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High: A Journey Across the Himalaya, Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China
An ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by bestselling and prize-winning author Erika Fatland (The Border and Sovietistan), on a journey along the Himalaya.
The Himalaya weave through five very different countries, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are mixed with ancient shamanic religions. Countless languages and vastly different cultures live in the secluded mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence.
We have read about mountain climbers on their way up Mount Everest and about travellers on the spiritual quest for Buddhist monasteries. But how much do we know about the people living in the Himalaya? Fatland invites us into close encounters with the many peoples of the region, and at the same time takes us on a dizzying journey at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown world histories - all the way to the most volatile human conflicts of our times.
The Himalaya weave through five very different countries, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are mixed with ancient shamanic religions. Countless languages and vastly different cultures live in the secluded mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence.
We have read about mountain climbers on their way up Mount Everest and about travellers on the spiritual quest for Buddhist monasteries. But how much do we know about the people living in the Himalaya? Fatland invites us into close encounters with the many peoples of the region, and at the same time takes us on a dizzying journey at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown world histories - all the way to the most volatile human conflicts of our times.
586 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2020
About the author
Erika Fatland
18 books782 followersErika Fatland is a Norwegian anthropologist and writer who has written multiple critically-acclaimed books, including Sovietistan and The Border. Fatland was born in Haugesund, Norway, in 1983, and studied at the University of Oslo and the University of Copenhagen.
Fatland is best known for her travel writing and has written several books: Her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been translated into 12 languages. This was followed by The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, an account of her travels around Russia's border, from North Korea to Norway. Both books have been translated into English by Kari Dickson, and both received critical acclaim from reviewers in the US and UK.
She wrote two earlier books: The Village of Angels (2011) about the Beslan massacre and The Year Without a Summer about the Utoya massacre. She has also written the children’s book The Parent War.
She has received numerous awards, among them the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for Nonfiction and the Wesselprisen (2016). She speaks eight languages including Norwegian, English, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Spanish. She lives in Oslo.
Fatland is best known for her travel writing and has written several books: Her first travel book Sovietistan, published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been translated into 12 languages. This was followed by The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, an account of her travels around Russia's border, from North Korea to Norway. Both books have been translated into English by Kari Dickson, and both received critical acclaim from reviewers in the US and UK.
She wrote two earlier books: The Village of Angels (2011) about the Beslan massacre and The Year Without a Summer about the Utoya massacre. She has also written the children’s book The Parent War.
She has received numerous awards, among them the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for Nonfiction and the Wesselprisen (2016). She speaks eight languages including Norwegian, English, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Spanish. She lives in Oslo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews
June 26, 2026
Rewritten, expanded review, got to write it before I forget it! So I'm in Miami now, back from our 60+ day trip, and have finally finished this book. On the trip, what struck me most was that no country was like the next one, even those that were ex-Soviet or shared the same majority religion. That was also what I found most interesting about this book.
Pakistan is the most conservative, particularly in its restrictions on women and the legal and cultural treatment of them. It was the one country we didn’t visit. India is much more culturally diverse, but still has significant gender inequality in every aspect of society. When we were in the Sikh Temple in Delhi, it did feel a great deal more inclusive. The Sikhs believe in absolute equality between men and women. I am not sure that completely translates into practice.
Bhutan is very different again. It is an isolated Buddhist country where women have legal equality and certainly greater sexual freedom. It is a matrilineal, though not matriarchal, society. But guess who does the housework, childrearing and cooking as well as working outside the home? Nevertheless, there is a woman minister determined to make the position of women equal in reality as well as on paper.
Nepal is not nearly as conservative. Women are visible at all levels, but poverty, caste and traditional patriarchal attitudes still make life difficult. There is also serious trafficking of women to India for forced labour or sexual exploitation, so being a woman there is still extremely difficult.
China is different again. When we visited Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing last year, we met several women who had lived abroad. One was a Morgan Stanley banker who had worked in Chicago for five years but returned to China because she felt it was safer and offered a better standard of living. It certainly seemed safer to us. People would leave their shopping and helmets on their electric bikes without fear of theft. The cities we visited were also remarkably clean and green, and at least for the middle class, the standard of living seemed very high, particularly given how low prices were.
So the book, like our travels, was interesting for the contrast between the countries. Even if they are in the same part of the world, they did not necessarily have much in common.
__________
Bhutan: We were by the lookout point at Taktsang Gompa, or Tiger's Nest, the monastery 3,000 ft above the Paro Valley that clings to the mountain and is reachable only on foot, and there were a lot of wild flowers and weeds. Well, not weeds, marijuana. The guide said that at weekends, as part of their civic duty, teachers bring students to cut down the marijuana, which they can take home to feed their cows and pigs if the family have any. I thought that in the US or UK, schoolchildren wouldn't be allowed within a mile of marijuana plants, let alone take them home, although I do realise that very few actually have any cows or pigs to feed.
Some days later my partner came into our hotel room in Bumthang with an armful of leaves. I said sarcastically, "It's Palm Sunday then, is it?" And he said the guide had given them to him, they were marijuana leaves. The guide told him farmers used to grow them and give them to pigs as it kept them happy, and only with the coming of the internet did they discover that people smoked them to get high! The pigs probably got the munchies too, which would have fattened them up for the farmers.
Although there are many pigs raised in Bhutan, there are no abattoirs at all because of the government's Buddhist stance. All meat is supposedly imported from India. However, there are an awful lot of small 'meat shops' around and pork is the favourite meat, so someone is despatching these high and happy fat pigs.
It has been a very hard tour of Bhutan so far. Driving up to 6 hours a day, going in the same day from the subtropical, banana-growing climate of Punakha, where we stayed in little cottages overlooking the Mo Chu river, up to the almost arctic cold of the Pele La pass, 2.1 miles above sea level. There we picked tiny, juicy, sweet red and white strawberries and a strange, sky-blue berry that was kind of polystyrene-like with no taste but a great colour. Drivers here reckon that 30 km an hour is a good rate. The roads are so twisty, going up and down the mountains between passes, and often very narrow with unsupported cliff edges.
So tomorrow we are on our way back to Paro for a couple of days of more temple-ing, and then on to Delhi. As it is about 105F there, we are looking at fancy hotels like Leela Palace or the Oberoi with multiple restaurants, lots of art, libraries etc, so we don't actually have to go out. Since these ultra-luxe hotels are only around $200 a night, we feel we can treat ourselves and recover from non-stop touring in Kathmandu and Bhutan.
The marijuana, I tossed it out of the window of course. Drugs are illegal here and when in Rome etc. But I have to admit I was a bit regretful, it was very high quality.
Pakistan is the most conservative, particularly in its restrictions on women and the legal and cultural treatment of them. It was the one country we didn’t visit. India is much more culturally diverse, but still has significant gender inequality in every aspect of society. When we were in the Sikh Temple in Delhi, it did feel a great deal more inclusive. The Sikhs believe in absolute equality between men and women. I am not sure that completely translates into practice.
Bhutan is very different again. It is an isolated Buddhist country where women have legal equality and certainly greater sexual freedom. It is a matrilineal, though not matriarchal, society. But guess who does the housework, childrearing and cooking as well as working outside the home? Nevertheless, there is a woman minister determined to make the position of women equal in reality as well as on paper.
Nepal is not nearly as conservative. Women are visible at all levels, but poverty, caste and traditional patriarchal attitudes still make life difficult. There is also serious trafficking of women to India for forced labour or sexual exploitation, so being a woman there is still extremely difficult.
China is different again. When we visited Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing last year, we met several women who had lived abroad. One was a Morgan Stanley banker who had worked in Chicago for five years but returned to China because she felt it was safer and offered a better standard of living. It certainly seemed safer to us. People would leave their shopping and helmets on their electric bikes without fear of theft. The cities we visited were also remarkably clean and green, and at least for the middle class, the standard of living seemed very high, particularly given how low prices were.
So the book, like our travels, was interesting for the contrast between the countries. Even if they are in the same part of the world, they did not necessarily have much in common.
__________
Bhutan: We were by the lookout point at Taktsang Gompa, or Tiger's Nest, the monastery 3,000 ft above the Paro Valley that clings to the mountain and is reachable only on foot, and there were a lot of wild flowers and weeds. Well, not weeds, marijuana. The guide said that at weekends, as part of their civic duty, teachers bring students to cut down the marijuana, which they can take home to feed their cows and pigs if the family have any. I thought that in the US or UK, schoolchildren wouldn't be allowed within a mile of marijuana plants, let alone take them home, although I do realise that very few actually have any cows or pigs to feed.
