Tibet Overland by Kym McConnell, 1873756410, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

A book that makes the impossible, possible

For anyone who wants to cross Tibet and the Himalayas, this book is exactly what you need. It is an accurate, detailed and easy to understand guide-book, that once you are there will be your proverbial 'Bible'.
In some areas it is less accurate than in others, but nevertheless, it will give you all the information you need for crossing some of the most demading terrain on earth. I am not a serious cyclist, but with this book and its advice and suggestions on what to pack and what to expect, i successfully rode across Tibet from just south of Mongolia down to Lhasa, across the Himalayas and down into the Sub-Continent to Kathmandu. It's thanks to THIS book i made it.
You are looking at an area of expertise where there is no better book for the job...

A great disappointment

I had waited two years for this book since first hearing it was to be released Sept 2000, and was very interested in whatever it had to say as someone whom (whenever my right foot gets back into commission!) would like to do a little Tibetan cycling. Furthermore, I have spent a month in Tibet in 1997, travelling by hitching, bus and 4WD.

However, the book is extremely thin on everything but the Lhasa -> Kathmandu route, which somewhat defeats the object; this route is both well known and covered by commercial expeditions, with few Alien Travel Permit issues. The other routes (Sichuan -> Tibet, Xinjiang -> Tibet and Quighai -> Tibet) are mostly covered via hearsay from other bikers; not really research as I would understand it. Furthermore, mapping for these routes is also abysmal.

There have been issues with the Xinjiang route since Oct 2001 wrt Afghanistan which might have prevented the author from doing much, but that's no excuse for the other routes. In short, if cycling in Tibet you want to know about, don't bother buying this book, but it's worth a read if you can borrow a copy.

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