ryruwi PENTHOUSE of the GODS A Pilgrimage into the Heart of Tibet and the Sacred City of Lhasa By THEOS BERNARD CHARLES SCRIBNER S SONS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS LTD LONDON To VIOLA CONTENTS. I. ECSTASY I II. THE QUEST 28 III. GYANTSft 62 IV. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE 91 V. FROM GYANTSfi TO LHASA 124 VI. THE FORBIDDEN CITY 161 VII. SHRINES, AND MORE SHRINES 185 VIII. I AM INITIATED 204 IX. I ESCAPE WITH MY LIFE 221 X. FURTHER EDUCATION OF A LAMA 243 XI. MORE SIGHTS, MORE CEREMONIES 267 XII. SIDELIGHTS AND INSIGHTS 289 XIII. GATHERING UP THE LAST THREADS 310 INDEX 339 ILLUSTRATIONS The white Lama Theos Bernard Frontispiece FACING PAGE Temple worship 6 Worship in the Temple of the Dalai Lama 7 Great mesh screens protect gold images 8 A Deity in the Chamber of Horrois 9 Under the Tibetan Plateau 36 lake among the clouds 37 Head lama of the Kaigyupa Monastery 42 A Tibetan mendicant with his teapot 42 It never pays to poison 43 Asking for alms 43 The author crossing a trail through a cliff 46 My transport winding its way up the Lhasa Valley 47 Resting at the foot of Chumolhari 50 Crossing a i6, ooo-fbot pass 51 One of the guardians at the Gyants6 Monastery 64 Temple carvings and paintings by Lama artists 65 Mural painting of the late Dalai Lama 66 A mural painting of one of their Goddesses 67 fix Illustrations FACING PAGE The Kigu Banner hangs one hour once a year 72 The famous black hat dance 73 Jewelled headdress worn by noblewomen from Tsang province 80 Back view of same headdress 80 Tsarong Lacham of Lhasa 80 Rear view of headdress worn by noblewomen of Central Tibet 80 Jigme 8 Tenna Rajah 81 Tsarong Shap6 8 1 Mary 8x Tibetan children 108 Tibetan children 109 Crossing those mountainousplateaus of solitude 132 A small Tibetan village where author spent the night 133 The Penthouse of the Gods taken from Chakpori 146 Stairways leading into the temple of the Penthouse of the Goda 147 The author before the Holy of Holies 1 50 A street scene in Lhasa 1 51 Presents sent by the government on my arrival 1 66 The author with two of his Tibetan lady friends 167 The author with the Prime Minister of Tibet 167 A Tibetan artist at work 172 A young carver 173 I Illustrations FACING PAGE Lamas reading proof 173 The Dalais printing establishment at the Potala 174 Stacks where wood blocks are kept at the Dalai Lamas printing establishment 175 The golden gargoyle on the roof over the late Dalai Lamas tomb 1 86 A door handle 186 Temple decorations 186 Incense burner and ornaments 187 The author photographing among the Lamas 190 Coppcrwarc made by native craftsmen 191 The author with the King Regent of Tibet 194 Bodyguard of the King Regent 195 The author next to the glowing altar of thousand lights 200 Ceremony at tomb of the late Dalai Lama 201 Trail leading around old Chakpori 214 Shrine of the thousand Buddhas 2x5 The author examining Tibetan manuscripts A Tibetan scholar A Tibetan beggar A moments pause a 37 A daily news bulletin hanging in the bazaar at Lhasa 250 Sounding trumpets from top of the Potala 251 Drcpung Monastery, the largest in the world 256 xi Illustrations FACING PAGE Sunrise service at Drepung Monastery 257 Sera Monastery, second largest in Tibet 278 The four head Lamas of Sera Monastery 279 The author with the lay and Lama officials of the Dalai Lama 316 The author visiting with the Rakasha family 317 Yaks used for transport in Tibet 330 A Tibetan Burial 331Crossing a river m a Tibetan Yak-skin boat 33 x Ganden Monastery, third largest in Tibet 334 A Lama debating 335 The golden image of the coming Buddha 336 A golden image of Buddha 337 A PENTHOUSE OF THE GODS CHAPTER I ECSTASY EE began to stir in the middle of the night, as preparations were being made for the great ceremony. With the dawn I was awakened by the rhythmic beating of drums, the ceaseless drone of sixteen-foot trumpets and the vibrant chant ing of thousands of Lamas, as they filed their way to the slab paved courtyard of the famous temple...

