Rating: 
Summary: A delightful travelogue
Review: A delightful travelogue.Travel writing is not about places, it is about the people you meet on the way and there. From Heaven Lake is a beautiful piece of work that sense. It surely deserves praise and read. True, the eloquence, clarity and craft which Vikram Seth displays in his magnum opus 'A Suitable Boy' are missing, but then this is one of his earlier works. Still one can see his keen observation and description skills here. The troubles that a foreigner encounters to get permission to visit places in the interior and western China are very well documented. He finds fault only with the system and not with the people. Seth describes the warmth with which common people treated him. That underlines one truth -- common man, every where and under any system, remains the same. Seth's description of the geography and people are wonderful. His description of the "underground canals" carrying water from distant mountains to oasis of Turfan is picture-perfect. The hazardous hitch-hiking he undertook from Heaven Lake in Urumqi to Lhasa on a truck, struggling to breath properly in that rarefied atmosphere and fighting shivering cold, demands one's admiration and sympathy. Seth dwells at long on the hospitality of the hosts where he and the truck driver stayed overnight on the way. Also, he gives us a clear idea of the unhospitality of the terrain full of mud, flashfloods and unmaintained roads. I always wanted to travel through the ancient China, from Xian to Xinjiang and Lhasa. One day, when I do, I will carry this book with me. Sure, things might have changed a lot by now. Still, I will.
Rating: 
Summary: Unforgottable
Review: An unforgettable journey that leads you through the most unknown and misterious region of Asia. Vikram Seth's style is incredibly fresh. You can't miss it.
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Summary: Hitchhike from China to New Delhi
Review: As travel books go this is one of the best. Vikram went on to become the erudite novelist he is today.
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Summary: A Misnomer Title
Review: As usual Vikram's books have the complexities wrapped in simplicity. Unlike Gandhi's desire of simple life, Vikram's simplicity is a work of art. The details have been put really nicely but at the same time lacked a bit of maturity. But truly a treat of a travelogue. Especially "the pig's hair in the soup". However, the title is a bit of a misnomer as the heaven's lake hardly makes a worthwhile presence in the book. In the end however, there is a feeling of haste especially as soon as he crossed into Nepal. I guess, he was too exhausted to take notice of things around him. But, in a nutshell a well written travelogue with an Indian flavour. The shame is there should have been more travelogues from him.
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Summary: High on list of recommended reading for all Sinofiles.
Review: Fascinating, superbly written account of travels around China. Should be of great interest to those who intend to venture to any of the destination Seth treks to. Amazing contrast of life in China - now & then. Stark differences of difficulties Seth encountered in his travels back in the early 1980s to the ease with which one can travel around China these days is telling of how far China has come in the past 1 to 2 decades.
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Summary: Politics, hitch-hiking and just a mention of yaks.
Review: From the author of two best selling novels "A Suitable Boy" and "An Equal Music" this travel book is something very different. It is a delightfully written story created from the journals kept by Vikram Seth during his hitch-hiking traverse of China from Nanjing to Tibet. For most people, certainly for most westerners, this is about as far off the beaten track as it is possible to get. We sympathise with Seth as he endeavours to obtain the myriad of visas necessary to cross communist China. These include, entry visas, travel visas, permits to stay in a certain village/area/precinct/canton and of course, exit visas. The bureaucracy is simply immense and yet nobody has any real authority, always having to revert up the seemingly endless chain of superiors. Overcoming the man made hurdles is only part of the story as rain, floods, swamps, swollen rivers, altitude sickness, extreme cold, washed away bridges and difficult terrain pose further obstacles along the journey. During the narrative, Seth breaks off occasionally to discuss the Chinese political system and interestingly compares it with the Indian political system. The Chinese dictatorship virtually removes free will from the people whilst the wheels of Indian democracy slowly turn in a very different form of bureaucratic inefficiency. "One overwhelming fact" says Seth "is that the Chinese have a better system of social care and distribution than we in India do. Their aged do not starve. Their children are basically healthy. By and large the people are well clothed, very occasionally in rags." He goes on "The fact that we have elections every five years means that the government is afraid to undertake projects that are unpopular but beneficious in the long term. The Chinese government is not thus fettered". Throughout his travels, but particularly in Tibet, the smashed temples, buildings and works of art, to say nothing of the ruined families, present evidence of the destruction which was wrought during the cultural revolution. How ironic that I was reading this in April 2001 whilst the Taliban were destroying fifth century carvings of standing Buddhas in Afghanistan. This review would not be complete without a mention of the yaks which form part of the scenery along Seth's route. Whilst alive, the yak is an efficient machine converting grass into milk, butter, cheese and yoghurt. It provides a convenient means of transportation and delivers dung for fuel and fertiliser. Finally, the meat, bone, pelt, fur, hooves and tail provide sustenance, clothing, leather and material for tents and awnings. So, please read and enjoy this unique travelogue by an educated, eloquent and observant man, multilingual Vikram Seth, also known as Xie Binlang in China. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Politics, hitch-hiking and just a mention of yaks.
