By Brandon Wilson

with photos by the author

Yak Butter Blues: 

A Tibetan Trek Of Faith

• AN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER IPPY AWARD WINNER

• AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

• ALSO AVAILABLE IN INDIA FROM HERITAGE PUBLISHERS AS “A TIBETAN TREK OF FAITH”

AN IMPOSSIBLE” 1,000-KILOMETER SOJOURN BEGAN WITH ONE BOLD STEP

One couple dares to challenge the “impossible” and sets off on an incredible 1000-kilometer journey on foot across Tibet. Join their adventure from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal as they attempt to become the first Western couple to complete this perilous pilgrimage trek across the wild Himalayan plains.

Alone, with only their stalwart Tibetan horse named Sadhu, they 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 trigger-happy soldiers.

A STORY OF ADVENTURE AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

The land and climate leave their imprints daily. Yet 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.

A TALE OF PERSONAL ENLIGHTENMENT

In the shadow of Mount Everest, the couple becomes an invaluable witness to a Tibetan culture pushed to the brink of extinction by brutal Chinese 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.” It’s enlightenment – one-step-at-a-time. Together, they discover a sense of greater purpose, wonder, a renewed faith…and what it takes to survive.

A RIVETING TALE OF HUMAN ENDURANCE; A STARTLING EYE-OPENER AND EULOGY FOR A VANISHING TIBET

Come along on their physical, spiritual and emotional pilgrimage through the highs and lows in this colorful, candid and classic tale.

“Recommended for adventure travel and Tibetan culture collections. ~ Library Journal”

I came under the spell of Wilson’s lively and vivid prose…a whooping good read. ~ Royal Robbins, legendary mountaineer, author, adventure kayaker”

“Told with humor and insight, this vivid narrative allows you to vicariously experience life at true Tibetan pace, one step at a time: so close, you can almost smell the yak butter. ~ Michael Buckley, author of Tibet: the Bradt Travel Guide”

“A wonderful and wild read…charged, alive, and a little threatening. Yak Butter Blues flickers insistently like a flashbulb afterimage in the mind long after the book is tucked away… ~ Richard Bangs, world-class adventurer/rafter/author”