One of the Daily Telegraph's 20 Books Perfect for Travel Scotland has its rugged Hebrides; Ireland its cliff-girt Arans; Wales its Island of Twenty Thousand Saints. And what has England got? The isles of Canvey, Sheppey, Wight and Dogs, Mersea, Brownsea, Foulness and Rat. But there are also wilder, rockier places - Lundy, the Scillies, the Farnes. These islands and their inhabitants not only cast varied lights on the mainland, they also possess their own peculiar stories, from the Barbary slavers who once occupied Lundy, to the ex-major who seized a wartime fort in the North Sea and declared himself Prince of Sealand. Ian Crofton embarks on a personal odyssey to a number of the islands encircling England, exploring how some were places of refuge or holiness, while others have been turned into personal fiefdoms by their owners, or become locations for prisons, rubbish dumps and military installations. He also describes the varied ways in which England's islands have been formed, and how they are constantly changing, so making a mockery of human claims to sovereignty.

In 1937, the Scottish writer, Neil Gunn, gave up his job in the civil service, sold his house in Inverness, and bought a boat. With his wife and his brother John, he set off on a three-month voyage around Inner Hebrides. The boat had outlived its first youth, and its engine was somewhat cranky; she went tolerably under sail. These are not high recommendations, but for Gunn, and at times his fellow voyagers, the vessel was an argosy of freedom, of adventure and misadventure-for they were fairly inexperienced sailors, and the waters of the region are by no means placid. Gunn was a Scots nationalist in a sense that goes far beyond the political, even though he thought that an independent Scotland was the only proper basis for a reasonable civilization. He was by nature poetic, uplifted or cast down by changing skies, seascapes, and shores. His descriptions of those things, including their moods, are remarkably evocative. And he is also a passionate historian of his country, exalting its possibilities, anathematizing its shortcomings. The book is illustrated with Daisy Gunn's photographs taken on the voyage, which are palpably amateur but wonderfully telling.

From comical misunderstandings and hilarious mishaps to the sheer terror of a near-death experience, these are the true-life global adventures and keen observations of one American traveler.

During his forty years of international travel, Edward Gray journeyed through the old Communist regimes of the USSR, Western Europe, the Americas, and the Far East. He lived through coup attempts in Portugal, Peru, and France; skyjacking incidents in the Middle East and the United States; and his family's extended stay at the JFK Airport in the blizzard of 1993.

At once a personal memoir, an intriguing international travelogue, and a fascinating blend of history and sociology, "Call a Bomb a Rifle" includes Gray's most entertaining, lively, and insightful anecdotes about life among strangers. Whether he's witnessing the purchase of a bushel of cherries in Istanbul, skiing in the Italian Alps, or watching the pilot and his fellow passengers perish in a major airplane crash, Gray is forever changed by his worldly excursions.

This remarkable memoir chronicles a lifetime of exploration into the various cultures, languages, and idiosyncrasies that divide us as a species-and the underlying humanity that unites us.

Shantyboat is the story of a leisurely journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. For most people such a journey is the stuff that dreams are made of, but for Harlan and Anna Hubbard it became a cherished reality. In the fall of 1944 they built a houseboat, small but neatly accommodated to their needs, on the bank of the Ohio near Cincinnati, and in it after a pause of two years they set out to drift down the river. In their small craft, the Hubbards became one with the flow of the river and its changing weathers. An artist by profession, Harlan Hubbard records with graceful ease the many facets of their life on the river-the panorama of fields and woods, summer gardening, foraging expeditions for nuts and berries, dangers from storms and treacherous currents, the quiet solitude of the mists of early morning. Their life is sustained by the provender of bank and stream, useful things made and found, and mutual aid and wisdom from people met along the journey. It is a life marked by simplicity and independence, strenuous at times, but joyous, with leisure for painting and music, for observation and contemplation.

