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Matthiessen senses that “There is power in the air” as the three discuss the yeti, with one man saying, “I think the yeti is a Buddhist” (p. Where Matthiessen and George Schaller camped in often squalid conditions are now found hotels and tea houses catering for travellers.
Yet these folks were so kind and so hospitable that they even were able to forgive the fact that I couldn’t eat their meat–even though vegetarianism is unheard-of (and impossible) in a country where people eat almost nothing but milk and meat. It is rich with sensory detail – capturing the sights, tastes, smells, sounds and textures of the author’s journey, along with his observations and feelings of his experience. To say that Matthiessen always leaves the reader with something to think about would be an understatement.He was invited along by field biologist George Schaller on his expedition to study Himalayan Blue Sheep--and perhaps catch a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard. One intuits truth in the Zen teachings, even those that are scarcely understood; and now intuition had become knowing, not through merit but – it seemed – through grace.
I’m so pleased I read Cognetti’s account of his own journey because otherwise I wouldn’t have read this book.Each story includes easy ideas for ways to reduce our carbon output at home and fun facts on the climate topics featured. This book is written as if he knew it all before, the name of every bird, everything about the unique Buddhist traditions there, and also it seems that every animal, prayer stone, person and even every mountain was there just for him. We’ll always be grateful to Tom and to Kim, Nadia and Bayara as well as our cook Enke and driver Munko, and to all the great Mongolian herders we met.