To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron

"Mount Kailas is the most sacred of the world's mountains - holy to one fifth of humanity. Beyond the central Himalayas, claimed to be the source of the universe, its summit has never been scaled, but for centuries it has been ritually circled by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. Colin Thubron joins these pilgrims, after a trek from Nepal. He talsk to villagers and to monks in their decaying monasteries; he tells the stories of exiles and of eccentric explorers from the West. Yet there is another dimension in this account: Colin Thubron recently witnessed the death of the last of his family. He is walking on a pilgrimage of his own. His trek awakes an inner landscape of solitude, love, grief, restoring precious fragments of his own origins."--Back cover.

This is my second book by Thubron and, for the second time, I have to say that I'm not wild about his writing. What is it that you don't like? you might ask. And I can't put my finger on it. This is the kind of book I should like; I adore travel narratives. But once again I was not wowed by Thubron. I'm sure it is just me. I stuck with him all the way to the mountain, as Thubron described the scenery and the people and the culture. But nothing touched me emotionally.

I really wish I could figure out why Thubron is not for me.

It has been a while since I have read any Colin Thubron non-fiction, which I generally find to be 4 star quality, and very enjoyable. Not so much his fiction, but that is another (2 star) story.

This book, I have been looking forward to reading, but it feels a little different to the Thubron I remember. It is possible that this journey is, for Thubron, a more personal journey that his previous work. His mother has passed away, following his father and his sister, who died in a skiing accident in her early twenties. For him, his journey, his kora (circumambulation of pilgrimage) is for his mother, and while he touches on it a few times, he certainly doesn't overshare, or make the book about his mother.

To touch briefy on the location of his journey - a trek from Nepal up to and across the border to Tibet, and on to a pilgrimage circuit around Mt Kailas, the most sacred of the worlds mountains (to the Buddhist, Bon and Hindu religions). A mountain that has never been climbed, and the access to which is strictly monitored and controlled, and for many years was closed to almost everyone. The kora takes one through the ever changing scenery of mountainous Tibet, sacred lakes and decaying monasteries.

In my view, it has effected the way he has written. He has written a lot about the Buddhist and Bon religions, and the crossover of Hinduism. He has written a lot about the gods, their stories, and other tales. He has described the ever changing scenery of first Nepal, and then Tibet - and described it incredibly well. But, and there is a but, because this didn't maintain his four star quality, it didn't have the passion, or invoke the colour or excitement that for me his other writing has.

Still an enjoyable read, and as I say the descriptive landscape and even his description of and (albeit brief) interactions with people he meets are great. I have to say I would love to make the trip he has, the kora around Mt Kailas.

3.5 stars, but rounded down as his other four star books are prevail over this one.