Yak on Track

by Heather McNeice

It seemed like a good idea to Heather at the organise a challenging trek to raise funds for the education of young Bhutanese girls. Heather had walked in the Himalayas before, so how hard could it be on the trail to Lunana, Bhutan’s most remote plateau? On the 240-kilometre trek, she discovers that ‘hard’ doesn’t even come close.Along with her friend Krista, like-minded lover of mountains and margaritas, a team of eccentric guides and far too many horses, Heather sets off into a landscape of savage beauty, where yetis are feared and only yaks feel at ease. As the team face blizzards, avalanches, altitude sickness and snow blindness, their reward is a rare glimpse of life in the last Shangri-La.At its heart, this book is a love song to Bhutan and its people, an intimate portrait of the only remaining Buddhist kingdom of the Himalayas. Yak on Track is a delightful story about losing yourself but not losing your way.Heather is donating a portion of her royalties from the sale of this book to the Australian Himalayan Foundation in support of a scholarship program for disadvantaged children in Bhutan.

Genres: Travel

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 28, 2018

Reviews

[Sputnik Sputnik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually only leave reviews if they're positive because as a writer myself, and not a particularly good one, I think being critical of other people's work is a bit sh*t. So let me explain... when I saw the cover and read the quote about it being filled with "gripping episodes and tremendous humour" I was expecting something quite different. This is the story of an awesome trek, and doing some work for an awesome cause helping out kids and schools along the way, but it reads more like a guide book/diary rather than being particularly gripping or humorous. I found the use of all the foreign words really difficult to keep track of, (I didn't really want to memorize the traditional word for robes etc so every time there was a traditional word I had to try and remember what it meant or work it out from the context which was a bit distracting), and every other chapter was "woke up, it was cold, we trekked, the mountains were nice, we went to sleep in the tent which was cold" which I personally didn't personally find all that entertaining. There were a few fun bits, but for me they were a bit too few and far between... maybe when you walk 240kms through the mountains, there are simply not that many fun bits? Maybe my issue is more with expectation management than anything?

[Meli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t like it and don’t recommend it. To much of an account of a privileged white woman in a third world country - patting herself in the back for helping children yet caring very little about the animals - horses and a dog - and the locals who help her - the horses guides. Horses hadn’t eaten for three days but it wasn’t her problem. I had to skim most of this - left a very sour taste in my mouth and it wasn’t well written - I wasn’t drawn in.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting adventure into the wilds of Bhutan. I wouldn't want to hike through the mountains so this is a good way to experience the journey. I liked Heather's obvious passion for the country and people, as well as her visits to the school. I liked the relationship with the trekking team, especially Norbu! He was my favourite. I liked the random dogs who followed along too. A fun read.

[Bethany]

The author was a bit too self congratulatory for my tastes (though that often goes with travel writing). There were some strangely written passages where it was in the past tense when it shouldn't have been ; not a big deal, but felt grating and gave the book a sense of being self published. Otherwise, an interesting enough story that I enjoyed reading.

[Anna Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3* for the writing, 4* for the story ... I was totally engrossed in Heather's trekking experience in Bhutan. Bhutan is now firmly in number 1 spot on my 'places to travel to' list!

[Alex Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felt like a self-published account - I'm not really inclined to trash the book, so I'll leave it that I just didn't find much insight or interest.

[Deb Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good travel story for the armchair trekkers of the world. Heather shares her trek with the reader as she strikes bad unexpected weather in the Himalayas with wit and humour.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this account of snowman track especially as been to Bhutan and could relate to incident at Brissie airport . Great charity!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about this trek and the untouched parts of Bhutan the walked through. An easy read.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read especially for the multiday hikers cohort.
A humorous and fascinating account of a 16 day 240km trek through Bhutan.