Customer Reviews

Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith

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..."Look, you two, I don't think this has ever been done before-and there must be more than one good reason why."...It's a good thing author Brandon Wilson and his wife, Cheryl, didn't take these words to heart or I wouldn't have been able to go along with them on their adventure from Lhasa to Kathmandu. While I may never get there in person, I feel as though I have met the people of Tibet and seen everything they did while staying out of the freezing cold. I read this book, slowly, savoring from the first "Tashi Delek!" to the last "Namaste". I came to love Sadhu, the wandering holy man, so much that I was close to tears near the end of the story.

Traveling with Brandon and Cheryl, and the people they meet along the way and share their adventure with, for 650 miles across an ancient pilgrim's trail is exhilarating. You will enjoy the way things open up to them as minor successes happen to allow them to trek across Tibet, visiting beautiful Buddhist monasteries and passing out pictures of the Dalai Lama to those who helped them along the way. While experiencing much success, they also experienced getting shot at, getting caught in a blizzard and a sandstorm, not having enough to eat or drink, getting lost, Cheryl getting bitten by a dog, and much more. The one thing that stayed constant, besides their determination, was the Yak Butter the book is named for.

...Like Henry David Thoreau's noble quest to "live life deliberately"..."Yak Butter Blues author, Brandon Wilson, teaches us just that...open your life to adventure, seek it out, find something that suits you and jump in with both feet...don't stop to think or to over-plan. If you do, your logic could take over and you would miss all the fun! Pick up two copies of this book...one for yourself and another for a friend. You will both be glad you did. Thank you Brandon and Cheryl for sharing a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

Brandon transpoted me to Tibet and I was taken step by grueling step with him and Cheryl and their rugged Tibetan horse Sadhu on their 1000 km trek from Lhasa to Kahtmandu that they were told was impossibe.
The trip had to be completed before the mountain passes were snowed in so they had about six weeks so they had to walk eighteen miles a day on dirt roads thru tracherous mountain passes at very high altitudes encountering the unpredictable Chinese military.
At the end of each day there was always a surprise lodgeing,with very meager sustenance but always they were welcomed by Tibetan families who shared what they had.
This is a heart warming book that proves nothing is impossible and the human body and mind can be stretched to endure and and rewarded in ways that uplift the spirit to new heights.
The Tibetan people are proof that somehow they will endure and need world support.
It is a wonderful book and exciting adventure.
Verna Eddy
Kailua Hi

Brandon Wilson is masterful in describing the hardships and trials of his 650-mile journey across Tibet. He's equally adept at describing this harsh yet wondrous, high landscape known as the "roof of the world." Wilson is at his best, however, when he talks about the enchanting warmth of the Tibetan people who, as he and his wife crossed on foot, took them into their homes and shared their culture. Hardly a holiday sightseeing safari, Wilson calls his trek a "walking meditation" in which the couple sees through the dust storms and freezing winds to learn the good will and kindness that has survived generations of oppression. In this strange paradise, Wilson finds commonality with the Tibetans, yet mourns the continuing disappearance of their culture, noting that soon little will remain of it but their ancient yak butter tea. Fortunately, so will his book.

Yak Butter Blues is an exciting, thrilling, enchanting, encouraging and sad book of two „pilgrims" and their horse hiking from Lhasa to Kathmandu. However this book is much more than just another trek description from far away. Brandon Wilson excellently describes the up and downs, the fears, the joys and the struggles of the hikers during this long distance trek. It was amazing to read about the willingness of the Tibetans to share their few belongings with "three" unknown hikers looking for shelter. Brandon Wilson succeeds while hiking through this vast country to survey the state of Tibet which sadly enough is losing its enormous cultural richness at high speed. Yak Butter Blues really touched me in many ways!

"Azure skies assured good weather and white tipped peaks never glistened more pristinely. Bleak hills, stark villages and clumsy yaks were all dusted, purified, with a powdered frosting, a serene fantastic vision, we finally faced our long sought after mind'e eye illusion of Shangri La; one destined to disappear with the rising sun." ~ pg. 215

After reading numerous books on Tibet, a common thread seems to weave through each story of human endurance and kindness. In Brandon Wilson's Yak Butter Blues world, we slip into a meditative journey complete with vivid details of Tibetan culture. Undaunted by the insurmountable challenges, Brandon Wilson and his wife Cheryl traverse a mysterious world braving harsh climates as they trek across an ancient pilgrimage trail.

This exploration of desolate landscapes takes them from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. Along the way they try to embrace their journey with a sense of spiritual purpose as they first enter into a world of incense and religious ceremony at the Potala Palace and then find the exploration turning to pure survival, guided by the kindness of local people along the way.

"The sweet scent of pine mingled with the relaxing rhythm of a cascading waterfall. Jade ferns gently wreathed clusters of rust hued boulders. Glistening steel blue waters rushed below us, engulfing us in their peaceful pulse, while the lonely cry of a spiraling hawk pierced the thin air above." ~ pg. 220

Strangers willing to provide shelter and food appear from dust storms and the elements are at times the least of their worries as they must fend off viscous dogs or avoid questioning by authorities. Yak Butter Blues is an authentic travelogue and odyssey across miles of life changing landscapes and opportunities for memorable photographs. Sadhu, the horse who makes their journey possible captured my heart and the conclusion was more emotional than I expected.

