"Lha gyalo! De thamched pham!" Conquering a treacherous 19,000-foot Himalayan pass in the dead of night, winter 1923, Alexandra David-Neel paused in her final surge toward the forbidden city of Lhasa to echo the ancient Tibetan cry of victory - "the gods have won! The demons are vanquished." But she did so silently. It is the Tibetan custom to shout it loudly from the mountain summits, celebrating the triumph of universal good - but only in daylight. It doesn't do to tempt fate and the darker forces after sundown. David-Neel complied with this custom, and, as she recounts in her compelling narrative, she looked out over the moonlit glaciers and peaks and called to the six directions with the old Sanskrit mantra, "Subham astu sarvajagatam." May all beings find happiness. In Tibetan, it is offered thus: "Ge-o! Ge-o! Ge-o!" My Journey to Lhasa, Alexandra David-Neel, ix
Alexandra David-Neel, a French woman and extremely active explorer was set upon entering Tibet as a beggar-pilgrim and finding her way to Lhasa with her travel companion and adopted son, Aphur Yongden, a Sikkimese monk. She studied Buddhism, learned Tibetan and her travel notes and journals provided material for books on Tibetan Buddhism and culture. In 1914, she was presented by the monks of Sikkim with the consecrated robes of a "lamina," a female lama. She made multiple attempts to enter Tibet and was rebuffed each time by local authorities until reaching Lhasa on her 5th attempt.
Would it be possible to follow in the footsteps of Alexandra David-Neel in her final and successful attempt to reach Lhasa? Could, My Journey to Lhasa, be used as a travel guide? Her 1923 four month journey on foot and horse was beyond reason to replicate, but was an overland highway route by vehicle a possibility?
The problem for this post is that I cannot find any notes or files on our overland journey in Tibet, almost like it didn't exist except in my memory or imagination (after 45 years of traveling and guiding, those two begin to intermix). But, a couple weeks ago I opened a taped cardboard box sitting in an office corner and found stacks of slides, cassettes and photographs. One group of slides was marked "Tibet," another "Sikkim," and another "Nepal." Yes, the 11 boxes of slides marked "Tibet" were taken during our overland journey following In The Footsteps of Alexandra David-Neel from Kum Bum monastery near Lanzhou to Lhasa. (If you are interested in learning more about David-Neel, I have listed several books below.)
The slide presentation is completed. I cannot identify any of the locations for you except the beginning in Lanzhou and the end in Lhasa. If you are able to travel this route, you might send me the location names from your visit. You are able to see some of the landscape and monasteries that Alexandria David-Neel and Aphur Yongden traveled through during their overland journey. I believe that we traveled on China National Highway 109 with the following route: Lanzhou, Xigu, Minhe, Haldong, Xining, Huangyuan, Dulan, Golmud, Amdo, Nagqui, Damxung and Lhasa. The last image is a distant Sky Burial outside Lhasa. Please enjoy these images as you travel across the arid landscape to Lhasa.
Forbidden Journey - The Life of Alexandra David-Neel, Barbara and Michael Foster, 1986
My Journey to Lhasa, Alexandra David-Neel, 1927 & renewed 1955
Magic and Mystery in Tibet, Alexandra David-Neel, 1929, 1932, 1971
In The Footsteps of Alexandra David-Neel
Folkways' Image Library
YouTube
https://youtu.be/NhRTZW6MWwU
YouTube
https://youtu.be/NhRTZW6MWwU
