I would love to say that I loved this book, But I found it dry and, quite frankly, a little boring, That came as a shock since apparently OUTSIDE Magazine named it one of the "best adventure books of the lastyears.
" For me, sorry to say, I quit/the way through, I guess I didn't give enough credence to the idea that it was the earlys and Alexandra DavidNeel traveled alone actually with a companion to Lhasa.
But for me, just not that interesting, And if I give an authorpages and it feels like a chore to pick the book up to read page, then it's time to move on.
And so it is here, Should be aby those measures, but indeed I do recognize that her effort was unique, challenging, even perhaps ground breaking, somy little effort to be right with the world! "I was wandering in the market when a policeman stopped and gazed at me intently.
Why Perhaps he only wondered from what part of Thibet sic I might hail, but it was better to be prepared for the worst.
A new battle was to fought, and I began it, my heart beating rather quickly, but brave as usual.
I chose, amongst the things for sale, an aluminum saucepan, and began to bargain for it with that ridiculous obstinacy shown by the people of the halfwild tribes of the borderland.
I offered an absurd price and talked nonsense in a loud voice, hardly stopping to breathe, People around the booths began to laugh and exchange jokes about me, The cowmen and women of the northern solitudes are a habitual subject of mockery for the more civilized people of Lhasa.
"Ah!" said the merchant, laughing, and yet irritated by my continuous twaddle, "you are a true dokpa, there can be no doubt of that!" And all present ridiculed the stupid woman who knew nothing besides her cattle and the grass of the desert.
The policeman passed on, amused like everybody else,
I bought the saucepan, and, as I feared being followed, I compelled myself to loiter about the market, playing a comedy of admiration and stupidity before the ugliest and cheapest goods.
Then my good luck caused me to fall in with a group of true dokpas, I began to talk with them in their own dialect, I had lived in their country some years ago, I spoke of places and men known to them, and they were convinced that I was born in a neighboring tribe.
I have no doubt that, with the quickness of imagination that is peculiar to them, they would, next day, have sworn in all sincerity that they had known me for a long time.
"
My Journey to Lhasa is the incredible account of a French woman's travels around Tibet and to Lhasa, where she lived for two months in sight of Portola.
I've also read Out of This World by Lowell Thomas, an American and his son who legally visited Tibet and the Dali Lama in the's.
The difference here is that Alexandra DavidNeel visited illegally, disguised as a Tibetan and this was in!
Having studied Tibetan for some years, she already knew the language and had previously lived in several temples and caves as a monk.
Those stories are in another book, which I would love to read,
I really enjoyed reading her experiences with the peoples of the land, trying to keep her disguise undiscovered.
She lived as the people did and ate what they ate, She didn't have horses loaded with bags and porters to carry all her necessities, She carried all she needed wrapped securely under her dress,
Alexandra DavidNeel is a first rate explorer and it's a shame that her story is hardly known.
The memoirs of a stoutyearold Frenchwoman who trekked in disguise for four months to become the first Western woman to reach Lhasa.
I was amazed for some reason to see this book on Goodreads, I knew that I had it and I've been searching for the past half hour, The reason I couldn't find it first of all is that my book is in French,
It's just called "Le Tibet d'Alexandria DavidNéel", I purchased this at her museum in DignelesBains in Provence in, I had spent a year in France and at the time my spoken French was dreadful,
Even now I doubt if I will ever be fluent in the language, It is such a rich and sophisticated language, Still I communicate I guess and I hear the errors spilling from my mouth when I speak.
. .
Anyway, I digress, I went to this museum for the simple reason that there was a Buddhist monk in attendance.
I was very influenced by Buddhism at that time,
Needless to say, the monk was not to be seen but I saw this wonderfully illustrated, relatively short book ofpages and thought, well I haven't seen the monk but I can take this one as a "souvenir".
I did have problems reading it at the time,
Imagine a woman all alone, an explorer, who had tried to disguise herself as a Tibetan very difficult looking at the photos and travels to Sikkim in Tibet inand then on to Lhasa.
What an adventure. The photographs are a treasure in themselves, You see the author sitting with the women in the market and then there are fabulous photos of Lhasa itself.
And the author lived toyears of age, Evidently we must all go to Tibet!
I'm so pleased that I came across this again.
Well, it took awhile but I finally finished it, The author was truly an amazing woman and I admire the life she lived and all of her explorations at a time when women didn't travel on their own into remote areas.
Her writing style didn't capture me, but considering that English wasn't her first language, it was very impressive.
Reading about her life online gives a remarkable view of her accomplishments and makes her book that much more enjoyable.
"Che tutti gli esseri siano felici",
A me una boccata d'aria pura questa lettura me l'ha regalata, Le devo gratitudine alla girovaga, orientalista, filosofa, scrittrice, mezza sacerdotessa, un po' maga e , quindi forse anche un po' pazza, che è arrivata a Lhasa al posto mio.
Mi ha caricata sulle spalle del suo singolare equipaggiamento, mi ha mostrato paesaggi incantati, di un luogo fantasticamente remoto, mi ha mostrato la forza della solitudine piena di ricchezza per la sua 'deliziosa libertà.
Niente di troppo mistico, niente troppo vibrante come i gong percosse a ripetizione,
Narrazione della felicità di se stessi e del mondo,
Che ci vorrebbe tanto a tutti, mondo compreso, .