Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith

Royal Robbins, world-renowned mountaineer, author, adventure kayaker
"…Brandon Wilson is a fine writer, perceptive, funny, and has a great way with words…a whooping good read."


Michael Buckley, author of Heartlands-Travels in the Tibetan World
"Told with humour and insight, you experience life at true Tibetan pace: so close, you almost smell the yak butter."


Dan Austin, director of True Fans
"Are you ready for a walk? Because it's doubtful after reading "Yak Butter Blues" you'll be able to sit still."


Jeff Alt, author of A Walk For Sunshine
"Their journey across Tibet serves as a beacon of light for a repressed people held captive within their own country."


Honolulu Starbulletin
"…vivid and engaging."


Richard Bangs, Executive Producer/Director of Great Escapes MSNBC
"A wonderful and wild read...The writing is charged, alive, and a little threatening."


Joseph W. Bean, Book Reviewer, Maui Weekly, November 4, 2004
"It places readers in the thick of the action every bit as well as Marco Polo transported Italians to China."


PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, March 27, 2005
"…a high-altitude tale of synchronicity, divine providence, begging monks, trigger-happy Chinese soldiers and dehydration."


Book Description
They Said It Was "Impossible!" A Tibetan Journey of a Thousand Kilometers Began with One Bold Step. "Impossible" was what everyone told Brandon Wilson and his wife Cheryl when they began talking about walking a 1000-kilometer ancient pilgrimage trail across Tibet. But those "impossibilities" only made them more determined. Their quest to become possibly the first Western couple to trek this trail across the earth’s most remote corner was far from your usual travel fare — some even called it sheer lunacy. It was certainly far from easy or predictable. Yak Butter Blues–A Tibetan Trek of Faith is an edge of your seat tale of survival. Alone, with only their stalwart Tibetan horse Sadhu, the Wilsons faced Tibet’s ruthless environment head-on: the blistering winds, extreme temperatures, sandstorms, blizzards, and the thinnest of air…made all the more challenging by exhaustion, hunger, illness, inflexible bureaucrats and implacable, trigger-happy Chinese soldiers. Although the land and climate left their imprints daily, an even more lasting impression on these adventurers was created by Tibetan pilgrims, monks and generous villagers eager to share what little they possess: yak butter tea, the warmth of their family’s fire, camaraderie and a steadfast trust in the Dalai Lama’s return. Inadvertently, the couple became an invaluable witness to a culture pushed to the brink of extinction by brutal occupation. The author sympathetically interweaves the story of Tibet’s current plight and struggle to survive into their own. Along this simple path, the Wilsons discovered the human link connecting us all, a link that becomes clearest on a trek that removes the distractions of modern life as it unveils the truths of "deliberate travel." In doing so, the couple found a sense of greater purpose, wonder, a renewed faith and ultimately what it takes to endure. This colorful, candid, caring and classic tale leads readers along on a physical, spiritual and emotional pilgrimage across this startling land — on a thousand-kilometer odyssey once called "Impossible."


From the Publisher
Did you know that… The Wilsons originally planned to trek across Tibet because they had been told it was "impossible" and had never been done before by Westerners? It took on greater meaning once they learned that Tibetans and Nepalese were prevented from visiting important religious and historic sites just across their own borders. Did you know that…The couple hiked approximately 1000-km. from Lhasa to Kathmandu? That’s about the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco (roundtrip) or NYC to Charleston, SC. They averaged about 30-km. (19-miles) a day, traveling from sun-up to sundown. Did you know that…At first, they were refused a visa to cross Tibet? The border had been closed to independent travelers for decades. It opened just the day before they reapplied to enter from Kathmandu. Did you know that…The first foreigners weren’t officially allowed into Lhasa until 1979? Then, only 1200 Westerners had ever seen the city, and 600 were with the 1903 British invasion. Now, Chinese outnumber Tibetans in the holy city. Did you know that…The Potala Palace in Lhasa, whose construction began in 1645, was the traditional home of the Dalai Lama? It rises 13 stories and contains over 1000 rooms–all built without nails or the use of wheeled equipment. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959. Did you know that…Showing kindness to guests is one of the most important traditions of Tibetan culture? The Communist Chinese have occupied Tibet for over 50 years now. Over 1.2 million Tibetans have died. Did you know that…Temperatures along their route ranged from below freezing to 90 degrees F? Sometimes even in the same day! Did you know that…Altitudes along the Lhasa to Kathmandu route range from 4,130 to 17,100 feet? The highest was over three times the altitude of Denver, America’s mile-high city. Altitude sickness, which can prove deadly, is not uncommon at those heights. Did you know that…traditional Tibet is nearly the size of western Europe? Since their occupation, perhaps 30% of Tibet’s traditional region has been assimilated into China. Did you know that…All of Tibet is on Beijing time, over two thousand miles to the east? It’s not uncommon for the sun to rise after 9am and set just as late. Did you know that…The Wilsons survived on yak butter tea, tsampa, momos, yak milk cheese, "761" bars (high-fat Chinese "energy" bars) and a few dehydrated food packets for over a month? The author lost 25% of his body weight. After their horse Sadhu binged, they were warned not to feed him any more—or he’d explode. Did you know that…The word sadhu in Tibetan means "chestnut?" In Nepalese, a sadhu is a wandering holy man. Sadhu (their horse) already had his name when he joined the couple. Did you know that…The Panchen Lama, leader of the Yellow-Hat sect, is the 2nd highest incarnation in Tibetan Buddhism? The 6-year old Panchen Lama was kidnapped in 1995–and hasn’t been seen since. Did you know that…Yak Butter Blues started out strictly as an adventure story? In the process of writing it, the author realized that the story of the couple’s survival was intricately interwoven with that of their hosts. The Tibetan peoples’ struggle today adds a more important dimension to this tale.


