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You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Kathmandu
by Thomas Bell
Drawing on his years of experience in the Himalayan fortress, Bell introduces readers to Kathmandu’s layered history, touching on gods and goddesses and the caste system as well as the present-day push toward modernization and the recent, devastating earthquake.
Lonely Planet Nepal
by Lonely Planet
With up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, this handy travel companion to Nepal features color maps and images, suggested itineraries and a listing of festival dates.
Snake Lake
by Jeff Greenwald
A touching memoir by journalist Greenwald who returns to his old haunts in Kathmandu during the Maoist uprising. He struggles to balance his journeying with obligations to his depressed brother back home in the United States.
In the Land of the Blue Poppies
by Frank Kingdon-Ward, Tom Christopher (Editor), Jamaica Kincaid (Introduction)
Expert Tom Christopher presents excerpts from intrepid Kingdon-Ward's fascinating accounts of plant-hunting adventures in Tibet, Burma and the Himalayas in the early 20th century.
Sherpas, Reflections on Change in Himalayan Nepal
by James Fisher
A detailed study of the change that mountaineering brought to Sherpa society.
Arresting God in Kathmandu
by Samrat Upadhyay
This collection of stories explores the nature of desire and spirituality in modern Nepali society.
Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas
by Bikram Grewal
A pocket guide to 250 birds found from the foothills up to high elevations ranging from the Hindu Kush and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas. With brief descriptive information, maps and 260 full-color illustrations.
Lonely Planet Nepali Phrasebook
by Mary-Jo O'Rourke (Editor)
A palm-sized guide to pronunciation, grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler.
Fortress Monasteries of the Himalayas
by Peter Harrison
This slim book recreates the dramatic and colorful fortifications of Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal and Bhutan, recounting their history through foreign incursions, religious conflicts and civil wars to the Tibetan uprising and flight of the Dalai Lama from Potala Palace in 1959.
Mountain
by Sandy Hill
This stunning celebration of the allure of climbing and the grandeur of great peaks features 350 black-and-white and color images by nature photographers and adventurers spanning two centuries, among them, Ansel Adams, Edmund Hillary, Bradford Washburn and Galen Rowell.
The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Matthiessen's account of a five-week journey through Nepal with naturalist George Schaller combines their quest for the elusive cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas.
Against a Peacock Sky, Two Years in the Life of a Nepalese Village
by Monica Connell
Connell tells about her experience in the Nepalese Himalayan village of Talphi where she lived for two years. The place was so remote, she writes, it was ten days’ walk from the nearest road.
Walking the Himalayas
by Levison Wood
Explorer Levison Wood recounts his six-month, 1,700-mile trek through Afghanistan, Kashmir, Pakistan, India and into the foothills of the Himalayas, describing the landscapes, people and dangers that he meets along the way.
Escape from Kathmandu
by Kim Stanley Robinson
The four interconnected stories in this laugh-out-loud novel include the (mis)adventures of two young Americans with a Yeti, international espionage, mountain climbing of the highest sort and a quest for Shangri-La.
The Living Goddess: A Journey Into the Heart of Kathmandu
by Isabella Tree
The product of 12 years of travel and research, this travel narrative delves into the esoteric and fascinating Nepalese tradition of choosing a Living Goddess, a girl as young as three chosen to become a central spiritual leader.
Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment
by Stephen Bezruchka
Bezruchka, a mountaineer and M.D., includes case studies, frequently asked questions and simple methods of diagnosis and treatment in this indispensable pocket guide.
