Bringing Progress to Paradise: What I Got from Giving to a Mountain Village in Nepal

This is my favorite type of book...journeys into different cultures.This interesting journey is very well written by the man who walked the walk and talked the talk, Mr. Jeff Rasley.After years of trekking the foothills/mid-hills of the Himalayas in Nepal's various regions of peaks, he finds that there is a remote village not a part of 'this century'. (It is not even located on any map.)It is very much cut off from mass society. With no road leading to this village, Mr. Rasley finds it worth putting together all he can of a trekking party...one that consists of people from the U.S. who will fly with him to Katmandu, Nepal, then to join a trekking team consisting of a very reliable Sherpa who will head the trek, and responsible porters who carry the needs of the trekkers, i.e. supplies for cooking and, well 'other necessary things' (you'll see!).To trek this journey will take a few days to reach the remote village of Basa. But it's worth the pain of the hike as he and his entourage are bringing books and school supplies to last a few years of teaching and learning. And a teacher will also be supplied and paid.As they find it, the village has no roads, no hospital, no school, no running water, no electricity or any other type of socially integrated systems. The villagers have only what is man/woman made. All building materials and food gardens are all foraged from their surroundings, and from what they plant.The people (like many in that region of the world) live in a caste system. But with the educational materials which Mr. Rasley and the team are providing make these new tools hopeful ones, so that they can catch up with differentiations for change. Hopefully the internet will enter it's way once younger generations have found how knowledgeable learning can be applied. Educating this village could bring it prosperity economically and how to make their small society prosper even more like in other parts of the world, or that like their neighbors in their own part of the world.Thank you, Mr. Radley for writing the book so well done, and God Bless you for the size of your heart and your determination! I do hope you will write a sequel to this in a few years. I'll be waiting, no matter the outcome. You planted your seeds. I'm sure you are keeping an eye on their growth!

The title: "What I Got", the word there being I, as in the author. It's a good book. Maybe not great, and I've read much better travelogues, and much worse. I don't like to assume, but throughout the book I just got the feeling that the author was feeding his own ego and really trying to help the people of Basa to simply say he helped them. More trying to help himself rather than the people. He was heading a cultural expedition, but seemed like he took every opportunity to leave the members behind and hike by himself. His first meeting with the people of Basa (outside of the porters that travel outside of the village) and what does he do, pulls out a book and starts reading. What? Pulls out a book. After everything he is saying and how he is so excited to get to the village. Pulls out a book. Hmmm, not a good sign.Bottom line, and all my opinion, definitely worthwhile if your interested at all in Nepal, but just a bit too much of the author, and too little of the people he is trying to help, for me. More a trekking experience type book. I do give it four stars, after saying all that, because it is well written and did hold my interest. Not one of my favorites, but far from bad. Again, definitely a worthwhile read if your interested in the area and whatever or however the author writes or feels, he did some good for the people there and if thats not worth writing and reading about, I don't know what is.

I was fascinated from the beginning by the author's enthusiasm for getting away from our modern society with all of it's gadgets and greed into a culture so simple and yet so apparently satisfying to its people. Rasley obviously finds fuel and meaning for his own life by observing the love and happiness evidenced by the inhabitants of the remote village of Basa in Nepal, despite their lack of even the simple conveniences of electricity and running water. His story of the logistics of trekking in a foreign land and culture, the difficulty of just getting there, the friendships formed with the locals who make it possible, and the interaction of his fellow trekkers is well told. His description of how happy the people of Basa are to receive his group and the school supplies they bring, and the sadness of the villagers when they depart is very touching. This is an inspiring, real-life adventure story, well written, deserving of recommendation to both young readers and old cynics.

I have read several articles by Mr. Rasley about his adventures and looked forward to his book. If I could picture a time pre-written word and be sitting around a campfire with the people of my community listening to the old story teller sharing stories of the quests of our people, I could picture Mr. Rasley being that story teller. He writes in a style that is vivid and uses words to draw visual images that are so real you feel like you are there. I was caught with excitement just reading the introduction in his book. As I read Mr. Rasley's book about his experiences in Nepal his love and compassion for the people of Nepal and their country came through in a way that made me dream of visiting there too. He is an AMBASADOR for Nepal while being an American. This book is well worth reading but be careful. You may find that you will want to visit Nepal too and find yourself contacting Mr. Rasley about his next trek.

I bought this book (on Kindle) because I am planning a lengthy trip to Nepal in a few months. I wanted to read an honest depiction of the culture and issues of this small, poverty country. I am deeply enjoying this book. It is nice to read a true account. You can feel the author's love for Nepal and the Nepalese people as you turn the pages. I have a better understanding of what to expect upon visiting the country now and I'm anxious to finish the book!