Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith

Rating:
Summary: Fearless or Hairbrained
Review: After reading author Brandon Wilson's email requesting a review of his book Yak Butter Blues, wherein he recounts how he and his wife, Cheryl, travelled 40 days from early October to the end of November in 1992 over 1000 kilometers travelling along the ancient pilgrimage route across Tibet, my first reaction was- they must have been either fearless or harebrained!

Colorfully detailing their gruelling venture, Wilson recounts how they set out from one of the highest cities in the world, Lhasa across the inhospitable terrain of Tibet and finally ending up in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Evidently, they were one of the first Western couples to trek this ancient route alongside, by the way, a horse they named Sadhu. They were, as Wilson states, " a trio of mad marathoners." The author also informs us that he lost thirty- five pounds or one fifth of his weight, and added to the weight loss was his and his wife's bout with diarrhoea and bronchitis.

A fair portion of the book is devoted to the daily nerve-racking routine of finding shelter and food, not only for themselves but also for Sadhu. You can well imagine the challenges they had to endure, particularly that their knowledge of the Tibetan language was extremely limited, and for the most part they had to rely on hand and facial gestures or as they termed it "feeble minded sign language" to be understood.
The hospitality displayed by most Tibetans was incredible, as for example, the time when a family of nine gave up their tiny bedroom to the Wilsons, and were forced to sleep in a dingy stall. There seemed to always be some kind of mysterious force that watched over the couple making sure that there would forever be someone reaching out to them with shelter and food. It was these gentle souls, who encouraged their dreams, and who passed onto them a force that never abandoned them in some of their most dispiriting moments.

Intertwined in the reportage is a first hand glimpse of the injustice and continuing deplorable occupation and intense cultural genocide of the Tibetans by the Chinese who savagely overran the country in 1950.

Ultimately, however, what left me with a lasting impression was the author's summary description of their adventure when he affirms: "the ultimate beauty of walking, of traveling deliberately, one foot in front of the other, was the opportunity to observe and wallow in the minute details of everyday life surrounding them."
Their lives were reduced to raw essentials- vulnerable and exposed, opening up their eyes as to how half of the world lives and survives.

Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures



Rating:
Summary: A Compelling Odyssey
Review: This is the first-person account of Brandon and Cheryl Wilson's walking pilgrimage from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal.
This is an area of the world that has been closed to visitors since the 1959 occupation by the Chinese. And although everyone they meet tells them it is impossible to take such a journey, they find a way to do it despite many obstacles.
They decide to walk 22 miles a day, but soon find out that they are unable to make time with their heavy backpacks. In a small village they buy an old horse named Shadhu and he becomes their pack animal and companion for the entire length of the journey.
Subsisting on cha (strong tea brewed with a handful of salt, then topped with yak butter), ramen noodles, dehydrated food packets, and the occasionally Tibetan beer, and sleeping on spare cots at the homes of villagers, or camping in their tent in subzero temperatures, they make their way over the desolate Tibetan landscape to Mt Everest base camp, and then on to the lush green glory of Nepal using a map that shows little.
It wasn't an easy trek considering the physical demands, the confrontations with the military, vicious villager's dogs, and needing to not only find a place to sleep for themselves but also for their da (horse) so he could be fed and tied down for the night.
This book stimulates the reader's interest in seeing the world...one step at a time.
Well done!


Rating:
Summary: Tashi Delek!
Review: Yak Butter Blues is an exciting, thrilling, enchanting, encouraging and sad book of two „pilgrims" and their horse hiking from Lhasa to Kathmandu. However this book is much more than just another trek description from far away. Brandon Wilson excellently describes the up and downs, the fears, the joys and the struggles of the hikers during this long distance trek. It was amazing to read about the willingness of the Tibetans to share their few belongings with "three" unknown hikers looking for shelter. Brandon Wilson succeeds while hiking through this vast country to survey the state of Tibet which sadly enough is losing its enormous cultural richness at high speed. Yak Butter Blues really touched me in many ways!

Rating:
Summary: A moving and emotional testimony
Review: Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek Of Faith is the story of Brandon Wilson and his wife Cheryl, who went on a 1000 kilometer trek along an ancient Tibetan pilgrimate trail that took them from Lhasa to Kathmandu. Their journey put their endurance to the test, and even brought them into an encounter with the Chinese Army, but also showed them the wonder and beauty of the land itself, and the remnants of a gentle Buddhist culture on the verge of extinction, evidenced in the kindness of strangers who share yak-butter tea. A moving and emotional testimony, and a travelogue that is the next most vivid experience to hiking upon the trail oneself.