enjoy the color pictures and the descriptions of the land and its people. Travelers and trekkers will want to devour the information, basically cover-to-cover.

   For someone planning a trek to the Nepal Himalaya, this book is an absolute essential. It should be used through all stages of planning and carried in the rucksack on the trek. It's that good, and that necessary, and that complete--a distillation of a adult lifetime of experience in the region by a world-reknown travel professional--in a word, a real bargain.

   Michael Slaughter Pacifica, Calif., USA




2. I bought it when I was planning to travel to Nepal. Unfortunately, I couldn't go, but the informations on the book helped me a lot to get in contact with nepali culture and details about trekking in this interesting country.



3. I've used this book for 2 treks in Nepal and it was a disappoinment (the book, not the treks). As mentioned above, the book provides a plethora of trekking essentials (preparation, etc.) and background info. To use it as a guide on the actual trail is altogether another matter.

   The maps are too general and is NOT suitable for actual guidance. The suggested itinerary varies too greatly for the average trekker. Some suggested trekking days that are way too difficult to complete or way too short. Things are changing quickly in Nepal...and the book does not keep up with this adequately.

   I've meet many people on the trail that were also dissapointed in the misinformation regarding festival dates. The Nepalese use a lunar calendar so it is easy to see why the dates can be off from year to year. It is unfortunate if someone plans their vacation by this. There are too many misleading information here...and for a foreigner/tourist/traveller/trekker, this can prove disappointing and costly.

   Take it from someone who's been there, use this book to entertain yourself, not to trek with.




4. this book was a great help in introducing me to the world of trekking, in terms of all the equipment i would need and the things i could expect while on a trek in nepal... it made the idea of trekking in nepal very feasible to me, and gave me confidence... but once i started trekking in nepal, i only used it as a light reference, mainly to look at the maps and see how far along i was on the trek, and perhaps to gain some information about the areas i was going through... as the author states, the suggested itineraries are not absolute, and, according to how much time and money you have, should only be used as a reference; some suggested days were too long for my group, and on other days we trekked longer distances than suggested... it's not every year you get to go to a place like nepal, so i suggest you give yourself plenty of time to enjoy your trek, take some extra rest days, and not make your trek a race...i needed more money than what this book suggested i would need; prices change... and also, especially on the annapurna trekking route, many lodges are being built every year and it's impossible for guidebooks such as this to keep up; i often thought it unfair for books like this to name specific lodges, while other lodges, some of them new, with better food and people, go unmentioned; talking with guides, porters, or other trekkers would be a good way of finding quality lodges... i think this book does a very good job of preparing you for a trek in nepal, but once you're there, keep your mind open for other sources of information, and use this book as a reference guide and not your one and only trekking "bible"... you'll get more out of your experience in nepal that way...