Customer Reviews

Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream (Bradt Travel Guide)

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If American novelist James Michener invented Bali Hai, Shangri-La was created by British novelist James Hilton, author of the 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Now Vancouver-based travel writer Michael Buckley has produced Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream, published by Bradt Travel Guides. The scoop of the book is impressive, covering a 12-country oblong rectangle bounded by Kabul (Afghanistan), Kashgar (China), Chongqing (China), and Bangkok (Thailand). I have been to many of the legendary cities covered in the guide, including Leh, Lhasa, Kathmandu, and Thimphu. and I share Michaels passion for the region. My trip to Nepal was incomplete and this book has given me the urge to return. Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream is brimming with National Geographic-quality photography and cultural trivia, and although travel routes and logistics are touched upon briefly, you would need to another guide for specific hotel and restaurant information and Buckley has a 300-page Tibet (Bradt Travel Guide)for Tibetan plateau coverage in great detail from same publisher.

The author has written several travel guides, all worthwhile and interesting even for armchair travellers. What makes this book special is that it combines physical descriptions and current information about travel in the Himalayas with Mr. Buckley's thoughtful meditations on "Lost Horizon" and what Shangri-La has come to mean since James Hilton first envisioned his mountain-bound Utopia. The author's profound love for both the real and the imagined landscapes under discussion shines through on every page and from every one of the many carefully-chosen photographs.

Dreams are no good unless you act on them. This book has fired up dreams to find my own Shangri-La in the Himalayas. This guidebook is well-researched and and thoughful, entertaining and humerous. The extended colour sections are a bonus, helping to visualize dream destinations. Not only a travel guide, a great read as well!