Amazing Trek Across Tibet!
By Norm Goldman
Today Bookpleasures and Sketchandtravel
are pleased to have as our guest, Brandon Wilson, author of Yak
Butter Blues.
In 1992, Brandon 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. Evidently, they were one of the first Western
couples to trek this ancient route alongside, by the way, a horse
they named Sadhu.
Good day Brandon and thank you for accepting
our invitation to be interviewed.
Norm: Brandon, could you tell our readers
something about yourself and your wife Cheryl, and why did you
want to trek across Tibet and did you ever had any fears prior
to your journey?
Brandon: Tashi delek, Norm! We had been
travelling for years as budget travelers, traveling light, with
only a backpack to sustain us for months on end. In the process,
we'd made our requisite trip around the world for a year and
had seen many of civilization's greatest achievements. We'd also
traveled overland across Africa for nine months (which is the
subject of my book to be released in 2005, Dead Men Don't Leave
Tips.) So, we were ready for a more intense experience something
more in line with that of the great explorers.
Our decision to attempt to trek from
Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal sprung from the notion that
this was the ultimate adventure. Everyone grew up with the legend
of a Shangri-La, that fanciful place from James Hilton's Lost
Horizon. The more that I read about Tibet, the more I was fascinated
by its remoteness, inaccessibility, and its exotic reputation.
Then, as luck would have it, we were
told several times that this trek had never been done by a Western
couple and that it was "impossible!" That ultimately
sealed our fate.
As far as "fears" prior to
the journey, first, I had real concerns that we wouldn't be allowed
into Tibet as independent travelers, since the border had been
closed to them for many years. A Chinese organized group tour
was simply out of the question for us.
Then, although we were assured the trip
was "impossible" due to lack of food, water, accommodations,
and maps, personally I was more worried about the weather. Knowing
the severity of weather conditions in the Himalayas, would we
be able to reach the lower altitudes of Nepal in time before
the roads closed, stranding us until May's thaw?
Finally, I must admit that I was also
wary about the reaction of Uzi-toting Chinese soldiers along
the way, as well as the various cadres of bureaucrats unused
to dealing with outsiders. Guess I'd prefer to deal with nature
any day, rather than the vagaries of human nature.
Norm: What were the most harrowing experiences
you encountered during your journey?
Brandon: It's a toss-up. This entire
journey was chock-full of uncertainty. The spectre of running
out of food and water was a daily concern. Where would we stay?
Would our bodies be able to physically able to make 1000 kilometers
at 12-17,000 foot altitude for 40 days?
But I'd have to say that the most singularly
harrowing experience we had was being shot at by Chinese soldiers
as we overlooked Mt. Everest from a hilltop in Tingri. What do
you do?
As second runner-up, I'd nominate that
morning where we awoke to a blinding blizzard and realized that
we still needed to press on.
Norm: What impressed you most of all
about the trip?
Brandon: First, we were impressed by
the unexpected generosity of the Tibetan people. Originally we
packed a tent, stove and fuel for the trek, expecting to be totally
on our own along the way. However, after our first night spent
camping in a potato patch, we were taken-in by local villagers
who shared their meager possessions, including yak butter tea
and a warm spot around their fire. We really grew to look forward
to these human exchanges, even though we had to rely on clumsy
sign-language and a limited phrasebook to communicate. Fortunately,
we started to run into former monks who'd received training in
Nepal and still spoke limited English.
Through talking to them, we became better
informed about the hardships of living in Tibet today under the
Chinese Communist occupation. We learned that Tibetans are prevented
from making pilgrimages along the same route that we trekked
into Nepal, as they've done for centuries.
So the trip for us became more than just
an "adventure" trek. It became a political statement.
If we could make their trek as pilgrims, we'd show to the Chinese
that it could be done, even by Westerners, without disrupting
the geo-political balance of power.
In fact, on the trek's conclusion, we
presented a set of prayer flags to the king of Nepal's personal
representative at the palace with the hope that the king would
fly them as a symbol of solidarity with the Tibetan Buddhists.
Finally, we were impressed by the unwavering
faith shown by many of the Tibetans. At night, in the dark stillness
of their homes, we shared photos of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
with them that we had secreted into the country. Gingerly holding
the photo, they touched it to the foreheads of the members of
their family, blessing them. Then drawing back several layers
of curtains, they reverently placed it in their private altar
beside other statues and holy instruments.
After over 40 years of oppression and
death, could we still be so patient or retain so much faith?
Norm: If you had to do it all over again
in 2004, would you still jump at the opportunity? As a follow
up, would you advise anyone else to follow in your footsteps
and what are the possible dangers they may encounter today?
Brandon: Frankly, no. This trek is a
once-in-a-lifetime experience. From what I've read since then,
and I receive Tibetan news every day now, the country has vastly
changed especially Lhasa. As inundated as it was then with Chinese
settlers, solders and foreign culture, it is even more so today.
Now, they're in the process of completing a railroad line into
Lhasa from western China, so the transformation will be accelerating,
the assimilation complete. The world saw the same effect in Inner
Mongolia and Manchuria with the arrival of the railroad.
With that said, I'd love to return, perhaps
to the more remote Mustang region this time, far removed from
the propaganda tours. Of course this is assuming I would be granted
a visa. Writing this book has certainly made that possibility
more remote&
However, I would advise readers to explore
any part of the world that interests them by walking. There is
nothing so satisfying as discovering a culture one-step-at-a-time.
This is a traditional way of exploration which creates total
immersion in a culture: its food, history, art, architecture,
people, language and nature. I like to think of it as a walking
meditation, too. You place your body on "auto-pilot"
and travel outside, while traveling within.