Some days later my partner came into our hotel room in Bumthang with an armful of leaves. I said sarcastically, "It's Palm Sunday then, is it?" And he said the guide had given them to him, they were marijuana leaves. The guide told him farmers used to grow them and give them to pigs as it kept them happy, and only with the coming of the internet did they discover that people smoked them to get high! The pigs probably got the munchies too, which would have fattened them up for the farmers.
Although there are many pigs raised in Bhutan, there are no abattoirs at all because of the government's Buddhist stance. All meat is supposedly imported from India. However, there are an awful lot of small 'meat shops' around and pork is the favourite meat, so someone is despatching these high and happy fat pigs.
It has been a very hard tour of Bhutan so far. Driving up to 6 hours a day, going in the same day from the subtropical, banana-growing climate of Punakha, where we stayed in little cottages overlooking the Mo Chu river, up to the almost arctic cold of the Pele La pass, 2.1 miles above sea level. There we picked tiny, juicy, sweet red and white strawberries and a strange, sky-blue berry that was kind of polystyrene-like with no taste but a great colour. Drivers here reckon that 30 km an hour is a good rate. The roads are so twisty, going up and down the mountains between passes, and often very narrow with unsupported cliff edges.
So tomorrow we are on our way back to Paro for a couple of days of more temple-ing, and then on to Delhi. As it is about 105F there, we are looking at fancy hotels like Leela Palace or the Oberoi with multiple restaurants, lots of art, libraries etc, so we don't actually have to go out. Since these ultra-luxe hotels are only around $200 a night, we feel we can treat ourselves and recover from non-stop touring in Kathmandu and Bhutan.
The marijuana, I tossed it out of the window of course. Drugs are illegal here and when in Rome etc. But I have to admit I was a bit regretful, it was very high quality.
October 4, 2023
Norwegian social anthropologist and addicted traveller Erika Fatland provides another enthralling read here (the other of her books I have read is The Border), this time focussing on the countries of the Himalaya.
We get the same mix as her previous book - principally travel, but heavy with interviews and delving into culture. While the Border had the common thread of the influence of Russia on the countries that Fatland visited, High is slightly different. She continues her theme on borders, and in this case the permeability of borders, or perhaps the lack of relevance of a border when culture crosses it. However it is a less tight theme than previously.
Published in 2020 (2022 in English) the travels Fatland describes the travels she undertook in two stages, July to September 2018 then April to July 2019
It was fitting that the telling or her journey began in China's Xinjiang province, and ended in Chinese Tibet. There was a full circle and returning to the start situation set up here, with many of the same issues in both - the human rights abuses, the importation of Han Chinese to swell the population and sway control over language and culture. The Chinese are rightly portrayed here as the oppressor and their attempts and limiting access to people and places through bureaucratic and political controls were exposed fairly easily.
Assisted by a guide/fixer in most locations, enabling her better ability with organisation of logistics and interviewing formal figures, China was one place where they were also a barrier to her freedom. Regularly Fatland was told she was unable to visit certain places and was actively steered away from certain people. This as much as people being unwilling to (openly) talk with her, knowing the consequences with the Chinese Communism Party seeing all. Clandestine meetings were plenty, and those she met would pass on names of other people to interview (names and details were disguised). In this way Fatland was able to deliver a narrative with depth across various aspects of society.
After Xinjiang, the author crosses into Pakistan and through those fascinating areas from the Khunjerab Pass through Gilgit, Hunza and Chitral. After Islamabad and Lahore where she was unable to cross at the Wagah Border with India. Her only option was a flight from Lahore to Delhi, then back to Amritsar just across the border!
India concentrated (obviously) on the Himalaya, so Fatland flew from Amritsar to Sringar, from where she made her way through Kashmir (Gulmarg) and Ladakh (Drass, Kargil, Leh, Turtuk) then to Himachal Pradesh (various places including Shimla and McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala)) with a side trip to Uttarakhand.
Fatland's writing was excellent, mixing it up well for a linear travel narrative. For me one of the impressive things was what she left out. She interviewed loads of people, and replicated only the parts of interest. She was able to edit out the repetition (but alluded to common themes) and stripped the interviews right back to the pertinent information. Some interviews consisted basically of one or two questions. Her execution of this was first rate.
Next the author made a thorough journey through Bhutan travelling the length of the country by vehicle before flying back to Thimphu. Bhutan, locked away from the world, but beginning to change with outside influences holds it own fascinations. Amongst interesting topics there was plenty of discussion about Yeti, but most of her guides and people she met focused on the need for her to visit the fertility temple in Punakha (given she is"so old" and doesn't have children)! The first leg of her journey ended with another visit to northern India - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The second leg of Fatland's journey commences in Kathmandu (Nepal) where she travels all over, to many of the interesting locations after a through look at, and various interviews with former Kumari Devi or living goddesses. This chain of child goddesses (they retain their position until puberty) stretches far back (1922 in the case of Kathmandu), and the girls retain some of their fame after their time. As well as visiting Mustang, Simikot and less well known places like Surkhet, Tumarkhad and Lumbini, the author visits Pokhara and Lukla, from where she visits the Everest Base Camp and examines the climber culture of both westerners and Sherpa. Back in the capital she covers off the demise of the Nepalese Royal family, and the change from a Constitutional Monarchy to a Federal Democratic Republic. The Nepalese section is the longest, and most in depth - well deserved for this relatively small country which literally resides on the Himalaya and is such an interesting and welcoming country.
Finishing off back in China, as noted above, Fatland is immediately thrust back into a bureaucratic battle to secure the correct paperwork before being made to stick rigorously to the approved itinerary, ruling out any spur of the moment visits (except those beyond the eyes of her 'guides' (minders)). She visits Mt Kalilash, the Chinese side of Everest, and Tibet. After her time in Tibet, the very last visit the author makes is to Shangri-La, the town that China renamed to cash into the buzz around that name, formerly known by the less appealing Zhongdian, in northern Yunnan. She accessed Shangri-La via Tiger Leaping Gorge, which tied this book up nicely for me, as I visited there about 2006. When I was there a road was being formed which was opening up access to what was once a trekking-only destination, to a quaint little spot made popular in the late 1980s and 1990s. Although the road was operating when I was there is was fairly limited and subject to slips and delays and required 4WD. Just over 10 years later it was operating in force and the gorge is a confirmed tourist destination, complete with giant tiger statue for selfies!
Once again Fatland has really delivered on a fantastic book with a journey of epic proportions. I will be seeking out her first book translated into English (Sovietstan), and hoping she has another lined up soon. A shout-out also to Kari Dickson who fact-checked and translated all three of Fatland's books into English. Perhaps slightly less strong than The Border but still excellent.
5 stars
We get the same mix as her previous book - principally travel, but heavy with interviews and delving into culture. While the Border had the common thread of the influence of Russia on the countries that Fatland visited, High is slightly different. She continues her theme on borders, and in this case the permeability of borders, or perhaps the lack of relevance of a border when culture crosses it. However it is a less tight theme than previously.
Published in 2020 (2022 in English) the travels Fatland describes the travels she undertook in two stages, July to September 2018 then April to July 2019
It was fitting that the telling or her journey began in China's Xinjiang province, and ended in Chinese Tibet. There was a full circle and returning to the start situation set up here, with many of the same issues in both - the human rights abuses, the importation of Han Chinese to swell the population and sway control over language and culture. The Chinese are rightly portrayed here as the oppressor and their attempts and limiting access to people and places through bureaucratic and political controls were exposed fairly easily.
Assisted by a guide/fixer in most locations, enabling her better ability with organisation of logistics and interviewing formal figures, China was one place where they were also a barrier to her freedom. Regularly Fatland was told she was unable to visit certain places and was actively steered away from certain people. This as much as people being unwilling to (openly) talk with her, knowing the consequences with the Chinese Communism Party seeing all. Clandestine meetings were plenty, and those she met would pass on names of other people to interview (names and details were disguised). In this way Fatland was able to deliver a narrative with depth across various aspects of society.
After Xinjiang, the author crosses into Pakistan and through those fascinating areas from the Khunjerab Pass through Gilgit, Hunza and Chitral. After Islamabad and Lahore where she was unable to cross at the Wagah Border with India. Her only option was a flight from Lahore to Delhi, then back to Amritsar just across the border!
