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The cover has praise slapped across it in bolder color than the title. It has four film festival selection logos on the back. From all appearances, it would appear that the watcher is in for quite a treat.

Appearances can be so deceiving.

This documentary follows three men on a tour of holy sites in Tibet as they make their way to Oracle Lake high up in the mountains. Steve Dancz, a musician for the Discovery Channel, monk Khenpo Tashi and guide Glenn Mullin (with another group of pilgrims) travel several weeks, countless miles and over a thousand feet in the air to achieve their goal. In the process they encounter some of the holiest sights in Buddhism.

Drapong Monastery, which is, according to Dancz, the Oxford of monasteries, is among the first sites visited. Much time is spent here, listening to all the monks chant at their own pace and in their own style. It sounds like bees droning. They visit the Drak Yerpa caves. Nestled among lush looking mountains there are over five hundred caves where many yogis achieved enlightenment. At Samye monastery, Tibet’s first monastery (built in 737 A.D.), the group sample yak butter tea, which looks about as appetizing as it sounds – though they seem to enjoy it.

They go from site to site, visiting small shrines or various bits of Buddhist history. Dancz offers up his thoughts on each place, until eventually, they reach their destination – Oracle Lake. Oracle Lake is a place of much importance; most pilgrims who visit the lake are blessed with visions. From the second Dalai Lama forward, it has been a place of contemplation and enlightenment. At 16,500 feet, the air there is very thin. Dancz says that his senses have opened up, though many of the pilgrims traveling with him succumb to altitude sickness.

The narration on the documentary isn’t the best I’ve heard. Dancz talks about the visions people have, then moves on to another topic before coming back and talking about his own vision – a question that’s hung over the documentary since the beginning, when their end task was given. Would Dancz have a vision? What would it be? The way he flits from topic to topic before going back and answering questions is maddening, and only inspires you to turn off the DVD.

Bonuses include interviews with Khenpo Tashi and Glenn Mullin, and a music video (slightly trance-ish) by Dancz himself. They aren’t terribly interesting.

Though the documentary is supposed to be an inspiring tour of Buddhist spirituality and the history of Buddhism in Tibet, it just seems like a travel video that goes to a lot of caves turned into shrines put to the sound of a singing bowl (which annoys after a while). Nothing in the documentary was especially inspiring to me, and it only barely kept my attention.

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