A Visit to Wazan, the Sacred City of Morocco Originally published in 1880, this book offers a fascinating insight into a Morocco that, at that time, was untouched by western influence. Contetns Include: Introduction, Langifr, The Great Cherif and the Cherifa, Preparation, On the Road, Druidical Remains at Majorah-Arjila, By the Way, Al Kasar, The Way to Wazan, Wazan, Asigen, Rest, Across Country, Toward Tetuan, Tetuan, Return to Tangier, Tangier Again. Also includes appendix and maps and illustrations. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Perhaps the first modern travelogues still to capture the imaginations of armchair explorers, the mid-19th-century bestselling books of American diplomat and writer JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS (1805-1852) reads like the most inspired of novels. The poetic immediacy places the reader square in the saddle of adventure.In this classic 1837 work-which a critic like Edgar Allan Poe praised for its "freshness of manner evincing manliness of feeling"-Stephens takes the reader on an evocative journey through the Middle East, from a visit to the pyramids of Egypt to encounters with enthusiastic locals and much more.Complete with all the beautiful original illustrations by English artist and architect Frederick Catherwood (1799-1854), this delightful book continues to enthrall adventurous spirits today.JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS (1805-1852) was an important part of the reintroduction of Mayan Civilization to middle America. He was an explorer, diplomat, and writer, who specialized in Mesoamerican studies. He incorporated the Ocean Steam Navigation Company at a time when the British controlled travel to and from the United States. In 1849 he was appointed the Vice President of the Panama Railroad Company, later becoming the president. He supervised the project until his death from a liver disease at age 46.

'Mountains have given structure to my adult life. I suppose they have also given me purpose, though I still can't guess what that purpose might be. And although I have glimpsed the view from the mountaintop and I still have some memory of what direction life is meant to be going in, I usually lose sight of the wood for the trees. In other words, I, like most of us, have lived a life of structured chaos.' Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders' award-winning follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Following climbs on K2 and Nanga Parbat, he leaves his career as an architect and moves to Chamonix to become a mountain guide. He later makes the first ascent of Chamshen in the Saser Kangri massif, and reunites with old friend Mick Fowler to climb the north face of Sersank. This is not just a tale of mountaineering triumphs, but also an account of rescues, tragedies and failures. Telling his story with humour and warmth, Saunders spans the decades from youthful awkwardness to concerns about age-related forgetfulness, ranging from 'Where did I put my keys?' to 'Is this the right mountain?' Structured Chaos is a testament to the value of friendship and the things that really matter in life: being in the right place at the right time with the right people, and making the most of the view.

In 1909, while dreaming of the Himalaya, Norwegian mountaineer Alf Bonnevie Bryn and a fellow young climber, the Australian George Ingle Finch, set their sights on Corsica to build their experience. The events of this memorable trip form the basis of Bryn's acclaimed book Tinder og banditter - 'Peaks and Bandits', with their boisterous exploits delighting Norwegian readers for generations. Newly translated by Bibbi Lee, this classic of Norwegian literature is available for the first time in English. Although Bryn would go on to become a respected mountaineer and author, and Finch would become regarded as one of the greatest mountaineers of all time - a legend of the 1922 Everest expedition - Peaks and Bandits captures them on the cusp of these achievements: simply two students taking advantage of their Easter holidays, their escapades driven by their passion for climbing. As they find themselves in unexpected and often strange places, Bryn's sharp and jubilant narrative epitomises travel writing at its best. Balancing its wit with fascinating insight into life in early twentieth-century Corsica, the infectious enthusiasm of Bryn's narrative has cemented it as one of Norway's most treasured adventure books. Peaks and Bandits embodies the timeless joy of adventure.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

The novelist E. M. Forster opens the door on life in a remote Maharajah's court in the early twentieth century, a "record of a vanished civilization." Through letters from his time visiting and working there, he introduces us to a 14th century political system in "the oddest corner of the world outside Alice in Wonderland" where the young Maharajah of Devas, "certainly a genius and possibly a saint," led a state centered on spiritual aspirations. The Hill of Devi chronicles Forster's infatuation and exasperation, fascination, and amusement at this idiosyncratic court, leading us with him to its heart and the eight-day festival of Gokul Ashtami, marking the birth of Krishna, where we see His Highness Maharajah Sir Tukoji Rao III dancing before the altar "like David before the Ark."

