my journey to lhasa alexandra david neel

During her childhood she had a strong desire for freedom and spirituality. Her real name was Louise Eugenie Alexandrine Marie David. Her well-documented teachings influenced the beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and philosopher Alan Watts.

She wrote more than 30 books, about Eastern religion, philosophy, and her travels. She was born in Paris, France and died in Digne, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. She is most known for her visit to the forbidden (to foreigners) city of Lhasa, capital of Tibet (1924). The determination and sheer physical fortitude it took for this woman, delicately reared in Paris and Brussels, is inspiration for men and women alike.ĭavid–Neel is famous for being the first Western woman to have been received by any Dalai Lama and as a passionate scholar and explorer of Asia, hers is one of the most remarkable of all travellers tales.Īlexandra David-Néel (OctoSeptember 8, 1969) was a French explorer, anarchist, spiritualist, Buddhist and writer. With the help of her young companion, Yongden, she willingly suffered the primitive travel conditions, frequent outbreaks of disease, the ever–present danger of border control and the military to reach her goal. In order to penetrate Tibet and reach Lhasa, she used her fluency of Tibetan dialects and culture, disguised herself as a beggar with yak hair extensions and inked skin and tackled some of the roughest terrain and climate in the World.

An exemplary travelogue of danger and achievement by the Frenchwoman Madame Alexandra David–Neel of her 1923 expedition to Tibet, the fifth in her series of Asian travels, and her personal recounting of her journey to Lhasa, Tibet's forbidden city.

My journey to lhasa alexandra david neel