India concentrated (obviously) on the Himalaya, so Fatland flew from Amritsar to Sringar, from where she made her way through Kashmir (Gulmarg) and Ladakh (Drass, Kargil, Leh, Turtuk) then to Himachal Pradesh (various places including Shimla and McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala)) with a side trip to Uttarakhand.
Fatland's writing was excellent, mixing it up well for a linear travel narrative. For me one of the impressive things was what she left out. She interviewed loads of people, and replicated only the parts of interest. She was able to edit out the repetition (but alluded to common themes) and stripped the interviews right back to the pertinent information. Some interviews consisted basically of one or two questions. Her execution of this was first rate.
Next the author made a thorough journey through Bhutan travelling the length of the country by vehicle before flying back to Thimphu. Bhutan, locked away from the world, but beginning to change with outside influences holds it own fascinations. Amongst interesting topics there was plenty of discussion about Yeti, but most of her guides and people she met focused on the need for her to visit the fertility temple in Punakha (given she is"so old" and doesn't have children)! The first leg of her journey ended with another visit to northern India - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The second leg of Fatland's journey commences in Kathmandu (Nepal) where she travels all over, to many of the interesting locations after a through look at, and various interviews with former Kumari Devi or living goddesses. This chain of child goddesses (they retain their position until puberty) stretches far back (1922 in the case of Kathmandu), and the girls retain some of their fame after their time. As well as visiting Mustang, Simikot and less well known places like Surkhet, Tumarkhad and Lumbini, the author visits Pokhara and Lukla, from where she visits the Everest Base Camp and examines the climber culture of both westerners and Sherpa. Back in the capital she covers off the demise of the Nepalese Royal family, and the change from a Constitutional Monarchy to a Federal Democratic Republic. The Nepalese section is the longest, and most in depth - well deserved for this relatively small country which literally resides on the Himalaya and is such an interesting and welcoming country.
Finishing off back in China, as noted above, Fatland is immediately thrust back into a bureaucratic battle to secure the correct paperwork before being made to stick rigorously to the approved itinerary, ruling out any spur of the moment visits (except those beyond the eyes of her 'guides' (minders)). She visits Mt Kalilash, the Chinese side of Everest, and Tibet. After her time in Tibet, the very last visit the author makes is to Shangri-La, the town that China renamed to cash into the buzz around that name, formerly known by the less appealing Zhongdian, in northern Yunnan. She accessed Shangri-La via Tiger Leaping Gorge, which tied this book up nicely for me, as I visited there about 2006. When I was there a road was being formed which was opening up access to what was once a trekking-only destination, to a quaint little spot made popular in the late 1980s and 1990s. Although the road was operating when I was there is was fairly limited and subject to slips and delays and required 4WD. Just over 10 years later it was operating in force and the gorge is a confirmed tourist destination, complete with giant tiger statue for selfies!
Once again Fatland has really delivered on a fantastic book with a journey of epic proportions. I will be seeking out her first book translated into English (Sovietstan), and hoping she has another lined up soon. A shout-out also to Kari Dickson who fact-checked and translated all three of Fatland's books into English. Perhaps slightly less strong than The Border but still excellent.
5 stars
January 9, 2021
Erika Fatland er en nasjonalskatt og helt.
1: hun drar til fjerne og eksotiske steder, men er kritisk til hyperkommersialisering av minoritetskulturer og marginaliserte grupper
2: hun drar helt alene, eller med én guide, til steder med veldig skadelige og farlige kvinnesyn, men bruker stemmen sin til å fremme livene til kvinnene som lider der, i stedet for å legge ut om hvor ekkelt det var å være kvinne der selv
3: hun er faktisk utdanna akademiker, og skriver utrolig nok lettleste OG lærerike bøker basert på historisk og empirisk data, og bidrar dermed til å utvide kildene lekfolk har å lære fra
4: hun anstrenger seg for å gi en stemme til alle som ikke har det i sitt eget samfunn, og stiller seg kritisk til makta
1: hun drar til fjerne og eksotiske steder, men er kritisk til hyperkommersialisering av minoritetskulturer og marginaliserte grupper
2: hun drar helt alene, eller med én guide, til steder med veldig skadelige og farlige kvinnesyn, men bruker stemmen sin til å fremme livene til kvinnene som lider der, i stedet for å legge ut om hvor ekkelt det var å være kvinne der selv
3: hun er faktisk utdanna akademiker, og skriver utrolig nok lettleste OG lærerike bøker basert på historisk og empirisk data, og bidrar dermed til å utvide kildene lekfolk har å lære fra
4: hun anstrenger seg for å gi en stemme til alle som ikke har det i sitt eget samfunn, og stiller seg kritisk til makta
November 2, 2025
Bulgarian review first, followed by the English translation below
Защо пътуваме? Отговорът винаги е много и дълбоко личен. Ерика Фатланд задава многократно този въпрос из страниците, винаги щом се сблъска с границата на нещо - природа, климат, култура, издържливост… Отговор няма, или всъщност има - и това е настоящата книга. След последната страница мисля, че Ерика пътува, защото търси истината. За света и за себе си.
Хималаите са побрали най-високите върхове на света, изворите на континентални реки като Инд и Яндзъ, запасите от стари ледници, които - уви - се топят все бързо с глобалното затопляне, и уникални стари и нови, изчезнали, смесени и новоизлюпващи се култури.
Днешните граници съвсем не са условност, дори в Хималаите. Защото те определят дали хората ще са част от дигиталната диктатура в съчетание с нови, модерни пътища и електрификация и вече изгубено минало в Тибет. Или ще са бедни непалци - вечните тъжни гастарбайтери към Индия, Персийския залив и Китай, или жертви на модерното робство, наречено “трафик на хора”, но и наследници на гурките, които все още са част от британската армия в сянката на някогашната си неумолимост и лоялност. Или нещастните и мизерстващи жители на единствената страна с брутен национален продукт на щастието - Бутан. Или пакистанци с най-нови модели мобилни телефони и най-архаични “традиции”, настояващи, че превантивният бой над жените е за тяхно и за общо добро. Или индийци - шизофренно разпнати между технологичните чудеса на новия свят, корупцията и печалната неефективност в страната си, многобройните религиозни храмове и мечтите си за независимост от Индия (част от индийските граждани съвсем не се смятат за индийци). Или пък непалски шерпи в базовия лагер на Еверест - когато постоянният риск за живота и полезните мутации на гените са източник на доходи.
Пътищата и хората са безброй. Всички си приличат и все пак са различни. Едни са доволни, други протестират. Едни са невежи, други се стремят към простор. Едни са вкопчени безгласно и безкритично в миналото (включително към оцелели вредни и отвращаващи ритуали), други - подобни на една 90 годишна тибетска старица, преживяла културната революция, мизерията и отмирането на уникалната малка култура на общността си - ведро му се надсмиват и с блеснали очи гледат напред. Едни се колебаят, други са свирепо убедени в едничката възможна и правилна истина.
Това е вечното пътешествие на човечеството. Дано само повече пътища водят до зелени долини, а не до опустошени и пресъхнали корита на някогашно изобилие. И дано никой не спира никого да пътешества, където го зове душата.
Ерика е мил, но доста безмилостен наблюдател, който никога не задоволява с официалната версия и не изпада в длълзлив захлас с “ау, колко сладки и екзотични за снимане са местните нрави.” Защото да се добереш до поне някакъв пласт минимална истина под шарената дегизировка на толкова слоеве общоприетост, страх, безразличие, пропаганда и фалшива туристическа митология изисква адски труд.
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🗻”Малкото бива погълнато от голямото; малките кралства изчезват. Изолирани долини стават достъпни и светът нахлува. Тук, както навсякьде другаде. В тези долини интересите на една глобална империя се сблъскват с интересите на друга. Какво се случва с хората, обитаващи долините? Бях видяла репресии и желание за свобода, песимизъм и оптимизъм, религиозно потисничество и дълбока отдаденост, нетърпимост и просветление, отчаяние и екстаз.
Малкото бива погълнато от голямото, ала малкото продължава да живее, доколкото може. Има толкова много начини да се живее!”
———————————————————————————
Why do we travel? The answer is always deeply and profoundly personal. Erika Fatland asks this question repeatedly throughout her pages, whenever she encounters a boundary—of nature, climate, culture, endurance... There is no single answer, or perhaps there is, and it is this very book. After the last page, I believe Erika travels because she is searching for the truth. About the world and about herself.
The Himalayas hold the world's highest peaks, the headwaters of continental rivers like the Indus and the Yangtze, and the reserves of ancient glaciers that—alas—are melting rapidly due to global warming. They also house unique cultures—old and new, extinct, blended, and emerging.