For more than a hundred years after Europeans had begun populating the Atlantic shores of North America, the Pacific coast of that continent remained a blank on their maps and in their minds. When Russians from Siberia first sighted the mountains of Alaska in 1741, they called it the Great Land. In fact they were glimpsing part of a 4,000-mile stretch of virgin coastline, reaching from Western Alaska to Oregon to Southern California. As far as Spanish Mexico, all was uncharted and unknown. Its water, its salmon, its sea otters, its sunshine, its trees and its harbours remained the preserve of Native Americans, and were entirely free of international commerce.But time was not standing still. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Europeans were aggressively taking their way of life to every corner of the globe. Northwest America could not remain exempt from this process. Who would be the first to settle the coast that was destined to become the cultural and economic powerhouse of the world? The answer to this question was not obvious. This book is the story of how Western America very nearly came to be a possession of the Empire of Russia." A fascinating and near-forgotten history brought vividly to life."Colin Thubron"What a terrific book - it's incredibly well researched and written and tells a story about which I, for one, knew nothing! I was amazed by the cast of characters that Jeremy uncovered - battling away in those terrible conditions. It makes our lives seem very tame. What a triumph!"Rosie Boycott"The central premise of this wonderful book is, at first sight, scarcely believable: that the world's largest country was on the brink of extending its empire along the entire length of America's Pacific shore, thereby making San Francisco as Russian as St Petersburg and annexing Hawaii as an outpost of Siberia. Yet through meticulous research combined with a natural flair for story-telling, Jeremy Atiyah bestows this astonishing sequence of events with credibility. He weaves a compelling tale of heroism, intrigue and betrayal that begins with Catherine the Great and ends in the twilight of the Russian Empire and the ascendancy of America."Simon Calder"The story of Russia's colony in America is known to very few people in Britain. Not only, however, is it one of history's odder side-paths, packed with strange people and events: it is also a fascinating "might-have-been". Jeremy Atiyah tells this story in an accurate and informative narrative which is also great fun to read".Professor Dominic Lieven, London School of Economics, author of The Russian Empire and its Rivals."What if the Russian Empire had succeeded in colonising North America's Pacific coast? And why did they not succeed? Just how close did they come to doing so - at a time when the Atlantic colonies were struggling to create the United States? Jeremy Atiyah offers intriguing answers to questions that I never knew enough even to ask."Lord Howe of Aberavon"Not many people know that Alaska and the whole north-west coast down to San Francisco almost became Russian. Jeremy Atiyah tells an astonishing story of Russian adventurers, half a world away from St Petersburg, struggling for empire, financed by furs and sea-otter skins. As if a brutal climate and hostile natives were not enough, the Russians had to contend with the growing ambitions of the Spanish, American and British governments. With Europe immersed in the Napoleonic Wars, the area became a giant chess-board of trade, diplomacy, exploration and adventure, played out across the whole North Pacific triangle, with Hawaii a paradise against the cold, damp hell of the northwest coast - at its apex. The Russians came out top. Russia owned Alaska until 'the cold dead hand of St Petersburg' threw away their most distant outpost by selling the whole region to the US in 1867, for a mere $7.2 million. This is surely one of the most astonishing real-estate deals in history. It is a tribute to Atiyah's skill as a historian and story-teller that he balances sources from all nationalities, while bringing these wilderness regions and their cast of extremely odd personalities to vivid life."John Man, writer, author of The Guttenberg Revolution, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection and Kublai Khan."Jeremy Atiyah's The Great Land is a welcome addition to the literature on Russian presence on the Pacific Rim. Based on his judicious use of sources, the result is a highly readable and instructive analysis of Russian attempts to establish colonial footholds in Alaska, California and Hawaii at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries. This book belongs in every library and in the collection of every history buff." Basil Dmytryshyn, Professor Emeritus of History, Portland State University.

The explorations of 18th-century travellers to the "European frontiers" were often geared to define the cultural, political and historical boundaries of "European civilization". In an age when political revolutions shocked nations into reassessing what separated the civilized from the barbaric, how did literary travellers contemplate the characteristics of their continental neighbours? Focusing on the writings of British travellers, we see how a new view of Europe was created, one that juxtaposed the customs and living conditions of populations in an attempt to define "modern" Europe against a "yet unenlightened" Europe.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

