Destination: Nepal
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Travel Literature
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The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen is, on one level, an account of a trek to Dolpo in the west of Nepal, keeping an eye open for snow leopards on the way. On another level, however, this moving and beautiful book pursues the ‘big questions’ of spirituality, nature and Buddhism, with the Himalaya as a constant background. This is one of our favourite books.
Chomolungma Sings the Blues: Travels Around Everest, by Ed Douglas, is an interesting portrait of the communities that live in the shadow of Everest and how they continue to deal with the social and environmental problems brought by trekkers and mountaineers attracted to the world’s most enigmatic peak. A ‘state of the mountain’ address, it’s a good alternative to the blinding testosterone of most climbing books.
To the Navel of the World, by Peter Somerville-Large, is an amusingly written account of a saunter around Nepal and Tibet. The author does some deep-winter trekking, using yaks, in the Solu Khumbu region and up to the Everest Base Camp. His encounters with tourism in remote locations are very funny.
Shopping for Buddhas, by Jeff Greenwald, is a wry, astute book about the author’s travels in Nepal, motivated by the obsessive and metaphorical pursuit of a perfect statue of the Buddha. Greenwald’s earlier book Mr Raja’s Neighbourhood is also worth a read.
Travelers’ Tales Nepal, edited by Rajendra Khadka, is an anthology of 37 interesting and wide-ranging stories from a variety of writers, including Peter Matthiessen and Jimmy Carter.
Video Night in Kathmandu, by Pico Iyer, gallivants all around Asia, but the single chapter on Nepal has some astute and amusing observations on the collision between Nepali tradition and Western culture.
The Waiting Land: A Spell in Nepal, by Dervla Murphy, is an interesting account of a visit to Nepal at a time when great changes were at hand. The author tells of her time spent in a Tibetan refugee camp near Pokhara, and of her travels in the Langtang region.
Travels in Nepal, by Charlie Pye-Smith, is a travel account with an interesting theme; the author travelled Nepal studying the impacts and benefits of foreign aid to the country, and his conclusions are incisive and thought-provoking, though a little dated now.
Beyond the Clouds: Journeys in Search of the Himalayan Kings, by Jonathan Gregson, is a portrait of the royal kings of the Himalaya, including the kings of Nepal and Mustang, as well as Bhutan and Sikkim.
Mustang: A Lost Tibetan Kingdom, by Michael Peissel, is a wonderful travelogue describing the famous explorer’s 1964 trek to Lo Manthang, as one of the first Westerners to enter the remote Tibetan kingdom.
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