Today's borders are far from mere formalities, even in the Himalayas. They determine whether people will be part of a digital dictatorship combined with modern roads, electrification, and a lost past in Tibet. Or if they will be poor Nepalis—the perpetually sad guest workers in India, the Persian Gulf, and China, or victims of the modern slavery known as "human trafficking," yet still heirs to the Gurkhas, who remain part of the British Army in the shadow of their former relentlessness and loyalty. Or the unhappy and destitute residents of Bhutan, the only country with a Gross National Happiness index. Or Pakistanis with the latest mobile phone models and the most archaic "traditions," insisting that "preventative" beating of women is for their own and the common good. Or Indians—schizophrenically torn between the technological wonders of the new world, corruption, the dismal inefficiency of their country, numerous religious temples, and dreams of independence from India (some Indian citizens do not consider themselves Indian at all). Or perhaps Nepali Sherpas at the Everest Base Camp—where constant risk to life and useful genetic mutations are a source of income.
The paths and the people are countless. They are all alike, yet all different. Some are content, others protest. Some are ignorant, others strive for broader horizons. Some are wordlessly and uncritically clinging to the past (including surviving harmful and revolting rituals), while others—like a 90-year-old Tibetan woman who survived the Cultural Revolution, misery, and the fading of her community's unique small culture—serenely laugh at it all and look forward with bright eyes. Some hesitate, while others are fiercely convinced of their single, "correct" truth.
This is the eternal journey of humanity. May more paths lead to green valleys rather than to the devastated and parched beds of former abundance. And may no one stop anyone from traveling wherever their soul calls.
Erika is a kind but quite ruthless observer who is never satisfied with the official version and does not fall into a superficial trance of "oh, how sweet and exotic the local customs are for a photo." Because digging for even a minimal layer of truth beneath the colorful disguise of so many layers of conventionality, fear, indifference, propaganda, and false tourist mythology requires an immense amount of work.
Защо пътуваме? Отговорът винаги е много и дълбоко личен. Ерика Фатланд задава многократно този въпрос из страниците, винаги щом се сблъска с границата на нещо - природа, климат, култура, издържливост… Отговор няма, или всъщност има - и това е настоящата книга. След последната страница мисля, че Ерика пътува, защото търси истината. За света и за себе си.
Хималаите са побрали най-високите върхове на света, изворите на континентални реки като Инд и Яндзъ, запасите от стари ледници, които - уви - се топят все бързо с глобалното затопляне, и уникални стари и нови, изчезнали, смесени и новоизлюпващи се култури.
Днешните граници съвсем не са условност, дори в Хималаите. Защото те определят дали хората ще са част от дигиталната диктатура в съчетание с нови, модерни пътища и електрификация и вече изгубено минало в Тибет. Или ще са бедни непалци - вечните тъжни гастарбайтери към Индия, Персийския залив и Китай, или жертви на модерното робство, наречено “трафик на хора”, но и наследници на гурките, които все още са част от британската армия в сянката на някогашната си неумолимост и лоялност. Или нещастните и мизерстващи жители на единствената страна с брутен национален продукт на щастието - Бутан. Или пакистанци с най-нови модели мобилни телефони и най-архаични “традиции”, настояващи, че превантивният бой над жените е за тяхно и за общо добро. Или индийци - шизофренно разпнати между технологичните чудеса на новия свят, корупцията и печалната неефективност в страната си, многобройните религиозни храмове и мечтите си за независимост от Индия (част от индийските граждани съвсем не се смятат за индийци). Или пък непалски шерпи в базовия лагер на Еверест - когато постоянният риск за живота и полезните мутации на гените са източник на доходи.
Пътищата и хората са безброй. Всички си приличат и все пак са различни. Едни са доволни, други протестират. Едни са невежи, други се стремят към простор. Едни са вкопчени безгласно и безкритично в миналото (включително към оцелели вредни и отвращаващи ритуали), други - подобни на една 90 годишна тибетска старица, преживяла културната революция, мизерията и отмирането на уникалната малка култура на общността си - ведро му се надсмиват и с блеснали очи гледат напред. Едни се колебаят, други са свирепо убедени в едничката възможна и правилна истина.
Това е вечното пътешествие на човечеството. Дано само повече пътища водят до зелени долини, а не до опустошени и пресъхнали корита на някогашно изобилие. И дано никой не спира никого да пътешества, където го зове душата.
Ерика е мил, но доста безмилостен наблюдател, който никога не задоволява с официалната версия и не изпада в длълзлив захлас с “ау, колко сладки и екзотични за снимане са местните нрави.” Защото да се добереш до поне някакъв пласт минимална истина под шарената дегизировка на толкова слоеве общоприетост, страх, безразличие, пропаганда и фалшива туристическа митология изисква адски труд.
———————————————————————————
🗻”Малкото бива погълнато от голямото; малките кралства изчезват. Изолирани долини стават достъпни и светът нахлува. Тук, както навсякьде другаде. В тези долини интересите на една глобална империя се сблъскват с интересите на друга. Какво се случва с хората, обитаващи долините? Бях видяла репресии и желание за свобода, песимизъм и оптимизъм, религиозно потисничество и дълбока отдаденост, нетърпимост и просветление, отчаяние и екстаз.
Малкото бива погълнато от голямото, ала малкото продължава да живее, доколкото може. Има толкова много начини да се живее!”
———————————————————————————
Why do we travel? The answer is always deeply and profoundly personal. Erika Fatland asks this question repeatedly throughout her pages, whenever she encounters a boundary—of nature, climate, culture, endurance... There is no single answer, or perhaps there is, and it is this very book. After the last page, I believe Erika travels because she is searching for the truth. About the world and about herself.
The Himalayas hold the world's highest peaks, the headwaters of continental rivers like the Indus and the Yangtze, and the reserves of ancient glaciers that—alas—are melting rapidly due to global warming. They also house unique cultures—old and new, extinct, blended, and emerging.
Today's borders are far from mere formalities, even in the Himalayas. They determine whether people will be part of a digital dictatorship combined with modern roads, electrification, and a lost past in Tibet. Or if they will be poor Nepalis—the perpetually sad guest workers in India, the Persian Gulf, and China, or victims of the modern slavery known as "human trafficking," yet still heirs to the Gurkhas, who remain part of the British Army in the shadow of their former relentlessness and loyalty. Or the unhappy and destitute residents of Bhutan, the only country with a Gross National Happiness index. Or Pakistanis with the latest mobile phone models and the most archaic "traditions," insisting that "preventative" beating of women is for their own and the common good. Or Indians—schizophrenically torn between the technological wonders of the new world, corruption, the dismal inefficiency of their country, numerous religious temples, and dreams of independence from India (some Indian citizens do not consider themselves Indian at all). Or perhaps Nepali Sherpas at the Everest Base Camp—where constant risk to life and useful genetic mutations are a source of income.
The paths and the people are countless. They are all alike, yet all different. Some are content, others protest. Some are ignorant, others strive for broader horizons. Some are wordlessly and uncritically clinging to the past (including surviving harmful and revolting rituals), while others—like a 90-year-old Tibetan woman who survived the Cultural Revolution, misery, and the fading of her community's unique small culture—serenely laugh at it all and look forward with bright eyes. Some hesitate, while others are fiercely convinced of their single, "correct" truth.
This is the eternal journey of humanity. May more paths lead to green valleys rather than to the devastated and parched beds of former abundance. And may no one stop anyone from traveling wherever their soul calls.
Erika is a kind but quite ruthless observer who is never satisfied with the official version and does not fall into a superficial trance of "oh, how sweet and exotic the local customs are for a photo." Because digging for even a minimal layer of truth beneath the colorful disguise of so many layers of conventionality, fear, indifference, propaganda, and false tourist mythology requires an immense amount of work.
November 6, 2021
"Per il viaggiatore attraversare un confine è un rito di passaggio: si lascia una realtà con la quale si è appena iniziato a prendere dimestichezza per ritrovarsi catapultati in un'altra, completamente sconosciuta."
Erika Fatland è un'antropologa e scrittrice norvegese che ha già pubblicato diversi reportage, tra cui Sovietistan, un bellissimo diario di viaggio negli stati post sovietici dell'Asia centrale. Il suo ultimo lavoro, La vita in alto, è un reportage tutto ambientato sulla catena dell'Himalaya. Divisa tra Cina, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal e Tibet, la catena montuosa più alta del pianeta stupisce anche per la varietà di popoli, culture e tradizioni che la abitano.
