My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City – An Inspirational Record of Disguise and Danger in 1920s Tibet Paperback – August 23, 2005

A great story...was a little repetitive in the beginning but halfway through the book it took off! I found some of her adventures quite 'far out' and I could only think, wow, some of these things might really be possible for example, some of the occult practices she witnessed and was even able to perform herself. Her travails in getting to the Forbidden City appearing as a pilgrim was the one aspect of the book I didn't agree with. But she was an adventurer and was driven at any cost to reach her goal so had to disguise herself as a pilgrim and beg for food and this was most often from those less fortunate than her who often didn't have food enough for themselves or their family. There is lots of mystery and magic briefly mentioned in the book which she doesn't go into indepth but saves apparently for another book at another time. For the adventure the reader must imagine from her descriptions the long trek through the different mountain elevations, the dangers along the way, the amazing stamina of this woman and the young lama as they travelled and met every challenge together, all in all leaving the reader full of wonder and inspiration. There are some photos which add to the beauty and value of the book.

My Journey to Lhasa is a well written book about Tibet circa 1919. Alas, the country that Alexandra David-Neel describes in her travels is no more. The Chinese have butchered and degraded the native population and ethnic Chinese are the majority of the population in the capital city of Lhasa.David-Neel made her trek with her adopted son to the forbidden city Lhasa (where no foreigners were allowed) in the dead of winter succeeding where much younger, better equipped male-only explorers failed. This religious pilgrimage is the main highlight of this strong-willed French woman's 101 year adventure packed career. She was a noted Buddhist scholar and wrote 25 books on eastern themes after she made her death defying trip in her mid-fifties. This book reads as fresh today as when it was written over 90 years ago. Ms. David-Neel's command of the English language is better than most native speakers.I personally didn't like the ending to her journey. Soon after she had achieved her goal of setting foot in the Forbidden City, she had no problem in identifying herself as a French woman and allowing herself the protective care of the British supervised Indian Army escort. It would have been elegant of her to have crossed back into India anonymously just as she had begun her journey crossing into Tibetan territory anonymously.

I no longer require the consumption of water as I become adequately hydrated just by being in the presence of this book, I feel like a super hero. It is almost as if this book also took a journey to Lhasa (and back, and then to Lhasa again, and then back again). My only complaint is that the book is still somewhat readable, what a shame. I almost feel guilty to maintain possession of this book, as I feel compelled to donate it to a museum where it could be displayed next to paleolithic stone tools.

I came across this book for the first time about 30 yrs ago. At that time I borrowed it from the library in Swedish after having read a book review in the local newspaper. A marvelous story that let my imagination go wild. This trip would not be easy in today's world, much less 80-90 years ago. I forgot the name of the author and the name of the book later but every once in a while I'd try to search for it - thank goodness for the Internet! Finally I found what seemed to be the right book. This has been my evening reading now and it is as enjoyable as ever. I envy the author for her courage and perseverance. Someone might find the description of the journey somewhat monotonous but it is what it is. Pretty splendid in my opinion.

Places of intense emotion reveal themselves only to the hardy and the intrepid. Every warm-blooded traveler knows this. But this story chronicles a veritable traveler boot camp! To bed down on rocks, sleep on snow, go hungry, thirsty and unclean, travel by starlight, dangle from a rope over a gorge, beg for food, awaken to the snuffle of wild predators... all this by a woman, almost a 100 years ago, 55 years old and on the run.Tibet is of fantasmagoric beauty, like that of a land spellbound by unscrupulous sorcery - harsh and unbending but so terrifyingly beautiful that one succumbs to its thrall. I could imagine her tramping through these fabled lands, forging through fog-filled valleys, melting into the moonshine or greeting a golden sunrise at the end of a hard night's trek, as her adventure unfolds in this well-paced account. I regret that she doesn't pause to paint a fuller picture of what must have been spectacular scenery.It is also interesting to sketch her personality through her own pen. She appears as a strong-willed, intelligent, somewhat arrogant woman of unwavering determination, gritty endurance and one who loves a challenge. I have to applaud her unconditionally for the original motivation that launched her on this endeavor.I found her use of Tibetan words occasionally distracting and the Introduction by Diana Rowan is downright hagiographic and entirely dispensable, or at least, deferrable until the end of the author's own story. Yes, the style is a little dated, as one reviewer commented, but why should that be surprising? This is a period piece.If you are a traveler at heart this travelogue cannot fail to touch you.