Among the Tibetans

Among the Tibetans recounts Isabella Bird's travels and experiences in the Himalayas, and her encounters with the native people.

Among the Tibetans is a record of Isabella Bishop's 1889 journey into Ladakh. It is a fascinating account of her encounters with the region's natives and her observations of their lifestyles, as well as an insight into the difficulties of travelling in such areas in the late nineteenth century.Isabella Bishop (née Bird) published Among the Tibetans in 1894 and recounts her adventures of five years earlier. Bird was recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for her physical and nervous difficulties. She had previously toured the United States and Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Sandwich Islands, and the Far East before her marriage to Dr John Bishop. After his death in 1886, Isabella resolved to travel again, although now for missionary purposes. She studied practical medicine at St Mary's Hospital in London and was baptised in a ceremony of total immersion. She travelled to India and Tibet in 1889, both visiting medical missions and embarking on the journey into Ladakh on horseback and by houseboat, camping and living among the natives. The book recounts her observations of day-to-day life in the area, as well as its politics and environment.