TASTE
REFLECT
HISTORICAL
ADVENTURES
Asia has long been the focus of
epic adventures on foot. Here’s a
selection of the finest tales, with
thanks to National Geographic’s
"Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest
Adventure Books of All Time"
The Long Walk, by
Slavomir Rawicz
(1956) Written by
a Polish cavalry
officer, it tells the tale
of an escape from
a Siberian prison
camp in 1941, Rawicz
and his companions
walked across
Mongolia and the
Gobi, through Tibet
and the Himalayas,
enduring incredible
hardship all the way. A
4,830-kilometre epic.
News from Tartary, by
Peter Fleming (1936)
Armed with a rifle, six
bottles of brandy, and
Macaulay's History
of England (but no
passport), Fleming set
out from Peking for
India in the 1930s via
forbidden Xinjiang.
My Journey to Lhasa,
by Alexandra
David-Neel (1927)
Frenchwoman DavidNeel crossed the
Himalayas in winter
and entered Tibet in
disguise. Starvation,
bandits, and
inhospitable weather
were just a few
tribulations she faced.
Travels, by Ibn
Battúta (circa 1354)
The 14th century
Moroccan wanderer
Battúta meandered
through Africa, India,
Russia, Sumatra
and Shanghai.
Sometimes wealthy,
sometimes penniless,
his book is from a
time when all travel
was adventurous.
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
07/12 2015
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and the Minyong Glacier, which hangs off Kawa Karpo. Many
of the trips can be made on horseback, and guides can be
hired to show you the way and carry all the provisions you’ll
need for a mountain picnic.
When you want a day off from walking, Shangrila
itself offers enough distractions to keep anyone busy. The
locals claim there has been a Tibetan settlement here for
over 1,300 years, and some of the oldest Buddhist te