In un viaggio lungo all'incirca 8 mesi Erika Fatland esplora le cime vertiginose dell'Himalaya, ma sopratutto ci fa conoscere i mille volti che la abitano. Tra storia, politica, religione e geografia, il racconto del suo viaggio assume tante sfumature diverse, raccontando di luoghi ammantati di fascino e di mistero. Non si limita a raccontare di quello che già sappiamo, ma si sofferma su aspetti poco conosciuti di questi luoghi.
Con lo stile tipico del reportage la Fatland riesce a tenere sulle spine il lettore che si trova a tutti gli effetti ad accompagnarla nei passaggi tra le mille frontiere che caratterizzano questa parte del mondo. Oltre 600 pagine sono letteralmente volate via e alla fine l'unica cosa che volevo fare era partire zaino in spalla alla scoperta di questi posti che sembrano spesso usciti da una fiaba.
Quello che apprezzo particolarmente in questa autrice è il taglio che dà ai suoi reportage. Non è mai noiosa nè eccessivamente didascalica. É vero, si sofferma su tanti aspetti, racconta tanti aneddoti, ma lo fa in modo scorrevole, interessante e onesto. Particolare attenzione in questo volume viene data alla storia dei paesi che visita. Credo sia una scelta vincente, poco conosciamo della storia di questi luoghi, ancor meno sappiamo dei popoli che li abitano. L'Himalaya infatti non si limita a prendersi il primato della catena montuosa più alta del pianeta, ma si distingue anche per l'estrema varietà di culture e religioni che la popolano.
La parte più interessante del racconto è proprio l'approccio di Erika con le persone. Che si tratti di guide, di agenti di frontiera, di re e principesse, di monaci, la Fatland riporta le loro storie, permettendoci di gettare uno sguardo su tradizioni che per noi che viviamo dall'altra parte del mondo sono quasi fantascienza. Torna anche un altro tema caro all'autrice, quello dei confini, delle frontiere. Ne La vita in alto i confini sono protagonisti tanto quanto le cime dell'Himalaya. Confini, frontiere e sopratutto persone, minuscole se paragonate alle vette che li nascondono, ma con infinite storie da raccontare.
Erika Fatland è un'antropologa e scrittrice norvegese che ha già pubblicato diversi reportage, tra cui Sovietistan, un bellissimo diario di viaggio negli stati post sovietici dell'Asia centrale. Il suo ultimo lavoro, La vita in alto, è un reportage tutto ambientato sulla catena dell'Himalaya. Divisa tra Cina, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal e Tibet, la catena montuosa più alta del pianeta stupisce anche per la varietà di popoli, culture e tradizioni che la abitano.
In un viaggio lungo all'incirca 8 mesi Erika Fatland esplora le cime vertiginose dell'Himalaya, ma sopratutto ci fa conoscere i mille volti che la abitano. Tra storia, politica, religione e geografia, il racconto del suo viaggio assume tante sfumature diverse, raccontando di luoghi ammantati di fascino e di mistero. Non si limita a raccontare di quello che già sappiamo, ma si sofferma su aspetti poco conosciuti di questi luoghi.
Con lo stile tipico del reportage la Fatland riesce a tenere sulle spine il lettore che si trova a tutti gli effetti ad accompagnarla nei passaggi tra le mille frontiere che caratterizzano questa parte del mondo. Oltre 600 pagine sono letteralmente volate via e alla fine l'unica cosa che volevo fare era partire zaino in spalla alla scoperta di questi posti che sembrano spesso usciti da una fiaba.
Quello che apprezzo particolarmente in questa autrice è il taglio che dà ai suoi reportage. Non è mai noiosa nè eccessivamente didascalica. É vero, si sofferma su tanti aspetti, racconta tanti aneddoti, ma lo fa in modo scorrevole, interessante e onesto. Particolare attenzione in questo volume viene data alla storia dei paesi che visita. Credo sia una scelta vincente, poco conosciamo della storia di questi luoghi, ancor meno sappiamo dei popoli che li abitano. L'Himalaya infatti non si limita a prendersi il primato della catena montuosa più alta del pianeta, ma si distingue anche per l'estrema varietà di culture e religioni che la popolano.
La parte più interessante del racconto è proprio l'approccio di Erika con le persone. Che si tratti di guide, di agenti di frontiera, di re e principesse, di monaci, la Fatland riporta le loro storie, permettendoci di gettare uno sguardo su tradizioni che per noi che viviamo dall'altra parte del mondo sono quasi fantascienza. Torna anche un altro tema caro all'autrice, quello dei confini, delle frontiere. Ne La vita in alto i confini sono protagonisti tanto quanto le cime dell'Himalaya. Confini, frontiere e sopratutto persone, minuscole se paragonate alle vette che li nascondono, ma con infinite storie da raccontare.
October 26, 2020
Dette er så deilig lesning!!! Fatland møter utrolig mange interessante mennesker og forteller like mange spennende historier. Hvis du ikke liker denne er du tjukk i hue, eller så har du muligens andre interesser enn meg.
March 26, 2023
I have enjoyed both of Erika Fatland’s travel books so far, and this was even better.
She begins her circumnavigation in the Xinjiang province, crosses the border into Pakistan and travels down the Karakorum highway onto Gilgit, Chitral and the Swat Valley.
I have actually done this journey myself, though quite a few years ago, in 1987. I took the train across China from east to west, to Ürümqi, then various buses to Kashgar, onto the border, and beyond, into Swat. I foreshadowed her to Lahore, but snuck into Faisalabad to watch a Test Match against New Zealand on the way.
From Lahore her journey takes her across the Punjab and into Indian Kashmir, then Leh, Manali, Dharmsala, Darjeeling and Sikkim before venturing onto Bhutan and Arunachal and Assam. After a break, on a second trip to Nepal, she treks to Everest base camp and onto Upper Mustang then crossing into Tibet, and a tightly controlled Lhasa, finishing in the legendary Shangri La in Yunnan province.
She soon discovers that “the story is the same throughout the Himalayas: the borders are closing as nation states pull back to protect themselves and plug any holes with military posts.”,
China, she slyly notes, “has spent more money on domestic security than on the military, and China’s defense budget is the second largest in the world.”
Everywhere, she is confronted by pompous officials and unnecessary red tape, but despite these obstacles, she perseveres, and even manages and appropriate dose of humour.
During some of the descriptions of her exchanges with locals her own personality comes through, and it does veer into political territory at times. She does not seem sympathetic to all the people she meets, though whether this is just a function of the translation we are left to ponder.
Regardless, this is a detailed and well-written account which confirms her as a travel writer of considerable talent.
She hears of many atrocities committed in the name of religion, to which she comments..
Here’s a couple of other highlights for me..
and,
She begins her circumnavigation in the Xinjiang province, crosses the border into Pakistan and travels down the Karakorum highway onto Gilgit, Chitral and the Swat Valley.
I have actually done this journey myself, though quite a few years ago, in 1987. I took the train across China from east to west, to Ürümqi, then various buses to Kashgar, onto the border, and beyond, into Swat. I foreshadowed her to Lahore, but snuck into Faisalabad to watch a Test Match against New Zealand on the way.
From Lahore her journey takes her across the Punjab and into Indian Kashmir, then Leh, Manali, Dharmsala, Darjeeling and Sikkim before venturing onto Bhutan and Arunachal and Assam. After a break, on a second trip to Nepal, she treks to Everest base camp and onto Upper Mustang then crossing into Tibet, and a tightly controlled Lhasa, finishing in the legendary Shangri La in Yunnan province.
She soon discovers that “the story is the same throughout the Himalayas: the borders are closing as nation states pull back to protect themselves and plug any holes with military posts.”,
Borders are like sausages. It is sometimes best not to know how they are made.
China, she slyly notes, “has spent more money on domestic security than on the military, and China’s defense budget is the second largest in the world.”
Everywhere, she is confronted by pompous officials and unnecessary red tape, but despite these obstacles, she perseveres, and even manages and appropriate dose of humour.
During some of the descriptions of her exchanges with locals her own personality comes through, and it does veer into political territory at times. She does not seem sympathetic to all the people she meets, though whether this is just a function of the translation we are left to ponder.
Regardless, this is a detailed and well-written account which confirms her as a travel writer of considerable talent.
She hears of many atrocities committed in the name of religion, to which she comments..
I cannot count the number of kitchen tables where I have sat and listened to these same words and accusations, spoken with the same endless grief and pain, only in another language, in another country..
Here’s a couple of other highlights for me..