If readers are interested in this rewarding
mode of travel, they can check out several options on my WEB
SITE where I have free "how-to" articles about walking
some of Europe's most spectacular pilgrimage routes, along with
web links for more information.
Walking across Tibet was the beginning
of this, my latest passion.
Norm: How would you describe the relationship
with your wife after the trip? Reading the book, I noticed there
were some tense moments between you both during the adventure.
Brandon: I really admire Cheryl's courage
and willingness to take a chance. Traveling with daily hardship,
uncertainty, and often life-threatening situations, will put
any relationship to the test. Fortunately ours survived and this
experience provided an even stronger foundation. If we could
survive that, why, we could survive anything.
Norm: Did you keep a daily journal while
you were travelling?
Brandon: Of course. It was sometimes
hard to find the energy or time at the end of one of these 14-hours
days to sit down and write. But I wanted this account of our
journey to be real, raw, and authenticnot some romanticized notion
of adventure travel. To capture that essence (while the blisters
were still fresh) was vital. Time heals all wounds, as they say,
and if you wait to write about it all later you lose much of
the minutiae of the moment until it becomes merely a Disney version
of your memorywithout the dancing hippos, of course.
Norm: After you returned home, did you
write any magazine articles about your adventure or did you lecture
anywhere about it?
Brandon: I wrote magazine and newspaper
articles about the experience, and would have liked to lecture
about the journey and situation in Tibet. Living in Hawaii, there's
always a logistical problem and cost of traveling outside the
islands.
Now that the book is published, if there's
great enough interest throughout North America, I would welcome
the chance to talk to groups about this life-changing experience
and about the Tibet we grew to appreciate.
Norm: Why did you choose the title Yak
Butter Blues for your book?
Brandon: Well, as a global citizen, I
was so disturbed by seeing the destruction of this ancient culture;
the dismantling of temples, the corruption of monastic life;
the re-education of a population where the children are prevented
from learning Tibetan in schools; the removal of Tibetan food
and clothing from the stores, plus the mass settlement of Han
Chinese into Tibet causing Tibetans to become a minority in their
country.
It is reaching the point where yak butter
tea, that nourishing food that has traditionally fed and sustained
a people throughout the centuries will soon be all that remains
of an enlightened culture, while all the world looks away. These
are the "Yak Butter Blues."
(Besides, I liked the kind of Kerouac-ian
ring to it!)
Norm: Did you ever hear any news about
your horse Sadhu you left behind?
Brandon: The Internet is an amazing tool.
Although we wrote to his new owner, the fellow who ran the Kathmandu
guesthouse, shortly after our return home, we never heard back
from him. Just recently, I "Googled" the hostel and
was able to reach his brother.
Sadly, Sadhu, our old friend, passed
away a couple of years ago at a very ripe old age. He spent his
last years in a luxury resort, but will always be remembered
by us as the only Tibetan we could bring to freedom.
Norm: Have you kept in contact with anyone
you may have met during your trip?
Brandon: Unfortunately not. We sent copies
of some of the photos we took along the journey to families we'd
met, as our way of thanking them. That's all.
Norm: How long did it take you to write
the book?
Brandon: The first draft of the book
was written in a few months. After that, it was revised through
several drafts. Then I added the most current news on Tibet I
could find, sorted through photos, and incorporated some of the
simple truths which were initially planted in the mountains of
Tibet and blossomed along more recent pilgrimage treks.
Norm: How are you going to market the
book?
Brandon: Ah, the ultimate question! I
consider this, in many ways, an extention of the journey. Perhaps,
in retrospect, it is just as difficult with over 100,000 books
released each year.
We're reaching out to supporters of a
free Tibet, colleges and universities, libraries, adventure travelers,
trekking and outdoor organizations, newspapers, international
adventure magazines, Buddhist and dharma groups, Indians &
Nepalese, and independent bookstores to help get the word out.
Much of this has been started and we use the Internet a lot to
let people know about our web site.
The national reviews so far have been
excellent and I'm awaiting others from abroad. Yak Butter Blues
is currently listed on Internet bookseller sites from Europe
to North America to Japan and Australia/New Zealand.
I'm also writing and sending articles
to related sites and creating links, especially to the vast,
displaced Tibetan community, as it is their story as much as
our own.
Since book promotion these days ultimately
rests with the author, I'm participating in book signings and
interviews to further develop interest. As I said, if I find
there's a great enough interest in presentations, I might be
tempted to put together some sort of North American tour. Whatja
think?
Finally, after all those small moments
along the trail where we felt like we owed our survival to some
mysterious force, we have learned to "have faith,"
to trust that we were meant to have this journey and that I was
meant to write this book.
I can only trust that once again we will
be blessed and that our audience will find us along life's trail.
Meanwhile, if readers would like a first-hand
look at our journey, complete with a sample chapter, maps, photos,
Tibetan music and Tibet/Trekking/Peace links, please drop into
my WEB SITE. Then take a moment to sign our guest book, email
me, tell your friends, or post a review at Amazon.com. Namaste!
Thanks Brandon and I wish you good luck
in all of your future endeavours. _________________________________________________________________
Norm Goldman is editor of bookpleasures.com
and sketchandtravel.com. Norm is also a regular contributor to
many book reviewing sites and travel sites.
Norm and his artist wife, Lily are
a unique couple in that they meld words with art focusing on
romantic and wedding destinations. You can learn more about them
from their site http://www.sketchandtravel.com.
Norm and Lily are always open to receive
invitations to write and paint about romantic destinations in
the New England states, New York state and Florida.
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