The Outer Path: Finding My Way in Tibet [Paperback]

This modest, unprepossessing diary chronicles the bicycle journey of a Southern California man, who wants to become a Buddhist monk. Before he does so, he at the age of 25 travels overland, often in disguise as a Mao-era peasant, when China still permitted independent tourists in a post-Cultural Revolution, pre-Tiananmen Square, thaw. An uprising in Lhasa after he had left there forces him again to evade the officials and their unpredictable demands. this led to a crackdown on all tourists from other lands in Tibet. His 1987 account remains blessedly free of romanticism.

After all, he makes his pilgrimage as a "dukkha-" (unease, dissatisfaction are preferable to the usual translation as "suffering") based exploration of discomfort. Reynolds seeks to immerse himself in rigor and strain, to encounter harsh terrain, petty bureaucrats, and miserable room and board along the long way. He hitchhikes a lot and relies on chance meetings often. He drinks dairy tainted by Chernobyl and sold off cheaply to the Chinese, who distribute it to such as him and his hosts. He suffers from diarrhea, understandably, but as he resigns himself to what the days and nights bring under dazzling stars at dizzying heights, he appears in often good humor.

For instance, about the people he finds in Eastern Tibet and its borders: "Khampa men have it pretty good. They are in charge of drinking tea, talking politics, looking handsome, and acting macho. All this keeps them quite busy, so the women take care of the heavy labor and the hard work." (57) He teaches kids how to sing "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Psycho Killer," both evident favorites.

His companions that he meets, originally two Swiss women and later joined by two men from Colombia and Sweden, gain little description and Reynolds himself appears rather self-effacing. Instead, he emphasizes the mundane encounters and the tedium often missing from more polished presentations. He reasons that in such honesty will be the truer rendering of what in hindsight is often glossed over in memory, and his diary grounds him as it does the reader in the often uneventful trek as well as the highlights of sightseeing.

He quotes John Lennon and Little Feat and meets hardships on his outer path with hard-earned equanimity, no doubt good practice for his subsequent career as a forest monk in Thailand along the inner path. He learns to confront his hedonism and he readies himself for renunciation. "No one can make my load lighter. No one can walk with me. No one can tell me when I've arrived." (134)

The basic black and white photos don't do the deserts or mountains of Tibet justice, but they remind one of the faces he meets along the way. His circuit around the holy Mt. Kailas can be compared with Colin Thubron's eloquent version over two decades later, "To a Mountain in Tibet" (reviewed by me early in 2011), for how rapidly even remote Tibet and the Himalayan fastnesses are changing under the modernization that at the time of Reynolds' visit--just before the region was opened up to foreign tour groups--appear not to have taken hold much, even in Lhasa. It's an unadorned tale, but of interest for its calm, direct tone.

After hearing about this book, I quickly ordered it online and read it right away. The pictures were nice so you had a reference when reading the book. I am learning alot about Buddhism and it is very fascinating. This book helped me learn about Tibet, China, etc. I would recommend this book for sure!

If you've read Pamelea Logan's book Among Warriors you'll love The Outer Path. Jim under goes a bike trip on a single speed Chinese clunker that was bought for 40.00! Ditching the bike and hitching proved more of a faster way to travel. The over all tone of the book was great and I found it hard to put down and Jim describes things very well to the point you see the events as if you were there. Smoky tents,thick hot buttered tea, blisters,blowing sand all of this and no complaining as Jim takes it all in stride considering it part of the path to enlightenment. The picture perfect mountains and breath taking landscape is all here - even a trip to Lhasa and doing it back handed too - you'll see. Unlike Pamela Logan who chickens out when it comes to meeting Khampa Warriors, Jim walks right up to them and strikes up a conversation. Later on he will share a long slow truck ride with them and watch as they drain the truck's rad to get enough water to make tea! Get ready for it people the ride of your life and you won't find a better guide any where but here.Get it while you can as this book is out of print.There are photo's all through the book not just bunched up in the middle as an after thought.Enjoy!

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