Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith

Brandon Wilson
Pilgrim’s Tales (2005)
ISBN 0977053660
Reviewed by Pilgrim’s Tales (2005) for Reader Views (4/06)

More than just a travelogue, this memoir is a journey within the author’s soul, as well as through Tibet. You can’t help but be intrigued by someone who reads about an ancient pilgrim trail of over 1000 kilometers from Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa, Tibet, and then decides to try it himself with his wife and a horse. The author was challenged by the idea that possibly no Westerner had trekked this path before. Most of us would be put off by the red tape involved in planning such a journey, but not Brandon Wilson or his spouse. “Our trek began in earnest, a yak stew of minor successes, major failures.”

Difficulties in obtaining permission to travel and the extreme conditions along the trail were major obstacles. The author explains the political and cultural history of the area to keep the journey in perspective, noting that “ethnic tensions simmer just below a frosted Himalayan surface”. We meet the locals and learn about yak butter and yak tea, not to mention yak cheese and yak pomade. There are even a few yaks that prove to be a handful at one point.

Dramatic scenery danced across the page and brutal conditions hounded the couple as the trudged along, averaging eighteen to twenty miles a day. They usually relied on the generosity of strangers who had very little to share, but seldom disappointed their guests. I was happy to tagalong on the trek as long as I was doing it from the comfort of my armchair.

I wondered at times, when conditions worsened, why they continued on, but the author summed it up for his readers. “To us it was now more than just another trek, another physical challenge along another trail. It was our chance to prove to the Chinese that if two Western heathens could trek a holy route to a sacred site, then certainly Tibetans should be allowed to trod that same lonely path in search of their souls.”

I would recommend this book to anyone who yearns for adventure or appreciates learning about other cultures. You might pick it up for its catchy title, but you won’t be able to put down until you know how the journey ends.

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