Heartlands

A glimpse into the troubled soul of hidden Tibet.Reaching Lhasa is the dream of all Tibetan pilgrims, but China’s brutal occupation has reduced this ancient civilisation to a shadow of its former self. If you want to discover real Tibetan culture, you have to go elsewhere on the plateau – to Ladakh, Bhutan or Outer Mongolia. Exploring these remote regions in a series of trips, Michael Buckley embarks on a quest to come to grips with Tibetan ways, from the celebrated spirituality to the downright bizarre, and finds himself balanced somewhere in between magic and reality. A fascinating and personal journey of discovery, Buckley rubs shoulders with hardy nomads, encounters giant phalluses and stuffed kangaroos, cycles snowbound passes, chats to the Dalai Lama and survives interrogation by Chinese police.