Review: From the author of two best selling novels "A Suitable Boy" and "An Equal Music" this travel book is something very different. It is a delightfully written story created from the journals kept by Vikram Seth during his hitch-hiking traverse of China from Nanjing to Tibet. For most people, certainly for most westerners, this is about as far off the beaten track as it is possible to get. We sympathise with Seth as he endeavours to obtain the myriad of visas necessary to cross communist China. These include, entry visas, travel visas, permits to stay in a certain village/area/precinct/canton and of course, exit visas. The bureaucracy is simply immense and yet nobody has any real authority, always having to revert up the seemingly endless chain of superiors. Overcoming the man made hurdles is only part of the story as rain, floods, swamps, swollen rivers, altitude sickness, extreme cold, washed away bridges and difficult terrain pose further obstacles along the journey. During the narrative, Seth breaks off occasionally to discuss the Chinese political system and interestingly compares it with the Indian political system. The Chinese dictatorship virtually removes free will from the people whilst the wheels of Indian democracy slowly turn in a very different form of bureaucratic inefficiency. "One overwhelming fact" says Seth "is that the Chinese have a better system of social care and distribution than we in India do. Their aged do not starve. Their children are basically healthy. By and large the people are well clothed, very occasionally in rags." He goes on "The fact that we have elections every five years means that the government is afraid to undertake projects that are unpopular but beneficious in the long term. The Chinese government is not thus fettered". Throughout his travels, but particularly in Tibet, the smashed temples, buildings and works of art, to say nothing of the ruined families, present evidence of the destruction which was wrought during the cultural revolution. How ironic that I was reading this in April 2001 whilst the Taliban were destroying fifth century carvings of standing Buddhas in Afghanistan. This review would not be complete without a mention of the yaks which form part of the scenery along Seth's route. Whilst alive, the yak is an efficient machine converting grass into milk, butter, cheese and yoghurt. It provides a convenient means of transportation and delivers dung for fuel and fertiliser. Finally, the meat, bone, pelt, fur, hooves and tail provide sustenance, clothing, leather and material for tents and awnings. So, please read and enjoy this unique travelogue by an educated, eloquent and observant man, multilingual Vikram Seth, also known as Xie Binlang in China. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Surely not Seth's best one
Review: Happened to read this , after a popular one by the same author , and found its presentation in stark variance to his magna opus 'The suitable boy' . Aint sure but beleive he should have written it during his student days and surely doesnt reflect the true potential of this immensely talented Indian writer . But nevertheless it's a pretty good book about those adventurous travels in Central china and their notorious beurocracy, but dont expect it be anywhere near the Bill Bryson's class.
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Summary: Award Winning Travel Book
Review: I am not a reader of travel books, but could not put this one down. Seth not only was, by hitchhiking through forbidden areas, able to see and experience things way off the usual tourist agenda but was then able to turn his remarkable observations and astonishing prose into an unforgettable read. His journey begins when as a student in China he decides to break away from his keepers and exit the country through forbidden Tibet to Nepal. From the start of his hitchhiking adventure through his visit to Lhasa, and ultimately his walking past armed guards into Nepal never sure if he would be shot or not, his audacity excites, and his insights amaze. This ranks high with me in his short list of published works. Winner of the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for best travel book of the year 1983.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok not one of his best works
Review: In general, I like vikram seth's works. But,I found this early travelogue to be less insightful and interesting than his later novels. I did not really connect with him, his travels, his predicaments, or the people he met along the way.
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