If you are unlucky, or lucky, enough to meet a yeti, you first have to establish what sex it is. If it is a male, you have to run uphill, because male yetis have long hair and will trip on it. If it is a female, you have to run downhill, because female yetis have such big breasts that it is hard for them to run downhill without falling.
and,
No person has ever climbed Mount Kailash (Ngari, Province in Tibet). Not because it is particularly high, it reaches 6638 metres above sea level, but because it would be sacrilege to disturb the gods who live there. Instead pilgrims go round the mountain, a distance of fifty four kilometres.
April 27, 2023
Erika Fatland ist eine norwegische Autorin. Hoch oben ist nach Sowjetistan und Die Grenze ihr dritter Reisebericht. Sie beschreibt daran ihre Erlebnisse während zwei Reisen durch den Himalaya. Sie startet in China und fährt von dort nach Pakistan und im Anschluss nach Indien. Weiter geht es über Bhutan und Nepal, bis sie schließlich wieder China besucht.
Hoch oben ist ein unglaublich interessantes und spannendes Buch. Ich bin immer beeindruckt davon, wenn Frauen alleine reisen, vor allem wenn es durch Länder ist, in denen dies tendenziell mit Risiken behaftet ist. Erika Fatland hatte zwar meist einen Fahrer und eine*n Übersetzer*in bei sich, doch auch diese Personen waren ihr vorher völlig fremd.
Neben kürzeren geschichtlichen, politischen oder geographischen Beschreibungen, sind es vor allem die Gespräche mit den Einheimischen, die dieses Buch zu etwas Besonderem machen. Wo auch immer die Autorin gerade ist, unterhält sie sich mit den Menschen und beschreibt deren alltägliches Leben. Die kulturelle Vielfalt im Himalaya ist unheimlich groß. Dort treffen die unterschiedlichsten Ethnien und Religionen aufeinander und vermischen sich nicht selten. So ist beispielsweise der Norden Pakistans sehr liberal, in Nepal gibt es Regionen, in denen eine Frau mit zwei Brüdern verheiratet ist, in manchen Regionen Chinas gibt es Walking Marriages, bei denen die Männer nur nachts ins Haus dürfen (und wenn sie sich nicht benehmen, wird die Tür zugesperrt) etc. Die Vielfalt der politischen Strukturen, die historischen Bezüge zwischen den Ländern sind viel zu groß, um sie hier aufzulisten.
Ein sehr wichtiges Thema sind auch Umweltschutz und Klimawandel. Ein häufig wenig beachtetes Nebenprodukt der Gletscherschmelze, die natürlich auch den Himalaya betrifft, sind versiegende oder deutlicher kleinere Flüsse, da sie oft durch Schmelzwasser von Gletschern und Schnee gespeist werden. Sind diese nicht mehr vorhanden, sind irgendwann auch die Flüsse wie Ganges oder Brahmaputra, von deren Wasser Millionen von Menschen abhängig sind, nicht mehr in ihrer jetzigen Form vorhanden.
Ich kann Hoch oben nur allerwärmstens empfehlen. Ich hätte ewig weiterlesen können. Zum Glück stehen Sowjetistan und Die Grenze schon bereit.
Hoch oben ist ein unglaublich interessantes und spannendes Buch. Ich bin immer beeindruckt davon, wenn Frauen alleine reisen, vor allem wenn es durch Länder ist, in denen dies tendenziell mit Risiken behaftet ist. Erika Fatland hatte zwar meist einen Fahrer und eine*n Übersetzer*in bei sich, doch auch diese Personen waren ihr vorher völlig fremd.
Neben kürzeren geschichtlichen, politischen oder geographischen Beschreibungen, sind es vor allem die Gespräche mit den Einheimischen, die dieses Buch zu etwas Besonderem machen. Wo auch immer die Autorin gerade ist, unterhält sie sich mit den Menschen und beschreibt deren alltägliches Leben. Die kulturelle Vielfalt im Himalaya ist unheimlich groß. Dort treffen die unterschiedlichsten Ethnien und Religionen aufeinander und vermischen sich nicht selten. So ist beispielsweise der Norden Pakistans sehr liberal, in Nepal gibt es Regionen, in denen eine Frau mit zwei Brüdern verheiratet ist, in manchen Regionen Chinas gibt es Walking Marriages, bei denen die Männer nur nachts ins Haus dürfen (und wenn sie sich nicht benehmen, wird die Tür zugesperrt) etc. Die Vielfalt der politischen Strukturen, die historischen Bezüge zwischen den Ländern sind viel zu groß, um sie hier aufzulisten.
Ein sehr wichtiges Thema sind auch Umweltschutz und Klimawandel. Ein häufig wenig beachtetes Nebenprodukt der Gletscherschmelze, die natürlich auch den Himalaya betrifft, sind versiegende oder deutlicher kleinere Flüsse, da sie oft durch Schmelzwasser von Gletschern und Schnee gespeist werden. Sind diese nicht mehr vorhanden, sind irgendwann auch die Flüsse wie Ganges oder Brahmaputra, von deren Wasser Millionen von Menschen abhängig sind, nicht mehr in ihrer jetzigen Form vorhanden.
Ich kann Hoch oben nur allerwärmstens empfehlen. Ich hätte ewig weiterlesen können. Zum Glück stehen Sowjetistan und Die Grenze schon bereit.
January 28, 2021
Jeg pleier ikke å lese reiseskildringer i noen særlig grad, men jeg er glad for å ha gjort et unntak her. Spesielt i disse tider, når alt av reising ter seg som en fjern drøm, er det greit å lese seg bort. Erika har reist omkring i Himalaya og forteller åpenhjertig om sine opplevelser og mennesker hun møtt på veien. Det blir også en gedigen, men uanstrengt, historieleksjon. Anbefales varmt!
February 23, 2025
A fascinating look at the people and places of the Himalayas.
I wanted to read up on the region before my trip to Nepal, and High satisfied my criteria. Erika Fatland, a Norwegian travel writer, is a skilled observer and anthropologist. She effortlessly intersperses narrative, history and interviews, which results in a book that is at once entertaining and informative.
I found myself wishing for some greater detail in certain sections, but with the book's considerable page length, I can understand the decision to just stick to the necessary information. I also felt that a little nuance was perhaps missing in some areas.
Translator Kari Dickson did an excellent job bringing High to an anglophone audience. It read smoothly and naturally.
Overall, this was a well researched, interesting read, that despite its long length was never tiredsome. I will certainly be looking into Fatland's other books. Highly recommended.
I wanted to read up on the region before my trip to Nepal, and High satisfied my criteria. Erika Fatland, a Norwegian travel writer, is a skilled observer and anthropologist. She effortlessly intersperses narrative, history and interviews, which results in a book that is at once entertaining and informative.
I found myself wishing for some greater detail in certain sections, but with the book's considerable page length, I can understand the decision to just stick to the necessary information. I also felt that a little nuance was perhaps missing in some areas.
Translator Kari Dickson did an excellent job bringing High to an anglophone audience. It read smoothly and naturally.
Overall, this was a well researched, interesting read, that despite its long length was never tiredsome. I will certainly be looking into Fatland's other books. Highly recommended.
December 27, 2020
Atter en gang får vi en strålende reiseskildring fra Erika Fatland. Denne gangen drar hun på rundreise i Himalaya. Vi møter mennesker og historier i Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Kina, Tibet og tidligere kongedømmer jeg aldri har hørt om før, som for eksempel Sikkim. Detaljrikdommen og kunnskapen som formidles er overveldende. Her er geografi, geologi, historien, politikk, samfunn og litt medisin når forfatteren beskriver høydesyken som oppstår i ferden opp mot Everest Base Camp. Erika Fatland er nysgjerrig og pågående i menneskemøtene. Det er tankevekkende å lese om hvilken makt det kinesiske samfunnet har over innbyggerne gjennom den omfattende overvåkningen. Det gjør også denne boken til sterk litteratur.
April 29, 2023
To me, a great travelogue is one that frequently makes me stop because it keeps introducing me to peoples, places, customs, or other things that I was previously unfamiliar with, and I then in turn need to satisfy my newly stirred interest with a trip to Wikipedia or elsewhere where I can read about them in a little more detail. And when I undertake these frequent research pauses, I do so with some degree of reluctance - because I am torn between the urge to feed my curiosity and the desire to continue reading on and be exposed to even more as I travel through the author’s words.
