What's a woman to do when a Hindu 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 protect Bhutanese villagers?

This is the Himalayan region as you've probably never imagined, full of memorable people, startling happenings,...

What's the attraction of coffee that's been digested by a civet? Can 200-million-year-old fossilized freshwater shark dung bring you good luck? Why do boys like to make things go bang - hey, lemme try the AK-47 ? Why is the belching and slovenly widow of Laos's first president so possessive about the animal she considers her white elephant? How did Vietnam's last elephant hunter, at the age of 90, get a lucrative sponsorship deal for a tonic that makes men more powerful? Did a love potion help a Filipino politician become governor? And what role did an absurdly rich, secretive American...

In the middle of a Borneo rainforest, a band of near-naked Penan tribesmen, encouraged by an equally clothes-challenged renegade Swiss shepherd, hesitantly blockade a logging truck, testing their commitment to protect their forest home. Nearby, a researcher studying orangutans is threatened with being thrown out of her study site unless she can reach a delicate compromise with the powerful minister of the environment. Meanwhile, loggers are busy at work, devastating the rainforest. And rehabilitant orangutans are not playing nice.