A Stranger in Tibet: The Adventures of a Wandering Zen Monk

To reach the "forbidden city" of Lhasa was the dream of generations of Western explorers. But until 1900 when Kawaguchi Ekai, a young Zen monk, donned a disguise and walked all the way there, few foreigners had ever done so. Clinging staunchly to his chastity; leaving a trail of broken hearts

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across the Himalayas; oppressed by the cultural impossibility of bathing, yet frequently almost drowned in river crossings; often lost and on the verge of starving or freezing to death; robbed by highwaymen, and taken for a spy; speaking fluently the language of a people he preferred not to understand. This brave, bigoted, and enterprising traveler was eventually to cross Tibet from west to east, study in one of the country's greatest monasteries, and keep his secret there for over a year.

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