An affectionate travelogue that conveys not only impressions of everyday life and descriptions of unique Tibetan customs and traditions but brings us Tibetan history, politics, and religion from a fresh, unstudied perspective Despite the determined efforts of the Dalai Lama to publicize the Tibetan cause, for many the people, culture, history, and traditions of this country remain mysterious. Niema Ash was one of the first Westerners to enter the country when its borders were briefly opened, and in this highly absorbing and personal account, she relates with wit, compassion, and sensitivity her encounters with people whose humor, spirituality, and sheer enthusiasm for life have carried them through years of oppression and suffering. This journey into a forbidden kingdom gives a fresh insight into the real heart of Tibet.

Niema was born and brought up in Montreal. At the age of 14 Niema embarked on a trip to New York; from then on she knew that travel was a driving passion fundamental to her existence. Leaving home an adolescent, she returned an adult, with a husband, baby and a career. She has traveled extensively throughout the world punctuated by periods spent in her native Canada. In the early sixties she had a daughter, Ronit, whom she raised while living and working with some of the most influential musicians and poets of our time. In her first book 'Touching Tibet', Niema Ash was described as 'the ideal author of a travel book: passionate, curious, self-critical, and with a rare ability to describe not just the outward appearances of a foreign land but to penetrate and evoke in splendidly vivid prose, its very essence'.

	Contents: TOUCHING TIBET
	Acknowledgements	7
	Foreword	9
	Introduction	11
	Entering Tibet	15
	In Lhasa	21
	Tim, Doune and Niema: Freak Show in China	25
	The Banak Shol: Medieval Guesthouse	31
	Old Lhasa	41
	New Lhasa: Pascal, Ian and Jaye	53
	The Sky Burial	65
	Tashi	71
	Outside the Potala	87
	Celebrating the Buddha's Birthday	99
	Inside the Potala	145
	Trip to Nagarze	163
	Pema	173
	Sera Monastery	179
	Reincarnation and the Dalai Lama	191
	The Mani Stone	205
	Leaving Lhasa	209
	Leaving Tibet	219
	Back in China	231
	The Brothers: A Tibetan Tale	241
	Epilogue	247
	Important Dates	255
	Key Issues	257