Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

SEE ALL >

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

To the Arctic

Florian Schultz

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

GLOBES

The Pioneer

Replogle

SEE ALL >

Mustang Trek: Exploring a Hidden Ancient Kingdom

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

  • E-MAIL
  • PRINT

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXNPL55. Buy these 4 items as a set for $100 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG

Mustang: Lives and Landscapes of the Lost Tibetan Kingdom

by Nina Wegner | Taylor Weidman

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2012
  • HARD COVER
  • 120 PAGES

This remarkable chronicle of life in Mustang, the former Kingdom of Lo, includes full-color photographs and essays on traditional life and culture in one of the most remote corners of Nepal. All proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the nonprofit Vanishing Cultures Project. (TBT144, $50.00)

The Violet Shyness of Their Eyes

The Violet Shyness of Their Eyes

by Barbara J. Scot

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A heartfelt portrait of the Nepalese people and culture, resulting from the author's year teaching in Nepal. An excellent memoirist, Scot combines personal observation, thoughtful commentary and warmth. (HML14, $16.95)

Trekking Nepal, A Traveler's Guide

Trekking Nepal, A Traveler's Guide

by Stephen Bezruchka

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A respected guide covering route planning, national parks, health, where to go and what to do in Nepal. With an overview of the geography, history, religion and culture of the region. (NPL10, $29.95)

Nepal Map

Nepal Map

by Nelles

  • 2008
  • MAP

A double-sided map at a scale of 1:500,000, with insets of Kathmandu City and Kathmandu Valley. (NPL01, $13.95)

 

Annapurna Trekking Map


by Trails Illustrated

  • 2002
  • MAP

Produced in conjunction with the Himalayan Map House in Kathmandu, this detailed map (1:135,000) shows 100-meter contour lines. (NPL74, $11.95)

Journey to Mustang


by Guiseppi Tucci

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • MAP
  • 96 PAGES

In this new edition of his travalogue of an exploratory trek through western Nepal in 1952, the legendary linguist and Tibetologist, Guiseppi Tucci, describes his experiences and discoveries as the first 20th century western scholar to travel through the region. (NPL78, $29.00)

Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment, How to Stay Healthy at Altitude

Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment, How to Stay Healthy at Altitude


by Stephen Bezruchka

  • REFERENCE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

Bezruchka, a mountaineer and M.D., includes case studies, frequently asked questions and simple methods of diagnosis and treatment in this indispensable pocket guide. (REF02, $8.95)

Lonely Planet Nepal

Lonely Planet Nepal


by Lonely Planet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 420 PAGES

A comprehensive, practical guide to Nepal. (NPL28, $25.99)

Lonely Planet Nepali Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Nepali Phrasebook


by Mary-Jo O'Rourke

  • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 258 PAGES

A palm-sized guide to pronunciation, grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (NPL62, $8.99)

Trekking Tibet

Trekking Tibet


by Gary McCue | George Schaller

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

An indispensable guide, featuring pre-trip planning, discussions of the most scenic routes and an overview of Tibetan culture and history. (TBT10, $29.95)

Mountain

Mountain


by Sandy Hill

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER

Published with the American Alpine Club, this stunning celebration of the allure of climbing and grandeur of the great peaks features images by nature photographers and adventurers spanning two centuries, Ansel Adams, Edmund Hillary, Bradford Washburn and Galen Rowell among them. Sandy Hill, one of the first women to reach all seven summits, and others provide concise essays but it is the 350 oversized, sumptuously produced black-and-white and color photographs that entrance. (EXP97, $85.00)

Goa, and the Blue Mountains or Six Months of Sick Leave

Goa, and the Blue Mountains or Six Months of Sick Leave


by Richard Burton

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

A facsimile edition of Burton's first book, an account of travels in Goa, the Nilgiri mountains and cities along the Malabar coast of southwestern India, first published in 1851. (IDA259, $28.95)

The Snow Leopard

The Snow Leopard


by Peter Matthiessen

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

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. (NPL03, $16.00)

The Waiting Land, A Spell in Nepal

The Waiting Land, A Spell in Nepal


by Dervla Murphy

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 216 PAGES

Murphy describes her various journeys by air, by bicycle and on foot into the remote and mountainous Lantang region on the border of Tibet in this charming tale of great adventure. (NPL05, $29.95)

In the Land of the Blue Poppies

In the Land of the Blue Poppies


by Frank Kingdon-Ward | Tom Christopher | Jamaica Kincaid

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 242 PAGES

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. (ASA35, $19.00)

Buddha's Orphans

Buddha's Orphans


by Samrat Upadhyay

  • LITERATURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

This novel by Samrat Upadhyay (Arresting God in Kathmandu) sets Nepal's political upheaval as a backdrop to the love story of Raja, an orphan boy, and Nilu, a daughter of privilege. Their story transports readers across generations and explores family connections. (NPL71, $14.95)

Escape from Kathmandu

Escape from Kathmandu


by Kim Stanley Robinson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

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. (NPL41, $18.99)

In the Land of No Right Angles

In the Land of No Right Angles


by Daphne Beal

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 278 PAGES

Beal evokes the grit of Kathmandu and the emotional intricacies of trying to do good in the world in this tale of a young American student abroad, an older expat and a young village woman whose life they change forever. (NPL60, $13.95)

The Ascent of Rum Doodle

The Ascent of Rum Doodle


by W. E. Bowman

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

This hilarious send-up of the great British mountaineers, originally published in 1956, is hardly handicapped by the fact that Bowman never set foot in the Himalayas. (HML55, $15.95)

The Godfather of Kathmandu

The Godfather of Kathmandu


by John Burdett

  • MYSTERY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Sonchai Jitpleecheep, the tenacious Thai police detective, is put to the test as both a cop and as a Buddhist in Burdett's latest, wickedly entertaining mystery, fourth in the series. (TLD93, $14.95)

Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe

Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe


by George Schaller

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 373 PAGES

A detailed account of the Change Tang reserve, Schaller's natural history is also a good overview of the adjoining Himalayan regions. His focus is on the Tibetan gazelle, chiru, blue sheep and other little-known ungulates, (TBT31, $27.50)

Birds of Nepal

Birds of Nepal


by Richard Grimmett | Carol Inskipp | Tim Inskipp

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Covering all 760 species of birds occurring in Nepal, this book features 110 color plates. Text and illustrations are integrated on facing pages for easy reference in the field. (NPL40, $35.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.