VENICE ON FOOT IONTE DEI PUCJW, AND THE CAMPANILE OK S. MARIA DEL CARMINE FROM IONTE S. IJAKNAUA CONTENTS CHAPTER PAflE I. NOTE TO THE READER i II. DIVISION OF THE CITY 8 III. PIAMA DI S. MARCO 12 IV. THE WALKS 22 V. WALK i 24 VI. WALK 2 51 VII. WALK 3 83 VIII. WALK SA 102 IX. WALK 4 122 X. WALK 5 144 XL WALK 6 169 XII. WALK 7 193 XIII, WALK 8 319 XIV. WALK 9 241 XV. WALK 10 .257 XVI. THE GRAND CANAL 272 XVII. DIRECT ROUTES .334 XVIII. NOBLE FAMILIES 343 . XIX. GENERAL NOTES 366 INDEX OF LOCALITIES 387 INDEX OF NAMES 415 vifi VENICE ON FOOT FACING PAGE CHURCH OF S. ZACCARIA 122 CAMPIELLO S. GAETANO 122 CHURCH OF S. Moisft 122 PALAZZO WIDMAN FROM PONTE DEL PIOVAN . . 132 SCUOLA DI S. FANTINO ATENEO VENETO . . .132 PALAZZO BENEDETTI, FROM PONTE PRIULI . . . 153 PALAZZO BEMBO 153 DOOR OF PALAZZO VAN AXEL 153 A BRIDGE WITHOUT A PARAPET 153 PALAZZO PESARO-PAPAFAVA 160 WELL IN THE GARDEN OF PALAZZO CONTARINI . . 160 CAMPO S. MARIA FORMOSA, PALAZZO RUZZINI-PRIULI TO PALAZZI DON 160 CHURCH OF S. MARIA DELLA SALUTE .... 169 PALAZZO MARCELLO .173 CASA MORO PONTE LUNGO 173 PALAZZO ARIANI 177 PALAZZO RIZZI 177 No. 2931 CAMPO S. MARGARITA Cl CORNER . . 185 PALAZZO FOSCARINI S. MARIA DEL CARMINE . . 185 CASA DELL ANGELO FROM PONTE DELL ANGELO . 194 PALAZZO SAGREDO 194 A QUIET CORNER FONDAMENTA DEL RIMEDIO . . 194 CASINO DEGLI SPIRITI 202 FRUIT STALL SALIZZADA S. FRANCESCO . . .202 PALAZZO PESARO ORFEI 232 PALAZZO PRIULI S. FELICE 232 FONDAMENTA CANNAREGIO OPPOSITE PALAZZO MAN FRIN 238 PALAZZO DUODO S. ANGELO 238 CAMPO S. MAURIZIO, PALAZZO MOLIN .... 249 CAMPO S. POLO, PALAZZO SORANZO, PALAZZO TIEPOLO 249 FROM PONTE DELLA VERONA, PALAZZO MORA, PALAZZO CONTARINI DEL BOVOLO 254 CAMPIELLO BARBARO, WITHBACK OF PALAZZO DARIO . 258 CAMPO S. Vio, PALAZZO LOREDAN, PALAZZO BARBARO 260 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix FACING PAGE SQUERO, AND CHURCH OP S. TROVASO FROM PONTE LUNGO 262 CLOISTERS OF S. STEFANO, WITH REMAINS OF FRES COES BY PORDENONE 262 PALAZZI CAVALLI AND BARBARO 278 PALAZZO LOREDAN DELL AMBASCIATORE . . .278 PALAZZO BARBARO, A CORNER OF THE GRAND SALON . 279 PALAZZI REZZONICO, GIUSTINIAN, AND FOSCARI . . 281 PALAZZI MICHIEL DALLE COLONNE AND MICHIEL DA BRUSA 293 PALAZZI MIANI-COLETTI AND CA DORO . . . 293 CANNAREOIO CHURCH OF S. GEREMIA, PALAZZO LABL 300 PALAZZI COCCINA-TIEPOLO AND BUSINELLO . . . 300 FROM THE STEAMER STATION S. ANGELO PALAZZO FOSCARI TO PALAZZO TIEPOLO .... 300 CHURCH OF S. MARCUOLA 300 END OF GRAND CANAL STEAMER STATION S. CHIARA 304 PALAZZI BARZIZZA AND AVOGADRO . . . .316 PALAZZI REZZONICO, BERNARDO, GIUSTINIAN AND FO SCARI 316 PALAZZI CAPELLO AND GRIMANI 318 PALAZZI TIEPOLO, PISANI-MORETTA AND BARBARIGO DELLA TERRAZZA 319 MAP OF WALK i 50, , 2 82 WALKS 3 AND 3A 120, , WALK 4 142 . 5 68 6 192 7 218 8 240 9 256 10 270 THE GRAND CANAL 332 VENICE ON FOOT CHAPTER I NOTE TO THE READER THE number of those who walk in Venice is in creasing every year and in the case of my own friends who have tried it, I have always found them so enthusiastic, and so anxious to see more of the less visited parts of the city, and the street life of the people, that feeling that this might also apply to others, I have thought it worth while to arrange a few walks, which, while including several points of interest not generally seen from a gondola, might, moreover, be of assistance in finding such places as the reader may wish to visit. The book is not in any way a guide to interiors ofbuildings, nor is it intended to compete with the excellent guide-books now extant its object being to assist those who wish to walk, and to answer such questions, as would probably be asked, when doing so for the first time...