From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet

by Vikram Seth

Book Overview

After two years as a postgraduate student at Nanjing University in China, Vikram Seth hitch-hiked back to his home in New Delhi, via Tibet. From Heaven Lake is the story of his remarkable journey and his encounters with nomadic Muslims, Chinese officials, Buddhists and others.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039475218X
• ISBN13: 9780394752181
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

What a travelogue!

Do you remember a picnic or a party in your past that was so delightful that it has always stayed with you? It might not have been profound or life changing or anything like that, but it must been something you look back with a 'wow, what fun that was!' and cherish the thought?. This book is exactly like that. Travelling through some of the remotest terrain in the world and facing some red-tape, Seth simply wrote down his experiences and the result is a short and engaging travelogue. He is the perfect companion for a trip like this; his humanity shines through and he tolerates discomforts with a smile on his face and his personality is what makes this book so endearing. If you are a seasoned travel book reader, this will be another one of your favorites. If you are not into this genre, I promise you will be after reading this. P.S.: Whoever designed the cover deserves a pat on his/her back. It perfectly captures the essence of what lies inside.

Celebrating wanderlust

Much has been said about travel broadening vision, and the journal of a traveller who has a universal view of life makes a rich reading experience. From Heaven Lake is more than a travel book that traverses the length and breadth of a place with smatterings of history, geography and local culture - It is a verbal album of direct images that personify the soul of the areas. The book contains relatively little on the culture, civilisation or customs of China or Tibet. Rather it is the personal account of an economics student's experiences while returning home to Delhi from Beijing, via Tibet and Nepal, the novelty of the journey being that it is almost entirely hitchhiked, relying on luck and optimism alone against all odds.The idea of hitchhiking to Lhasa comes as a sudden inspiration to Mr.Seth while touring Turfan with fellow non-Chinese students. In serendipitous circumstances, he gets a travel-permit to Lhasa -The indirect repercussion of his singing 'Awara Hoon' (I'm a wanderer) at the students hostel. The song is symbolic of Mr.Seth's wanderlust impulses that make him embark on this fantastic journey. The rest of the book narrates his experiences that has many such co-incidences and fortuitous events that indicate life imitating art, as in an action-packed adventure story.The journey also has a more than fair share of obstacles, from dealing with a suspicious mosque doorkeeper or a slightly eccentric truck driver, to major ones like trying to get a lift on a truck to Lhasa, going on an impromptu chase of lost luggage or being stuck indefinitely on deserted, muddy roads. But these not-so-enticing situations are handled comfortably by Mr.Seth who simply refuses to give up. With remarkable candour and a liberal dash of his characteristic humour, he talks about his frustration, anger and minor irritations during the journey and how he got over them eventually.Mr.Seth also focuses a great deal on the unexpected gestures of kindness that he encountered in course of the journey - Friendly policemen, amiable officials, store managers, tailors and citizens who helped him. Mr.Seth seems to be at home in any part of the world - Climbing into lost caverns in Chinese temples or wading in underground canals, playing basketball with officials or frisbee with waiters, assimilating the quietude of a Chinese shrine and a mosque alike, enjoying a picnic with a Tibetan family he had just met and above all, conversing on all kinds of topics with an assortment of strangers. Not so surprisingly, the people he describes also begin to come alive, like many of the characters in his fiction.Reflections and musings on various aspects of China, India and life in general are diffused throughout the book, along with an occasional verse. There is a great attention to detail like the descriptions of Heaven Lake, the Lhasa mosque with its amalgam of Chinese and Arabic styles, the interior of a common truck and even the unpalatable soup served on the way, that suggest Mr.Seth

High on list of recommended reading for all Sinofiles.

Fascinating, superbly written account of travels around China. Should be of great interest to those who intend to venture to any of the destination Seth treks to. Amazing contrast of life in China - now & then. Stark differences of difficulties Seth encountered in his travels back in the early 1980s to the ease with which one can travel around China these days is telling of how far China has come in the past 1 to 2 decades.

Unforgottable

An unforgettable journey that leads you through the most unknown and misterious region of Asia. Vikram Seth's style is incredibly fresh. You can't miss it.

Award Winning Travel Book

I am not a reader of travel books, but could not put this one down. Seth not only was, by hitchhiking through forbidden areas, able to see and experience things way off the usual tourist agenda but was then able to turn his remarkable observations and astonishing prose into an unforgettable read. His journey begins when as a student in China he decides to break away from his keepers and exit the country through forbidden Tibet to Nepal. From the start of his hitchhiking adventure through his visit to Lhasa, and ultimately his walking past armed guards into Nepal never sure if he would be shot or not, his audacity excites, and his insights amaze. This ranks high with me in his short list of published works. Winner of the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for best travel book of the year 1983.