DREAMS OF THE PEACEFUL DRAGON - A Journey into Bhutan

by Katie Hickman

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340487704
• ISBN13: 9780340487709
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Sceptre
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

blood sweat and marvels

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.

Sensitive journey into the soul of Bhutan and of the author

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...