I think a lot of armchair archaeologists began their career with books about ancient mysteries.
Von Daniken.
Kolosimo.
Berlitz.
More recently, Colin Wilson and Graham Hancock.

While today I probably prefer a solid book about actual archaeology, I had a lot of fun, as a kid, reading quite a few of those books.
I remain an enthusiastic supporter of the late Peter Kolosimo, and I do not condemn or despise the “mysterious archaeology” genre as a whole.
As long as we are in the clear, and the author does not try too hard to convince me, I usually enjoy the ride.
And who knows, one can always find strange ideas to use in a story… when you write adventure tales ans imaginative fiction, ancient mysteries are a good source of material.

So I went and caught me an ebook copy of David Hatcher Childress’ Lost Cities of China, Central Asia and India.
I am familiar with the author’s work and his main themes, and my espectations were not too high.
I was not looking forward at having my world-view radically altered, but rather I expected a general overview of ancient Asian mysteries, withthe occasional Yeti.

What i din not expect was the travelogue style of the narrative, which follows a young DHC in a romp through the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, and assorted destinations.
It sort of reads like a diary from a student taking a sabbatical through Asia, with a side serving of mysteries and ancient conspiracies.

Now, this can work for you, or it cannot.
To me, the fun of the approach (Hatcher Childress writes with enthusiasm and a good voice) wore rather thin rather fast – I wanted more solid data, a more documentary approach, about, you know, the lost cities of China, Central Asia and India.
After one hundred pages (the book exceedes the 400 mark), the commonplace incidents of life on the road become trite – one would like more details about the Lost Cities of the title, more meat, if you will.
Boredom ensues.
Or even better – not boredom, but the impression that the good stuff is diluted and dispersed through a standard travelogue.
Putting the book down to find something more interesting to do becomes easier and easier.

On the plus side, many of the details provided by the author make for great background for future stories – the sort of light detail one adds to the text to spice up the story and give it a feeling of authenticity.

So, while the book does not feel out of place on the shelf of travellers tales books, it somewhat falls short – for me – in the “ancient mysteries” department.
It is a great starting point, but if one is looking for in-depth information and details, the best part is probably the bibliography.

I hoped better, but some of the material did take me by surprise.
And as I said, this will be good to go back to when writing my stories – not many writing prompts in this one, but lots of local color.