"El viaje catártico de Colin Thubron", Jacinto Antón, El País 24.06.2012: https://elpais.com/cultura/2012/06/21/actualidad/1340297878_628158.html

Another exquisite travel book by the master ( )

This is, on one level, a trek to Mount Kailas, a sacred mountain in Tibet. It is also, although not overtly, a journey into the soul. The author has experienced the loss of his sister, when young, and now both parents, such that he is alone in the world. He undertakes the journey to circumnavigate Mt Kailas, which is scared to Buddhists and Hindus. To do so in not a light undertaking and the trek to just the foot of the mountain is hard going. He describes it all in some detail, and is, at times, unsparing in his descriptions. There is poverty here, but there is also something soul enhancing. Even for a non-believer, he experiences something over and above the travel in this trek. The details of the journey are well described, the history, background, geology and political turmoil all feature. It is when he is meditating on his fellow humanity and the act of memory that he is at his most human. ( )

This is a slow, dreamy kind of travel memoir. Colin Thubron reflects on his own life and mortality as he joins pilgrims on the trek to Kailas, an ancient sacred site in Tibet, revered by Buddhists and Hindus, but difficult to reach not only because of it's height and remoteness but also because of the political turmoil in the region between China and Tibet. There is enough traditional travel observation and physical rigor to create movement and tension, but there is also a deeper level of personal reflection on immortality as Thubron reviews his feelings and reactions to the deaths of his father, his sister (in a mountain skiing accident) and his mother. Alone in the world, he contemplates the purpose of pilgrimage and wonders if simply following a certain physical path can have any spiritual significance. ( )

There was not enough first person narrative for me.