Trek to Everest Base Camp

A trek in the Everest region of Nepal becomes a promenade through a series of Himalayan portraits in this novel, revealing and entertaining book.

Meet seamy Buddhist ‘saints’ and violent ‘god-kings’, grasping imperialists and ambitious mountaineers, bumbling travellers and expeditious benefactors. Discover the identity of the yeti, explore the Buddhist heavens and hells, scramble with the rhododendron plant hunters, listen to the Jataka tales, make an odyssey through Namche Bazaar, sneak around with Himalayan spies, mourn the mountain dead at Chukpilhara, appreciate Himalayan art, have sex with Buddhist monks, eat tsampa and drink chang, get sick and visit a variety of Third World toilets.

Are the Himalayas facing an environmental disaster? Are Sherpas all they seem? Where’s the only Buddhist kingdom in Europe? Is Buddha the Christian God? Where are the Himalayan hidden valleys? Did Buddhists invent cricket? Who were the first summiteers of Everest before Mallory and Irving? Which Himalayan country wants to ban smoking completely? What’s the connection between a yak and the Grinch?

Herein a compendium of Himalayan themes and conundrums. Make the journey and discover them yourself.