Himalaya by Michael Palin by Michael Palin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Note: I read this book in Polish translation.)

Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, was a participant and the presenter of a series of TV travel documentaries produced by the BBC: Around the World in 80 Days,Sahara, Pole to Pole, Brazil, New Europe, and others. Himalaya is a book companion to the documentary titled Himalaya with Michael Palin (2003-2004). Palin and the BBC crew traveled in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, focusing the path of their journey on the Himalayan region.

The book is a solid travel diary, where Mr. Palin documents in detail each of the 125 days that the expedition took. It can serve as a good travel guide for anyone interested in the region. Of course, reading the book is not an adequate substitute for the feeling of magnificence and majesty of the highest mountains on Earth, so we can only believe the awe with which the author describes viewing Everest, Makalu, Lhotse, K2, Annapurna, or Dhaulagiri from up close. However, despite the beauty of Earth's geography, the most memorable parts of the book are about the extremely diverse people who live in the region: Hindu, Tibetan, Muslim, Sikh, Chinese, Bhutanese, and many others. One can only hope that these ethnic and religious groups will be able to live peacefully with each other, although the history, so far, has been mixed.

For me, the account of Mr. Palin's conversation with the Dalai Lama was the most interesting highlight of the trip. Naturally, having read numerous Himalayan mountaineering books, it was interesting to read about the Baltoro glacier, Annapurna base camp, or the glacier above the Everest base camp. On the other hand, being a hardcore Monty Python fan, I am unable to refrain from mentioning The Lumberjack Song, a reference to which appears twice in the book.

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