Paul Spencer Sochaczewski

I’m pleased to announce the release of the third of five books in the Curious Encounters personal travel tales series — a collection of stories I’ve written based on my 45 years of living and traveling in curious corners of Asia. 

What’s the attraction of the Himalayan region?

Is it the silk and homespun Tibetan culture, or the mountain varieties of Hinduism and Buddhism that flourish there?  Prayer flags and Shangri-La? It could be our admiration of the exploits of mountain climbers, surely among the most talented sportspeople on Earth. Perhaps it’s the hill tribes, or the elusive snow leopard and even harder-to-pin-down yeti. Maybe it’s the altitude. It’s probably not the food.

It’s a place where geopolitics play hardball, where people living in the high mountains go about their business as they see fit, in some cases trying to retain their societies in the face of cultural attacks on their homelands. 

In this new book I’ll share several curious encounters and unusual challenges:

• What’s a rural Indian woman to do when a flying Hindu monkey god doesn’t return her mountain? 
• Would you risk your life by hugging a tree?  
• How do you find a nameless young girl you first met (for five minutes) twenty-six years earlier? 
• For environmental consciousness should we trust the international bureaucrats or a Bhutanese farmer? 
• Does the yeti illuminate the dark side of our souls? 
• Why do we have an urge to “rid the land of demons”?  
• How do “often frothy” phalluses  (as described by one academician) protect Bhutanese villagers?

This is the Himalayan region as you’ve perhaps never imagined, full of memorable people, startling happenings and unexpected moments of humanity and introspection, giddiness and solemnity, avarice and ambition.

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“If anyone can pull off something as innovative as Curious Encounters it’s Paul Sochaczewski. Expect pellucid writing, insightful irreverence and universal truths elegantly presented, in a genre that defies categorization.”

—John Keay, author of When Men and Mountains Meet, and India: A History

“A fun, and funny, introduction to some of the most interesting people, places and sights of South and Southeast Asia.  A must-read for all serious travelers.”

—Jonah Blank, author of Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana through India

“Paul Sochaczewski skips about Asia like a Monkey God hopping from mountain to mountain, bringing back life-prolonging peaches while annoying the gatekeepers. Whatever you do, follow him on this journey.”

—Lee Chor Lin, director of National Museum of Singapore, former curator of Asian Civilizations Museum-Singapore, author of Batik: Creating an Identity.

‘In more than 40 years of exploring Asia’s forgotten corners, Paul Sochaczewski has produced five volumes of personal traveler’s tales — captivating, filled with humor, drama and insight, with an edgy take-no-prisoners voice; you won’t find anything else like this on the bookshelf.”

—Jeff McNeely, former chief scientist, International Union for Conservation of Nature, co-author Mammals of Thailand.

“Paul Sochaczewski is a world-class searcher, reporter, and observer who has crisscrossed Asia, pausing in the most unlikely places, finding extraordinary people, and written his adventures in an series of insightful, witty chronicles. He is a knowledgeable guide to an often obscure world.”

—Christopher G. Moore, author of the Vincent Calvino novels, and Heart Talk.

For the first week only (through December 7), I will offer the ebook to friends at a special price of 99 cents/pence (prices may vary when ordered from other markets).