Why a Booktrail?
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018
Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains
What you need to know before your trail
Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent sets out to chronicle this forgotten corner of Asia. Travelling some 2,000 miles she encounters shamans, lamas, hunters, opium farmers, fantastic tribal festivals and little-known stories from the Second World War.
In the process, she discovers a world and a way of living that are on the cusp of changing forever.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
India – Arunachal Pradesh
“Curled beneath the eastern ramparts of the Himalayas broods a wild land of unnamed peaks and unexplored forests: the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh The largest and least populous of the Seven Sisters – the septet of states that make up India’s turbulent, tribal Northeast – it lies folded between the Tibetan plateau, the teaming jungles of Burma, the mountains of Bhutan and the flood-prone plains of the Brahmaputra Valley.”
“Remote, mountainous and forbidding, here shamans still fly through the night, hidden valleys conceal portals to other worlds , yetis leave footprints in the snow spirits and demons abound, and the gods are appeased by the blood of sacrificed beasts. More tribes live here and more languages are spoken than anywhere else in South Asia”
“Yet it remains almost unheard of outside India and little known by those within. Cordoned off from the outside world from 1873 until the end of the 1990s, today the harshness of its terrain, a sensitive political situations and the need for expensive and restrictive permits still make it a little-visited region.”
“Much of this isolation is down to simple geography”.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
When a travel writer and fearless adventurer heads off to a region of a country I know very little about, I’m more than intrigued. The state of Arunachal Pradesh is tucked in the north of India close to the more perhaps well known tea growing state of Assam.
The title of the book itself made me smile and want to read it. Even the title and cover made me feel like when I opened the pages, the book would glow. The Dawn-Lit Mountains sounds divine and magical and the writing within the book which brought them alive was equally so.I found it fascinating that the state was so relatively unknown and there was a thrill going here with the writer. A dream to write about for any adventurer – doesn’t evey traveller dream of being one of the first if not the very first to discover somewhere.
As expected there are problems with the journey – not the access – shambolic bureaucracy sees to that – but the adjustment to the harsh and at times brutal living conditions (animal lovers will struggle in particular). However the moments of awe overshadowed this – from the many tribes to populate the area to the history of the region and the stunning landscapes evoked with every one of the five senses.
There’s lots to chew over in this book. It’s extremely vivid and captivating and I for one will always admire Antonia for daring to go where not many people have gone before. That frisson of excitement more than lights up this book!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains
Destination: India, Arunachal Pradesh Author/Guide: by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent Departure Time: 2015
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