Product Description

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, so Michael Buckley's advice includes guidelines on cultural etiquette, local customs and travelling with minimum impact on Tibet's culture and environment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116139 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'The most thumbed of all my books on Tibet. I might have had some trouble with the yak butter tea, but Buckley made everything else about Tibet wonderfully palatable. A must-read.' --Michael Palin

'The author has written an authoritative guidebook which gives one a genuine feel for the Tibet of today. It is rare to find a guidebook that addresses the situation with so much honesty, and yet this is exactly the sort of explanation a traveller to Tibet needs. I strongly recommend this guide.' --Tibet Alive

From the Back Cover
Tibet has long captured the imagination of intrepid travellers.
Here, on the world's most elevated plateau, you can experience the timeless
rhythms of the ancient Tibetan civilization: monks chanting in dim prayer
halls lit by yak-butter lamps, fiery-eyed pilgrims wending their way around
sacred peaks, and hardy nomads herding their yaks.

The "Land of Snows" may be blurred by Chinese politics, but Michael
Buckley's Tibet gives you the practical advice necessary to sidestep
potential obstacles and explore this enigmatic country to the full. Let the
adventure begin!

*Tibetan people: their history and culture
*Golmud to Lhasa--the controversial new railway
*Plan your trip with 35 clear maps
*Gaze at Everest on a "star trek"
*Explore the Kham and Amdo regions without travel permits
*Essential phrases in Tibetan and Chinese, with hand gestures

About the Author
Michael Buckley is an experienced adventure traveller and author who has explored an extensive area of Central Asia. In the course of journeys to Tibet, he has hitchhiked overland from Chengdu to Lhasa, trekked around Mount Kailash, and mountain-biked from Lhasa to Kathmandu. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Customer Reviews

New Tibet guide distils decades of experience
Michael Buckley is a seasoned traveller to Tibet. In the mid-eighties, not long after Tibet first opened to foreign travellers, he was joint author of the first Lonely Planet guide to Tibet, and also of the first to China. He brings a maturity to this book that distinguishes it.

Tibet, the Bradt Travel Guide effectively updates and expands on the information in Michael's excellent but poorly distributed Tibet Travel Adventure Guide, published three years ago.

I would recommend the Bradt Guide as the first and best to read before a visit to Tibet. I make that recommendation as one who has travelled independently to Tibet many times and has acted as a travel advisor to hundreds of western travellers to Tibet.

I have read every guidebook to Tibet published in recent years. Michael's is distinctive, in having a most attractive, easy style, speaking as though one traveller to another. Michael 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 them, Michael is knowledgeable (there are many quite surprising bits of information) and forthright in expressing his own considered opinions about cultural and political matters; but he seems to be sharing those opinions and his reasons for holding them, rather than preaching. In short, 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. Outside that Region 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 other territories are covered by the Bradt Guide. Particularly valuable is the coverage of Tibetan territory in western Sichuan Province, Gansu Province and Qinghai Province - especially the important Tibetan territory of south-east Qinghai, seldom covered elsewhere.

In addition, some welcome coverage is given to Bhutan, and to Tibetan areas of Nepal and India, including the seat of the exile government at Dharamsala.

The presentation of maps is excellent. 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.

I hope Michael will continue travelling in Tibet and maintain future editions of this excellent book in the years to come.

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.

Tibet - Bradt Travel Guide
As something of a connoisseur of Tibet gudies to travel in Tibet I feel justified in loudly singing the praises of Michael Buckley's contribution to the genre. Here is someone whose right to write on the country obviously comes from an in depth knowledge brought about from actually having spent considerable time there rather than just having been sent there on an assignment. As well as the usual practical tips for travellers there are also a wealth of anecdotes relating to incidents that have taken place in Tibet, either to Tibetans or travellers to Tibet, in the last 20 or so years that help give the visitor a broader view of what is actually happening in that troubled land. Without clear and thoughtful interpretation Tibetan culture can be a bewildering experience to the short term visitor - Buckley's well written book will go a long way to enlightening those travellers, both active and armchair, who wish to greater understand today's Tibet.