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CHAPTER ONE
Journey to Thibet
During the sojourn of M. Notovitch in India, he enjoyed frequent opportunities of mingling and holding converse with Buddhists, and the many interesting accounts which they gave him of Thibet so enthused him that he decided to take a journey to that still unexplored country.
With this object he chose a route leading through the enchanting valley of Kashmir-a country which he had often desired to visit.
.Leaving Lahore October 14th, 1887, he arrived at Rawalpindi the following day, where he made all preparations for a long and tedious journey over a region where railroads are unknown, and where the only means of conveyance are horses—a journey more or less fraught with dangers from incomplete roads through rugged mountains, and the possible prey of wild animals with which the forests abound.
Often the traveler may journey many weary miles without finding an inn where he may rest, except the isolated bungalows, which have been erected at intervals along the road by the English; these are small houses with one floor, not particularly attractive for their comforts, but to the traveller, exhausted from climbing