You can probably guess where this review is going by now. Erika Fatland’s High had me pausing again and again and again to satisfy my whetted interest in a constant supply of new odds and ends that I wanted to learn even more about. If one wants to expand their knowledge about the “roof of the world,” then you frankly can’t find a better starting point than here.
Erika Fatland is fast-becoming my current favorite travel writer - and after devouring her latest work and her previous publications (Sovietstan and The Border) I genuinely can’t wait to see where she’ll take readers like me next.
You can probably guess where this review is going by now. Erika Fatland’s High had me pausing again and again and again to satisfy my whetted interest in a constant supply of new odds and ends that I wanted to learn even more about. If one wants to expand their knowledge about the “roof of the world,” then you frankly can’t find a better starting point than here.
Erika Fatland is fast-becoming my current favorite travel writer - and after devouring her latest work and her previous publications (Sovietstan and The Border) I genuinely can’t wait to see where she’ll take readers like me next.
June 24, 2021
Veldig flott skildring av Himalaya-områdene, leses som en tilgjengelig etnografi (hun er sosialantropolog av utdanning). Om du vil oppleve verden er dette et flott alternativ nå som det fortsatt ikke er så mange muligheter :)) lærer masse om avsidesliggendes steder uten å være særlig etnosentrisk! Anbefales, skal lese mer av Fatland. Liker egentlig best skjønnlitteratur, men denne var fornøyelig; kanskje reiseskildringer er min neste favoritt 🧐
June 11, 2026
I’m fan of Fatland’s books and I realise I haven’t read her in a number of years. I mind when this book came out, but I left it because I really have very little interest in this part of the world, which seems to be a perennial magnet for wealthy white people seeking spiritualism, enlightenment, whether it be through hiking and mountaineering or plain old god and other gurus, swamis and countless other bearded charlatans looking for the next naïve and gullible rich, white person to milk and mould.
The ever intrepid Fatland is as ever, good company, she’s thorough, learned and open-minded in her travels, speaking to many people in many places, giving us a deep and immersive impression of various Himalayan and near Himalayan kingdoms and serfdoms. This is a part of the world which never struggles to strike awe into most mortal beings, with many dizzying stats and facts which put its uniqueness into perspective.
Even somewhere like Xinjiang, which covers an area greater than France, Spain, Germany and the UK combined. And to think that this is only a fraction of China?... We’re also reminded just how many regions in this part of the world are still longing, struggling and fighting for their independence, not just the obvious ones such as Uyghuristan and Tibet, but also the likes of Nagaland, Assam and Kashmir too all desperate to be freed from the shackles of their controlling government who reside hundreds of miles away, but are even further away in terms of culture and tradition.
Whether it be the devastating impact of ongoing conflict, climate change and people trafficking has throughout much of the regions she visits, there is a lot of turmoil and suffering in this is a part of the world. But probably more than anything else religion is the culprit, routinely keeping millions frightened, oppressed and ignorant. It’s incredible the levels of cruelty and inhumanity you can justify and get away with if you throw in words like tradition or god. Unfortunately we see some truly bizarre outcomes in this ongoing, centuries long saga of competitive idiocy, all sorts of ridiculous and wildly inventive methods of stupidity, seemingly endless permutations of profound ignorance widely mistaken for deep piety and spiritual superiority?...
In spite of all that remarkable grandeur and natural beauty I always tend to find these sorts of places incredibly backward and depressing. And yet there will always be that segment of wealthy, white foreigner who retains an obsession, applying a fetishistic quality to ideas of squalor and deprivation and to experience them is somehow treasured and seen as a form of spiritual or moral superiority.
So often Fatland encounters one backward, bullying patriarchy after another, which seems to go hand in hand with domestic violence and addiction. These are lives crippled by superstition, poisoned by religion and blinded by ignorance, places rife with comedy clairvoyants, astrology, egotistical shamans, menstruation huts, 11 & 12 year old brides, vengeful, spiteful gods and mobile phone wielding monks babbling about spirits, demons and yetis.
Like most invented gods and religions they seem overwhelmingly to favour and strengthen men at the expense of women. Like elsewhere in the world ideas of gods and religion exist in order to punish and oppress women, serving to keep them subservient, frightened and silent or running the risk of yet another cruel and arbitrary punishment will be forced upon them.
And this is one of the refreshing elements about Fatland as she is never afraid to expose so much of the bureaucracy, brutality, hypocrisy and contradictions. She marvels at the beauty, but she also exposes the darkness too. I wonder how she managed to cope when doing this journey, especially with her being a woman, being repeatedly exposed to such blatant misogyny, and confronted with so much cruelty, oppression and ignorance. It must have been incredibly difficult not to vent at the levels of childish stupidity and superstition. At least she knows what it’s like to be the wife of a US Republican.
March 23, 2024
Otra gran, grandísima, obra de Erika Fatland. Himalaya sigue la senda abierta con Sovietistan y La Frontera. Mantiene su estilo, una mezcla de crónica periodística, antropología, historia y geografía (ordenadas de mayor a menor importancia), todo ello a partir de una gran narrativa. La lectura nos sumerge, o mejor dicho, nos eleva, hasta las más altas cotas, los más exóticos parajes y los populosos valles del Himalaya.
Por otro lado, el libro ya no está organizado por países, sino que adquiere mucha mayor importancia la altitud, pues está es la que modula las formas de vida en aquellos parajes.
Por último, señalar que, desde mi punto de vista, la calidad del libro es muy alta en general, con muy pocos capítulos tediosos y unos cuantos excepcionales. La parte relativa a Pakistán y el Punjab es brillante; sin embargo, la dedicada a China es aún mejor, dándole al libro un cierre extraordinario, a la altura de la obra.
En fin, que seguiré leyendo todo lo que publique Fatland sobre viajes y que animo a todo el mundo a que haga lo mismo.
Por otro lado, el libro ya no está organizado por países, sino que adquiere mucha mayor importancia la altitud, pues está es la que modula las formas de vida en aquellos parajes.
Por último, señalar que, desde mi punto de vista, la calidad del libro es muy alta en general, con muy pocos capítulos tediosos y unos cuantos excepcionales. La parte relativa a Pakistán y el Punjab es brillante; sin embargo, la dedicada a China es aún mejor, dándole al libro un cierre extraordinario, a la altura de la obra.
En fin, que seguiré leyendo todo lo que publique Fatland sobre viajes y que animo a todo el mundo a que haga lo mismo.
December 5, 2021
3* e mezza
L'ho trovato meno ispirato rispetto agli altri due suoi reportage che ho letto e un po' ripetitivo.
E' comunque una lettura interessante, ma per i miei gusti troppa, troppa, troppa! religione.
L'ho trovato meno ispirato rispetto agli altri due suoi reportage che ho letto e un po' ripetitivo.
E' comunque una lettura interessante, ma per i miei gusti troppa, troppa, troppa! religione.
July 24, 2022
Like god bok som de andre reiseskildringene til Erika Fatland, men får ikke altfor lyst til å være avhengig av å reise i Himalaya
October 7, 2023
Erika Fatland is an intrepid traveller, never a tourist. She travels through the Himalayas visiting Pakistan, India, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and China, sometimes enduring delays, bureaucratic snafus, culturally uncomfortable situations, physical hardship. She is a real trouper. In every region she talks to ordinary people about their lives. She embellishes each chapter with a basic, enlightening history. I feel enriched by this book; like I have visited this region. The world is a fascinatingly diverse place in spite of human superstitions, cruel rituals, and archaic customs that harm women. Thank you, Erica. I will look forward to your next trip.
June 22, 2021
Dersom du ikke skal i fjellet i sommer får du lese om fjellet.
Litt for mange templer etter min smak, men ellers en vanvittig reiseskildring fullspekket med informasjon informasjon informasjon.
Litt for mange templer etter min smak, men ellers en vanvittig reiseskildring fullspekket med informasjon informasjon informasjon.
May 26, 2023
4.5. Absolute Monster enjoyed
February 20, 2025
I denne boken får vi et helt unikt innblikk i en ofte skjult del av verden, møter levende gudinner, krysser grenser til vidt forskjellige land, får se verdens tak og oppleve Himalaya fra både høyt og lavt hold -og mye mer.
Etter å ha lest den ferdig skjønner jeg at det kanskje ikke egentlig er en tilfeldighet at flere av verdensreligionene oppsto akkurat her. I årtusener har mennesker reist til Himalaya for å få svar på livets store spørsmål - og boka gir oss sitt eget.
Erika Fatland stiller oss spørsmålet: "Hvorfor reiser vi?", og gjennom reisen leverer hun en en suveren begrunnelse. Boka gir en innsikt, en refleksjon og setter i gang en ren nysgjerrighet i leseren, den er rett og slett fremragende.
