Women in high places

People who love travelogues often gravitate towards them for the vicarious pleasure that is to be found in the adventures of those who have the time, money and opportunity to undertake perilous journeys.

- CHINTAN GIRISH MODI

The thrill of being transported to an exciting new location, even as they remain surrounded by their daily obligations and responsibilities, is beyond compare.

High Altitude Heroines: Four Early Explorers in the High Himalayas, published by Speaking Tiger, is one such volume. It brings together a set of enchanting travelogues written by Alexandra David-Néel, Fanny Bullock Workman, Henrietta Sands Merrick and Lilian A Starr. These women set out on their explorations in the early 20th century when India was under British colonial rule, and documented their experiences in tremendous detail.

Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969), described as "a Belgian-French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer", was the first Western woman to visit Lhasa in Tibet in 1924 when it was out of bounds for foreigners. Accompanied by a young lama named Yongden, she disguised herself in local attire to pass off as a Tibetan woman and pretended to be his mother. Her colourful and astonishing account, titled "My Journey to Lhasa", captures not only the landscape and the people but all the cautionary measures that they had to take to avoid being busted. They begged for alms, ate whatever they could get, slept in unsanitary accommodation, participated in endless small talk, and conducted religious ceremonies.