My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City

I wont get into a debate about how much of this book is or isn't factual. My only wonder is, given that it covers a very long walk pretending to be a beggar on a pilgrimage to Lhasa in the company of her adopted son the lama Jongden, is just how did she record everything that is depicted in this book? Setting that query aside though, this book tells a truly amazing story of how the author made her way from China all the way to the fabled Forbidden City of Lhasa. Although she wasn't the first westerner to get there (the British forces were in the country), her story is made all the more remarkable given the fact that she had to do her travelling in secret. The book, despite its age (it was first published in 1927), is very readable. I found the descriptions of both the landscape and, in particular the people she meets along the way, both interesting and convincing. Given the Shangri-La status in which Tibet is viewed today there is a fair amount of debunking contained within these pages. For example, not all Tibetans turn out to be peace loving, animal loving, caring and spiritual. Indeed along the way she comes across robbers, excessive violence/abuse and a great deal of superstition by the uneducated. Indeed the Tibetan propensity for superstition is used by the author and her companion to extricate themselves from some difficult circumstances. However, despite the hardships and the unsavoury nature of some of the people she meets on her journey, Alexandra David-Neel is a lover and academic of all Tibetan culture and religion(s), and this comes across strongly. Additionally, and to me surprisingly, there is also the occasional sense of humour evident. Well worth a read by anyone interested in the life of the ordinary peasants of Tibet before the country was opened up to external influences.

I found this fascinating and she is quite honest and funny.

An absolutely fascinating and utterly unique insight into a world long past, told by the most intrepid, courageous and philosophical woman. The story itself deserves 5 stars and more, but the formatting into e-reader format is atrocious. I am such a fan of the author that I stuck with it, but at times it took a take a fair bit of patience piecing together the often chaotic narrative. Brilliant to have made this fairly obscure gem available, but it so deserves better on the formatting front.

I read this book over 20 years ago and it is one of the books that has stayed with me since. Alexandra David-Neels heart must have been huge, to take on the hardships of this journey through Tibet a hundred years ago. But the book is not about hardship, it is a love story with Tibet and a journey into tibetan buddhism, - a wonderful book.

What a wonderful woman! A must read for any adventurer or lover of Tibet.

A brilliant insight into the workings of the mind of one of the 20th century's greatest women explorers. Highly practical, uncommonly confident, extraordinarily hardy, uber-pragmatic yet spiritual with it, Mme. David-Neel has a story to tell like few others. She deserves a much higher profile.

I agree with other reviewers who have downloaded the e book - it has been produced without any respect for the author or her readers, and rendered unreadable.

On nearly every page there are problems with the presentation of the text, but nearly all are decipherable, and in many ways add to the charm of this astounding account of travel and some hardship in a land that forbade to travel of non Tibetans, let alone a lady from Belgium. Riveting. I was astounded when I first read 7 years in Tibet 50 years ago. And this account of a 1927 incursion into the forbidden land of Tibet has added another dimension to my knowledge and understanding of this complex country. I have now ordered a biographical account of the author, as she led a very different life to any other explorer I have ever heard of!

A truly remarkable woman.

This is truly an amazing journal of an epic journey in extreme conditions. Puts us with our Goretex and freeze dried food in our place as wimps by comparison. It also shows us a place that few westerners ever saw in those times.

Interesting and amazing reading

To the readers: Don't waste your money. The seller simply took an OCR output and didn't bother to proofread, much less mark the chapters in the table of contents for our convenience. There are even sections of text missing. To the "publisher": You are harming your customers. Do you not want to take pride in your work? To Amazon: I bought this e-book version based on high recommendations for the book in general. Once again, your lack of separating reviews for different editions/formats is harmful to your clients.

Great book