WALKING THE HIMALAYAS

Being in love with adventure & trekking in Himalayas, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. The author moves west to east in the Himalayan region, right from Afghanistan and ends his journey in Bhutan. His description of different people, cultures and landscapes which he encounters along the way is quite fascinating. Would like to suggest this book to anyone who is fascinated about Himalayas!

This book is a refreshing read. The author travels from one edge of Himalayas to the other and many countries. All the situations are real, characters are real, places are real. The book is fast paced and never a dull moment anywhere. At times you will feel that you are traveling along with the writer. Written in simple language anyone can understand, this book deserves to be read by all.

Excellent.

Somehow the walk seemed incomplete without Tibet, but the journey is beautifully captured. I secretly wished for a little bit more about the politics and the spirituality of the Himalayas, but anyways it was a very good read.

Good

The decision to buy this book was worth it. An eloquent true story cut across the Himalayas, over 5 countries. Wood take us along the way in his journey through the formidable mountains. But more than a travelogue, this is also a story of those who call the Himalayas their home. Meet the people, and the perils that lie behind the beauty of the mountains. Discover customs and practices that make you question your own philosophy. An account of a trip you wish you would take. While you plan yours, read Wood!

A good one time read. Very critical of India and mostly talks about Afghanistan, POK, Nepal and Bhutan.

Ich hätte deutlich detailliertere Beschreibungen der "Wandertage" erwartet, statt dessen werden viele Tage einfach übersprungen und auf einmal ist man x-Tage weiter und man erfährt nicht, was in diesen Tagen geschehen ist. Wenigstens Stichpunkte wären gut gewesen, es passiert doch meist jeden Tag irgendwas.

C'est un très bon livre qui m'a plu de lire des que je l'ai commencé, recommandez à tous les gens

Loved this book. I've read a lot of Lev's books, but this one stuck out as one of the best. The pictures at the end really brought it all together. Highly recommend reading!

As you can see from my review, I thought this book was amazing! Walking the Himalayas is absolutely brilliant and a wonderful accompaniment to the excellent television series. Levison Wood has a wonderful talent for describing not just the places he visits but the people he meets and becomes friends with. I find him a very easy author to engage with and his books are fascinating, funny and very difficult to put down. (I have also reviewed Walking the Nile). When I started reading the book, it got to 12:50 am in the morning before I realised how much time had passed since I had started reading it. The first chapter, where he describes his first meeting with Binod who became his friend and later his guide on the expedition, is an excellent example of serendipity which perfectly illustrates the friendliness and caring attitude of the people that were encountered on the expedition. This set the whole tone of the book and was one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. Whilst the author described the places that were visited and the difficult terrain that was encountered, what I enjoyed and found the most interesting were the people he met in these countries. The book gave me an insight into the values, religions and beliefs of these amazing people and also the challenges they faced. The author was very respectful of these people and writes about them in a very positive and engaging way. The second chapter was very illuminating as I didn’t really know much about the author’s background, other than that he had been in the army and so it was really interesting to learn more about his formative years and what he had done before this expedition. He describes the reasons behind embarking on this expedition in a very engaging and humorous way. The rest of the book describes the countries Levison Wood travelled through, the challenges with the terrain, the bureaucracy and also the wonderfully friendly and fascinating people he meets. I loved his descriptions of the mountains, river, forests and valleys and the photographs are excellent. His guides were fascinating and I enjoyed learning more about their families, their background, their religious beliefs, their views on politics and also how they coped with the challenges of the expedition. The description of the car crash was absolutely gut wrenching and emotive. Even though I knew it was coming and I had learned from a friend of the author that Levison had broken his arm, I had no idea of the background to it, or just how traumatic it was. I actually felt physically sick when I read it and really don’t know how he had the guts to continue after he had recovered from it. I got a real surprise with how the book ended. I absolutely loved the whole passage on the last page of the book and, I admit when I finished reading it, it ended with me having tears streaming down my face but also with a huge smile. This passage was a brilliant way to end this outstanding book.

Questo meraviglioso libro è basato su un viaggio compiuto dall'autore, Levison Wood, lungo la dorsale Himalayana durato quasi sei mesi. Da questo viaggio è stato fatto anche un bellissimo documentario diviso in cinque parti, in Italia trasmesso sulla Rai col titolo Sentieri Himalayani. Per caso ne vidi una puntata e subito mi colpì lo stile dell' autore interessato a scoprire e far conoscere luoghi remoti e sconosciuti, paesaggi selvaggi e magnifici, popoli nomadi o isolati e le loro tradizioni secolari. Un vero viaggio da "esploratori" non il classico "freak show" come purtroppo vediamo sempre più spesso in questi tipi di reportage. Incuriosito, prima di vedere le altre parti della serie, ho comprato questo libro, sfortunatamente non esiste un'edizione in italiano ma con una buona conoscenza dell' inglese la lettura è scorrevolissima e molto piacevole anche perchè è scritto veramente bene. Levison Wood riesce pienamente nel compito di far appassionare e incuriosire il lettore, e la voglia di approfondire ulteriormente sui luoghi visitati è automatica e immediata, grazie anche al bellissimo corredo fotografico presente nel libro. Inutile dire che appena ricevuto il libro l'ho letteralmente divorato e subito dopo ho recuperato tutta la serie e vista tutta d'un fiato. Leggere il libro e poi vedere la serie è il top, si rivivono tutte le avventure, gli incontri e i guiai che l'autore a vissuto durante questo viaggio a dir poco meraviglioso. Acquisto OBBLIGATORIO per tutti gli appassionati di viaggi, nel senso più vero e nobile del termine.