Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: A Journey Through Bhutan [Paperback]

Katie Hickman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Bhutan is a remote kingdom in the Himalayas, isolated from the outside world for three centuries. The western part has been opened to limited tourism, but the eastern part remains closed. Katie Hickman is one of only a handful of foreigners ever to penetrate these eastern lands. Her trip to Bhutan with photographer Tom Owen Edmunds took a year to set up. They journeyed from the capital Thimphu in the west to the easternmost borderlands and the remote mountain-top retreat of the barbarous Bragpa people. They lived as Bhutanese, and met merchants, abbots, wandering priests, lamas, hermits, a reincarnation of the Buddha and a sorceress. Katie Hickman's account contains all the unexpected and humorous aspects of travel, but, above all, it is about the people of Bhutan.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The charm and vivacity of the writing match the mood of the trip.” -- The Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has been isolated from the outside world for more than three centuries. Although the western part has been opened to limited tourism, the eastern part of Bhutan remains closed. Katie Hickman and photographer Tom Owen Edmunds are two of the few foreigners ever to enter these eastern lands. Starting from the capital Thimpu in the west, they traveled to the easternmost borders and the mountain–top retreat of the barbarous Bragpa people. Along the way, they met merchants, abbots, wandering priests, lamas, hermits, a reincarnation of the Buddha, and a sorceress. Filled with all the adventure and humor one might expect from such a journey, Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon beautifully captures the mystery of this remote kingdom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix House (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753813076
• ISBN-13: 978-0753813072
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > History > Asia > Bhutan
  • #59 in Books > Travel > Asia > Bhutan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive journey into the soul of Bhutan and of the author, August 20, 2003

By 

Mieko Nishimizu - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: A Journey Through Bhutan (Paperback)

Hickman writes beautifully. This book is a captivating account of her own journey into the depth of Bhutan, which she records honestly from the bottom of her heart. Hickman, unlike most western writers on Bhutan, captures something of the soul of Bhutan, as she narrates her own emotional journey as a young woman of good sense and rich sensitivity.

At the same time, the book is also an exciting adventure story. Anyone with good wanderlust in their heart will not be able to put it down until all the pages are turned, and will be left yarning for more after the last page is read.

While eastern Bhutan remains less exposed to outside visitors than the western part of the country, it is now much easier to travel there than during Hickman's time. There is now a motorable road to everywhere she went on foot and ponies. Television, telephone and internet highway -- prohibited or non-existent back then -- now bring in outside information more easily to Bhutan. Most importantly, Bhutan has achieved a phenomenal increase in the literacy of her people, with English as the chosen medium of class-room instruction and as the "link" language among the country's numerous linguistic groups. As such, beyond its literary value, this book also has a place in the historical literature, capturing the ways of the eastern people of Bhutan before their greater exposure to the outside world.

Having said that, however, Bhutan's vision of "Gross National Happiness" (being more important than Gross National Product), and the enlightened development strategy associated with it -- balancing material and spiritual gains, and valuing its historical, cultural and natural heritage -- mean that Hickman or any other visitors would find the soul of Bhutanese people not much altered since her visit.

The book would certainly tempt many to consider visiting this unique Himalayan nation called Bhutan. Like Hickman's own, it promises to be a journey of personal discovery, leaving one to ponder some cosmic reasons why such a nation exists on earth...

5.0 out of 5 stars blood sweat and marvels, July 24, 2004

By 

Diana R Roome (MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: A Journey Through Bhutan (Paperback)

Reading this was a journey of enchantment for me, too. If the author had some special help in reaching the uttermost reaches of this little-known country, she paid for it with the intense discomfort,hardships, dangers, fever, and uncertainties of a journey made the old-fashioned way, without maps or roads or even a half-decent meal at the end of each day. Jolted right out of the comfort zone of planned modern travel, her heightened awareness and acute observations are the prizes she brings back in this wonderfully written and often hilarious book.
I can't wait to find a copy of the book of photos (now sadly out of print) taken on the same journey by Tom Owen Edmunds.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 21, 2007

By 

Martha (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: A Journey Through Bhutan (Paperback)

I was anxious to read about Bhutan before and after a visit there, but I found this book a disappointment. I don't know what I expected from someone's first attempt at writing such a book, and at a relatively young age- but I didn't feel that the author was able to move beyond her own needs and discomforts. The writing is self-conscious. By chance I came across the web journal "The Elegant Variation (TEV)." Here is their definition of TEV, and it fits the writing in this book perfectly! I've not read her other books, but I hope they have matured.

"The Elegant Variation is "Fowler's (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer's overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn't permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."