Travels Across the Roof of the World: A Himalayan Memoir

Winner (Art and Photography, Memoirs, and Best-in-Show categories), Southwest Book Design and Production Awards 2023Silver Medal for Travel Books Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition 2023Silver Medal Winner for Book/People PX3 - Prix de la Photographie 2023Foreword INDIES Book Awards 2022 Gold Winner for Coffee Table BookForeword INDIES Awards 2022 Gold Winner for Best Travel Book Silver Medal Recipient in Books for the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022Silver Medal Recipient from the Budapest International Foto Awards 2022Silver Winner of the 2023 IPPY Awards for Best Coffee Table BookBronze Winner of the 2023 IPPY Awards for Best Travel Book2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for PhotographyFinalist for 2023 International Book Awards in PhotographyFinalist for 2023 International Book Awards in Travel: Guides and EssaysTravels across the Roof of the World provides a sweeping yet intimate view of the breathtaking peaks, splendid valleys, and extraordinary people of this vast region, from the Pamir Mountains in Kyrgyzstan through Afghanistan’s fabled Hindu Kush, the Karakoram in Pakistan, and the Great Himalaya Range that stretches across northern India, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan.Unique in scope among photo books on the Himalaya, Travels across the Roof of the World chronicles William and Anne Frej’s more than twenty pilgrimages throughout the area spanning forty years and 3,000 miles through some of the world’s most remote and difficult-to-reach country. Inspired by the devotion to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism they encountered in the villagers they met on their first trek to Nepal in 1981, they set out on a quest to document Asia’s highest peaks as well as the lives of the resilient people living in these remote mountain communities.When they began, trekkers from the West through these regions were few. Even now, trips are demanding––but not nearly as harsh as the daily lives of the residents, who continue to exist in a kind of stunning isolation that has allowed them to maintain the rich cultural traditions and spiritual practices that have sustained them over many centuries. Edwin Bernbaum’s essay adds to the depth of the pictures, with his focus on the symbolism, religious importance, and associated legends of these sacred places. The authors also share extensive vignettes about the places they saw and how they have changed over time. Read more