Originally published in 1927.
Born in 1868, David-Neel eschewed the dances, dinners,
and formal marriages common to women of her era and social
standing in order to indulge her fierce independence and
insatiable intellectual curiosity. Her interest in comparative religions
dated to early childhood; even as a student in a Catholic
convent school, she kept statues of both Christ and the
Buddha in her room. She made her first trip to Asia in
1891, then supported herself as a light-opera singer and
journalist before marrying a seemingly conventional man, Philip
Neel. Fortunately for both David-Neel and for posterity,
Philip was less stodgy than his position as a well-off
engineer might imply; though he did not accompany her,
he supported his wife's explorations and even acted as
her literary agent when she began to write about the places
she visited.
David-Neel spent years travelling in India and China,
but perhaps her most daring adventure was the trip to Tibet's
forbidden city of Lhasa. She was 55 years old at the time,
fluent in Tibetan and well versed in both Sanskrit and
Buddhism. Disguised as a man, she spent four treacherous
months on the road before finally becoming the first European
woman ever to enter Lhasa. My Journey to Lhasa is
her account of her astounding journey, one fraught with
hardship and danger. It is both a chronicle of a bygone
time and a testimonial to a remarkable human.
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