Exploring ethnic Tibet independently is a challenge. The proverbial "land of snows," it possesses some of the wildest and roughest road routes in high Asia, and so trekking, motoring, and mountain biking are all covered in this new edition. Political and cultural issues make Tibet a sensitive destination for Westerners to visit; Michael Buckley's advice includes guidelines on cultural etiquette, local customs, and traveling with minimum impact on Tibet's environment. Michael Palin, the renowned television personality (Himalaya), described the first edition as: "The most thumbed of all my books on Tibet. I might have had some trouble with the yak butter, but Buckley made everything else about Tibet wonderfully palatable. A must-read."
Features include:
*Knowledgeable insight into Tibetan culture and history
*The holy city of Lhasa in depth, Buddhist monasteries, and pilgrimage sites
*Routes through the northern and eastern areas of Kham and Amdo
*"Star treks"--high altitude trekking, including the Everest region
The worst travel guide ever! This is NOT a travel guide! I didn't find this book very informative but rather annoyed by the author's political comments. The entire book is politically loaded, with comments against Chinese government on almost every page of the book. Yes, I know that Tibet is a politically sensitive region and a good travel book shouldn't avoid the topic. However, the authors goes too far to turn this travel book into a personal political statement. In addition, as a Chinese reader, I found many details described in the book highly selective and biased. The author was trying to demonized Chinese - not only the Chinese government but also the average Chinese people! I bet you'll never dare to go to Tibet after reading this "travel guide" because the place was described like a communist hell!
New edition of excellent guide to Tibet The second (October 2006) edition of Tibet, the Bradt Travel Guide, is a welcome updating and expansion of the guidebook first published three years ago.
Michael Buckley has been writing guidebooks to Tibet for over twenty years, and brings a thoughtful maturity to the subject that is distinctive and invaluable.
I would recommend this book as the first and best to read before a visit to Tibet.
I have read every guidebook to Tibet published in recent years and have visited Tibet a dozen times. Michael's book is distinctive in having an attractive, easy style, speaking as though one traveller to another. He is never patronizing or pompous, he does not pretend to know what he doesn't know, and he does not flaunt his knowledge; among writers of guidebooks, those are rare achievements. Despite that, Michael is knowledgeable (there are many quite surprising bits of information) and forthright in expressing his own considered opinions about cultural and political matters. He is interesting, persuasive and readable.
The phenomenon of Tibet is so extraordinary and the questions raised by its occupation by China so profound that a visit to Tibet goes far beyond mere sightseeing. Many travellers find that their experiences in Tibet contribute importantly to their understanding of the world. The Bradt Guide is a book whose depth will satisfy the needs of what might be called the thoughtful traveller.
When the Chinese speak of "Tibet" they mean only the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region, effectively a province of China. Also governed by China are other territories totalling as great an area again, inhabited by Tibetans and styled by China variously as Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures (subdivisions of provinces) or Tibetan Autonomous Counties (subdivisions of prefectures). These territories, often overlooked by travellers, include some of the most important and spectacular destinations in the Tibetan world. The Bradt Guide includes some coverage to these territories as well. Particularly valuable is the coverage of some Tibetan parts of western Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces - especially the important Tibetan territory of south-east Qinghai, seldom covered elsewhere.
In addition, some welcome coverage is given to Bhutan and Mongolia (countries whose religion is Tibetan Buddhism), and to Tibetan areas of Nepal and India, including the seat of the exile Tibetan government at Dharamsala in northern India.
The presentation of maps is excellent.
There are useful appendixes on the Tibetan and Chinese languages. The usefulness of the section on Chinese language would be greatly enhanced if tones were indicated and Chinese script included: the foreigner, even with the benefit of tone markings, often finds it more effective to point to a phrase than to say it. A new, illustrated section on "Useful Gestures" will be particularly helpful for travellers without language skills.
Appendixes include an extensive bibliography and Web directory.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