~The Rebecca Review

A Journey For Everyone!
Wilson's brilliantly written, heartfelt book and his
determination to follow a dream demonstrates that
nothing is impossible. Wilson weaves history,
personality, locale and the plethora of human emotion
with his adept eye for detail. This couple, and their
beloved horse, Sahdu, carry us literally into a
thrilling and deeper understanding of the word,
'discovery.' Truly, this book is a metaphor for Life.
From exalted highs and deepest sorrows, they allow us
to travel with them in a remarkably intimate way. They
prove that 'being present' has no boundaries, no
mystery and no ethnicity. Through their pilgrimage,
they teach us the reality, the need, and the
responsibility for profound and simple 'touch.'
Enlightenment may not be just a matter of looking
inward, but looking outward in experiencing the
privilege of our common bonds with the rest of the
world. I will carry this book and it's message with me forever.

I am sure Brandon Wilson and his wife had a great adventure, but I couldn't tell it from reading this book. I kept waiting for some sort of epiphany...there was none.I kept waiting for some depth of feeling, for some heart to come through, for some true and real interaction with an amazing people.... I am still waiting.

I had to ask myself "How stupid could 2 totally unprepared Americans be to take a 600 mile trek through Tibet in November with inadequate supplies, inadequate sleeping gear and figure that they could rely (prey) on the generosity of an impoverished people to get by?

"Answer: very stupid. The Gods take care of fools...atleast for awhile. This book made me embarrassed to be an American. Night after night Wilson and his wife found kind Tibetans to provide them with a roof and food for them and their horse. They seemingly never returned their hosts generosity. They paid them only when they were asked for money and then squabbled over what would be pennies on the dollar US.. Not only did they do that, but it seemed that was the hallmark of all Westerners whom they met in Tibet. No wonder the rest of the world looks at us as aliens.

They talk with great pride about making this journey on a road obviously well travelled, just not by westerners on foot. When a Tibetan family asked them to take their child to freedom, they just didn't get it.

Every year over 500 Tibetans continue to excape from Tibet to Nepal. Parents send their now only Chinese speaking children to freedom in hopes that they will become educated and have a better life. They go first to Kathmandu and then they are tranferred to receiving Tibetan Children's Villages first in Delhi and then Dharamsala. Very young children travel from Lhasa and sometimes even farther to Nepal. I recently met a 5 year old child who had made this trek. The Tibetan Children's villages have an admirable track record for giving arriving Tibetans healthcare, language skills in English, Hindi and Tibetan..(.and Chinese if they want) and teaching them saleable skills. These TCV's are now seeing second generation Tibetan children graduating and going onto professional schools.

I won't say don't buy this book,it is a light fast read but don't expect anything profound. Your money would be better spent supporting a Tibetan child. Go to tibchild.org for more information.Perhaps you should do both.

Brandon Wilson's Yak Butter Blues caught my attention from the first page and kept me engaged throughout. The story and writing had heart, adventure, devotion, and truth. When the book was over, I felt like I had treked with the author and his wife and was sorry it had come to an end. I appreciated the skillful weaving of description of the land, interactions with the people, historical information, personal doubts, and triumphs.

This book is a treasure to the Tibetan people and to the rest of the world. It gives us a true glimpse of Tibet and captures a beautiful land and culture that may not be around in years to come.

Well done!

Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek Of Faith is the story of Brandon Wilson and his wife Cheryl, who went on a 1000 kilometer trek along an ancient Tibetan pilgrimate trail that took them from Lhasa to Kathmandu. Their journey put their endurance to the test, and even brought them into an encounter with the Chinese Army, but also showed them the wonder and beauty of the land itself, and the remnants of a gentle Buddhist culture on the verge of extinction, evidenced in the kindness of strangers who share yak-butter tea. A moving and emotional testimony, and a travelogue that is the next most vivid experience to hiking upon the trail oneself.

After reading Brandon Wilson's latest book: "Along The Templar Trail", his adventures in foreign lands so beautifully written inspired me to find out more about another one of his pilgrimages where he and his wife Cheryl walked across Tibet.

"Yak Butter Blues", for me, is a far more interesting, suspenseful, informative, and inspiring adventure than anyone in Hollywood could ever conjure up. The book opens itself up for the reader to join Brandon, Cheryl, and their horse Sadhu to experience what they had to go through to achieve their goal to cross Tibet's very forbidding terrain reserved only for the daring and the brave.

Weakened by hunger, illness, bitter cold, and the daily uncertainty of survival, Brandon and Cheryl's spirit remained strong enough to overcome the never ending obstacles thrown at them. Unlike fiction books where one expects the obligatory climatic ending and life changing epiphanies, this book is an autobiographic account of human survival stretched to its limit, and coming out of it alive is profound enough to change the way you look at life.

The highlight of the book for me was Brandon's creative ability of putting a face to each of the local Tibetans he came across, many of them angels who shared their homes and food with Brandon and Cheryl. Extreme poverty did not harden these Tbetan angels' generous hearts. These are people cut off from the eyes of the Western world, and through Brandon's journey we get a rare glimpse into the life of local Tibetans, the hardships they suffer, and the simple joys that bring a smile on their face.

With recent events involving conditions in Tibet that were painfully brought to light, I strongly recommend Yak Butter Blues as a source of information about the part of the world we know almost nothing about.