Tibetan Journey

The dust jacket provides a succinct and accurate summary of this book, and outlines it better than I would have, so I will repeat that here:

George Patterson has written a book of his journey out of Tibet to rival that of the more famous Heinrich Harrer's tale of his journey into Tibet described in the latter's Seven Years in Tibet. The son of a Scottish miner, Patterson and his friend and companion Geoffrey Bull, followed their Christian calling for a cause “for which I might die”.They arrived in Tibet in late 1947 via China and spent the next three years learning the Kham dialect of the Tibetan language of East Tibet, a vital necessity in being able to carry out their medical missionary work. With the Chinese advancing and supplies low, Patterson decided to make a hazardous journey to India for medical supplies and food before the rivers flooded.This book is the story of that journey across high mountain trails hardly ever crossed by man in a land of devastating beauty. It is a marvellous tale. He was unable to return to Tibet and his companion Geoffrey Bull fell prisoner under the Chinese - an experience that lasted more than three years and nearly killed him.

And so this book is a day by day explanation of Patterson's two month journey from deep in Tibet to Calcutta. It is thorough and careful to describe not only the route, the conditions of travel and people who the author meets along the way, but also shares some of his thoughts and some lighter background to Tibet and Tibetan life. Able to speak Tibetan (although dialect becomes an issue the further he proceeds), he is able to understand most of the communication around him - and with an array of guides and assistants throughout the journey who are able to translate for him, it is a detailed understanding he gives.

Patterson is a dedicated Christian, and there is some sermonising added into this book, which is the least appealing aspect for me. However while it is fairly frequent, it is brief and does not trouble the narrative and is moved past easily enough. His religion is clearly a part of his inspiration and motivation, so the reader can understand why he has included this, I suppose.

While he did not travel with a camera, there are a dozen or so black and white photographs of the journey and the authors arrival in India. It isn't clearly explained who took these, yet clearly stated that it was not the author. They are nevertheless interesting and worthwhile. There are two maps - one general and one of the route, and while the latter names every village it is only average in its context, not even identifying the Tibet/India border, which I thought unusual.

And so, while Patterson has some repetition to his writing not uncommon in a diarised form recording a journey, it is mostly related to his consumption of eggs (he ate a great many) and his dislike of Tibetan bridges. Otherwise the writing was good, the narrative readable and contained a pace and sufficient events to keep the reader engaged.

For me, 4 stars.