Etter å ha lest den ferdig skjønner jeg at det kanskje ikke egentlig er en tilfeldighet at flere av verdensreligionene oppsto akkurat her. I årtusener har mennesker reist til Himalaya for å få svar på livets store spørsmål - og boka gir oss sitt eget.
Erika Fatland stiller oss spørsmålet: "Hvorfor reiser vi?", og gjennom reisen leverer hun en en suveren begrunnelse. Boka gir en innsikt, en refleksjon og setter i gang en ren nysgjerrighet i leseren, den er rett og slett fremragende.
August 13, 2026
This is a well-written and engaging account of travels in, over, and around the Himalayas through india, bhutan, china, nepal, sikkim, tibet, and pakistan, with many encounters with citizens and bureaucracies in dictatorships, alleged democracies, colonized former countries, and small kingdoms. Erika Fatland burrows as much as she can, in the time allotted and in adherence to local customs, in a variety of cultures for a broad picture of these lands. She brings a gentler perspective than you'd get from, say, Paul Theroux. (Less carping, definitely.)
There are many delays due to baggage checks, landslides, weather, and people not showing up on time, and there are her painterly descriptions of tea lands and high mountain lakes, scrubland and snow-covered Everest base camp, as well as the ethnic groups she meets in groups or through a singular representative. Without those things, of course, no travel writing would be worth reading. Recommended.
There are many delays due to baggage checks, landslides, weather, and people not showing up on time, and there are her painterly descriptions of tea lands and high mountain lakes, scrubland and snow-covered Everest base camp, as well as the ethnic groups she meets in groups or through a singular representative. Without those things, of course, no travel writing would be worth reading. Recommended.
July 10, 2022
I love Fatland’s books, truly inspiring to see and experience the world
August 18, 2025
Per l'ennesima volta Erika Fatland si conferma la miglior reporter di viaggio contemporanea.
Ne "La vita in alto" i luoghi attraversati e le persone incontrate valgono da soli il prezzo del biglietto, nel senso che il fascino e l'isolamento dei villaggi e delle città descritte basterebbero da soli a rendere questo libro un bellissimo reportage.
In aggiunta a ciò, la capacità dell'autrice di incontrare persone e vivere esperienze uniche arricchisce ulteriormente quest'opera.
L'unica nota negativa è l'assenza quasi totale di giudizi personali della Fatland, che raramente si esprime direttamente con i suoi pensieri ed opinioni, e dedica pochissimo spazio alle sue personali riflessioni.
Certo, non tutti sono Tiziano Terzani...
Ne "La vita in alto" i luoghi attraversati e le persone incontrate valgono da soli il prezzo del biglietto, nel senso che il fascino e l'isolamento dei villaggi e delle città descritte basterebbero da soli a rendere questo libro un bellissimo reportage.
In aggiunta a ciò, la capacità dell'autrice di incontrare persone e vivere esperienze uniche arricchisce ulteriormente quest'opera.
L'unica nota negativa è l'assenza quasi totale di giudizi personali della Fatland, che raramente si esprime direttamente con i suoi pensieri ed opinioni, e dedica pochissimo spazio alle sue personali riflessioni.
Certo, non tutti sono Tiziano Terzani...
June 23, 2026
En fin reisekildring om Erika Fatlands reiser i Himalaya. Reisen går i all hovedsak fra vest til øst. Jeg ble imponert over hvor mye ulike variasjoner av samma religion som finnes!! Himalaya fjellene er et konflikt fylt området hvor det er stormanns makter som presser fra både Nord og Sør. Det er nok dette som skaper den endeløse variasjonen i både tro og levemåte.
July 27, 2025
A really interesting travel book! I think it needed just a little more focus. It was written well but Fatland’s travels were, understandably, a bit all over the place and the narrative, as much as a travel book can have a narrative, was also a bit scattered. Still, the places she visited seemed fascinating, and she paints a vivid picture of the people and especially the women everywhere she went. I like her blunt, straightforward style as well, and while I felt the history was a bit dry, it was still a really enlightening read. Would recommend, though I’d recommend her other book The Border (about the countries which border Russia) first.
June 2, 2024
Si alguna vez desaparezco, no os molestéis en buscarme subiendo al Everest.
April 11, 2025
3,5⭐
Después de haber leído "Sovietistán" y "La frontera", este libro me ha decepcionado un poco. No obstante, merece muchísimo la pena acercarse a las obras de Erika Fatland
Después de haber leído "Sovietistán" y "La frontera", este libro me ha decepcionado un poco. No obstante, merece muchísimo la pena acercarse a las obras de Erika Fatland
August 8, 2026
The author travels around the mountainous areas of Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet.
I enjoyed reading her book and being transported to some amazing places such as Ladakh, Kashmir and Sikkim. I often broke off to look at photos on the internet of where she was visiting.
Her walk up to Everest base camp held no appeal for me. The trek she describes now has too many doing it who are creating their own mountains of rubbish and tradition is buried under fast food western style and commercialism.
The stunning natural world she encounters on her journey stands in stark contrast to the hard and impoverished lives most of those living in these mountain environments endure.
In Pakistan and India the enmity between them keeps families apart, and border disputes between India and China have flared up into fighting on several occasions. Even in the some of the most remote and stunning places on earth, man’s inability to get along with each other intrudes.
In Nepal, she hears heartbreaking tales of Nepalese treated like slaves when they go to work in the Gulf, and of young woman kidnapped and taken to Bombay and forced to work in brothels.
Bhutan, where environmental protection has been a priority and there’s been limitations on foreign influence and western consumerism, seems to be faring better than many other places she visits.
In Tibet, the original culture has largely been destroyed, and some of it rebuilt and presented in a way the Chinese government approves.
Her final trip in China at the eastern end of the mountain range takes us to a matrilineal society, the Muoso, and where women are in charge. It made me think how much better our world would be if that were a global phenomenon.
These are also lands of religion: tribal, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.
And in this part of the world climate change is fast changing weather patterns for the worse. In the mountains, the glaciers which hundreds of millions depend on for water, are fast disappearing, setting the stage for likely future conflict over who gets what from a diminishing resource between nuclear-armed powers China, India and Pakistan.
All in all, a great travelogue to extraordinary places of which I knew next to nothing.
I enjoyed reading her book and being transported to some amazing places such as Ladakh, Kashmir and Sikkim. I often broke off to look at photos on the internet of where she was visiting.
Her walk up to Everest base camp held no appeal for me. The trek she describes now has too many doing it who are creating their own mountains of rubbish and tradition is buried under fast food western style and commercialism.
The stunning natural world she encounters on her journey stands in stark contrast to the hard and impoverished lives most of those living in these mountain environments endure.
In Pakistan and India the enmity between them keeps families apart, and border disputes between India and China have flared up into fighting on several occasions. Even in the some of the most remote and stunning places on earth, man’s inability to get along with each other intrudes.
In Nepal, she hears heartbreaking tales of Nepalese treated like slaves when they go to work in the Gulf, and of young woman kidnapped and taken to Bombay and forced to work in brothels.
Bhutan, where environmental protection has been a priority and there’s been limitations on foreign influence and western consumerism, seems to be faring better than many other places she visits.
In Tibet, the original culture has largely been destroyed, and some of it rebuilt and presented in a way the Chinese government approves.
Her final trip in China at the eastern end of the mountain range takes us to a matrilineal society, the Muoso, and where women are in charge. It made me think how much better our world would be if that were a global phenomenon.
These are also lands of religion: tribal, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.
And in this part of the world climate change is fast changing weather patterns for the worse. In the mountains, the glaciers which hundreds of millions depend on for water, are fast disappearing, setting the stage for likely future conflict over who gets what from a diminishing resource between nuclear-armed powers China, India and Pakistan.
All in all, a great travelogue to extraordinary places of which I knew next to nothing.
July 22, 2021
Ferdig!
Syns denne er helt på høyden med Sovjetistan om ikke bedre. Hva skal jeg lese til morgenkaffen nå?? Må være enten reise, biologi eller diktatur. Bonuspoeng for to av tre.
Jeg ❤ Fatland og jeg ❤ sofareising.
Syns denne er helt på høyden med Sovjetistan om ikke bedre. Hva skal jeg lese til morgenkaffen nå?? Må være enten reise, biologi eller diktatur. Bonuspoeng for to av tre.
Jeg ❤ Fatland og jeg ❤ sofareising.
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