From the Author
"Travel has a unique way of opening your eyes, or "shifting the paradigm." Or so we found especially in Tibet. During our brief time there, we were witnesses to the heavy cloak of occupier-sponsored control and suspicion permeating all aspects of the Tibetan daily life. While Yak Butter Blues is a tale of our survival in a sometimes-hostile land, it's also a story of survival for the average Tibetan struggling to maintain their culture, dignity and even their very existence. That is the true meaning of those "yak butter blues." I hope that this book becomes a message in a bottle for those who showed us so much unexpected kindness, generosity and bravery in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds."


From the Inside Flap
Author Brandon Wilson with his wife Cheryl challenge the "impossible" and set off on an incredible 1000-kilometer journey–on foot across Tibet. Join their adventure from Lhasa to Kathmandu, as they become perhaps the first Western couple to ever make this perilous trek across the unforgiving, windswept Himalayan plains. YAK BUTTER BLUES is a remarkable tale of survival. Alone, with only their stalwart Tibetan horse Sadhu, the Wilsons face Tibet's ruthless environment head-on: the blistering winds, extreme temperatures, sandstorms, blizzards, high altitudes and the thinnest of air–made all the more challenging by exhaustion, hunger, illness, inflexible bureaucrats and implacable, trigger-happy Chinese soldiers. YAK BUTTER BLUES is a story of faith–and the kindness of strangers. Although the land and climate leaves its imprint daily, an even more lasting impression on these adventurers is created by Tibetan pilgrims, monks and generous villagers eager to share what little they possess: yak butter tea, the warmth of their family's fire, camaraderie and a steadfast trust in the Dalai Lama's return. YAK BUTTER BLUES is a tale of personal enlightenment. The couple is an invaluable witness to a Tibetan culture pushed to the brink of extinction by occupation for over fifty years. They also discover the human link connecting us all, a link that becomes clearest on a trek that removes the distractions of modern life as it unveils the truths of "deliberate travel." In doing so, the couple discovers a sense of greater purpose, wonder, a renewed faith and ultimately what it takes to endure. Wilson leads you along on their physical, spiritual and emotional pilgrimage, through the highs and lows, across this startling land in this colorful, candid, caring and classic tale, YAK BUTTER BLUES-A TIBETAN TREK OF FAITH.


About the Author
Brandon Wilson, an adventure-travel writer whose stories have appeared in many national magazines, newspapers and on Internet sites, is passionate about inspiring others with the possibility of discovery through long-distance trekking. Although already a voracious explorer of over ninety countries, this Tibetan odyssey opened his eyes to the deep satisfaction of traveling "one-step-at-a-time." By slowing down, he believes, we absorb the hidden "magic" in the world. We travel outside—while traveling within. Since Tibet, he has trekked three other major pilgrimage trails: the famed Camino de Santiago across Spain, St. Olav’s Way across Norway, and he is the first American to complete the ninth century, 1150-mile Via Francigena from England to Rome. The author also enjoys wandering long-distance GR trails across Europe on physical, mental and spiritual odysseys. His photographs have won awards from National Geographic Traveler and Islands magazines.


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Are you ready for a walk? Because it's doubtful after reading "Yak Butter Blues" you'll be able to sit still. The land of the Dalai Lama and Shangri-la calls with a voice too mysterious, too ancient to be ignored. And Brandon and Cheryl are the ideal guides￯﾿ﾽpassionate folks delightedly figuring things out as they execute an improbable hike from Chinese-controlled Lhasa to Kathmandu. — director of True Fans


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