Excerpts from Tibetan journey - a book by George N. Patterson

I have been fascinated with Tibet and its people since the
day I visited Mcleodgunj. So, when I saw this book named
Tibetan Journey, I had to pick it up. In fact, I picked
up another one as well, named Among the Tibetans.
But I couldn't bring myself to like the later at all because
of its sarcastic tone.

As far as the former is concerned, even that is not the
stuff which can be called - un-put-downable but after
reading few initial pages in sequence, I read few randomly
and eventually settled for reading it in the reverse order.
That made it slightly more interesting.

It is written by George N. Patterson, a Christian missionary
in Tibet at that time. He journeyed from Tibet to India to
be out of the Chinese clutches, which were about to grab
Tibet, in 1950.

The author was well versed with the local Kham dialect,
and it shows in his understanding of the local culture and
customs. Written in a humorous tone, the book is worth
one read at least, though in a reverse order :-).

Here are few excerpts :

.........
Our deliverance from the jaws of death had given
me an appetite, or perhaps just made me more
conscious of the digestive function, and I gave orders
to dismount for something to eat at a house which
suddenly thrust itself at us from amongst the trees.
.........
It was an iron bridge-at least , its name meant "Iron Bridge".
The iron was conspicuous by its absence and the bridge almost
equally so. The misnomer disturbed my aesthetic appreciation and
I asked the guide why it should be thus named.
...........
"How do you do?" we Britished.
...........