Blue Sky Kingdom

Starred review from August 31, 2020
In this uplifting travelogue, Kirkby, a Canadian travel journalist and photographer, recounts how he and his family fled the pressures of society to “slow down” in a Himalayan Buddhist temple. Addicted to iPhones and exhausted from their oldest son, seven-year-old Bodi’s, autism spectrum diagnosis and treatment, Kirkby and his wife, Christine, decided to depart on their “fantasy” with their two children: a journey by canoe, container ship, train, and trekking, to the thousand-year-old Karsha Gompa in Zanskar, India (a three-month trip). Along the way, Kirkby and Christine teach English to novice monks and are adopted by Lama Wangyal, who gives them Tibetan names, a practical matter for pronunciation but also, Kirkby notes, an “honour.” Interspersed are facts about the Dalai Lama, Buddhist rituals, India’s history, and Chinese “territorial claims over Tibet,” with examples of prejudice against Tibetans in India (Wangyal is unable to obtain a visa to travel to Canada, despite Kirkby’s interventions). Kirkby has an eye for detail, imbuing even the most mundane tasks with meaning. Emotional reflections on the journey, Bodi’s “leaps in development,” and Kirkby’s “newfound ability to... actually meet Bodi where he is,” are juxtaposed with keen observations on the modern world encroaching on Zanskar. It’s poignant and gently provocative, much like a prayer flag blowing in the wind.