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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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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 EXHML27. Buy these 5 items as a set for $78 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Trekking in Ladakh

Trekking in Ladakh

by Charlie Loram

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A practical guide to trekking in this remote enclave, this book includes 50 maps, route descriptions, an overview of Leh and a section of color photographs. (HML25, $19.95)

So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

So Close to Heaven, The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

by Barbara Crossette

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 297 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Asia correspondent for the New York Times, Crossette portrays Bhutan and neighboring Ladakh and Sikkim as strongholds of Tantric Buddhism in an increasingly homogenized world. (NPL04, $16.00)

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

Essential Tibetan Buddhism

by Robert Thurman

  • RELIGION
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

The foremost Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, Thurman has chosen well from that tradition's sacred literature and helpfully includes suggested further reading, explanatory notes and a directory of sacred sites. (TBT15, $14.99)

A Journey in Ladakh

A Journey in Ladakh

by Andrew Harvey

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 236 PAGES

The vivid account of a 1981 journey by a young English poet in search of ancient Buddhist traditions in remote Ladakh. (HML15, $18.95)

India North Map

India North Map

by Nelles

  • MAP

A regional map of northern India scaled at 1:1,500,000, with excellent topographic detail and insets of Delhi, Agra, Zanskar & Ladakh. (IDA124, $13.95)

 
The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map

The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map


by Odyssey Maps

  • 2011
  • MAP

Three large annotated color maps, dozens of photographs and expert commentary illustrate sites across the Silk Road from China across Central Asia, the Middle East and Asia Minor. (ASA58, $14.95)

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)

Footprint India Handbook

Footprint India Handbook


by Annie Dare | David Stott

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 1616 PAGES

A comprehensive gudie to India with practical travel detail on where to go and what to do. (IDA138, $29.95)

India, A History

India, A History


by John Keay

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 608 PAGES

A sweeping history of India from early settlement in the Indus Valley around 2000 B.C through ancient civilizations, Hindu, Christian and Muslim traditions, Mughal pomp, colonial rule, independence and the heady challenges of modern democracy. (IDA175, $19.95)

Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism


by John Powers

  • RELIGION
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 591 PAGES

A comprehensive study of the history and philosophy behind Tibetan Buddhism, suitable for the general reader. (TBT40, $22.95)

The Dragon in the Land of Snows

The Dragon in the Land of Snows


by Tsering Shakya

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 606 PAGES

A comprehensive account of the history and political development of Tibet since 1947, which includes eye-opening details of the American, British and Indian players involved in Tibet's struggle for sovereignty. (TBT32, $18.00)

The Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

The Open Road, The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama


by Pico Iyer

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Travel writer Pico Iyer, who has known the Dalai Lama since his days as a graduate student in Britain, draws on his long association with the man and his ideas for this remarkable portrait of the Tibetan people and the aspirations of their leader. He includes chapters on daily life in Dharamsala, travels with the Dalai Lama and incisive commentary on the history and future of Tibet. (TBT118, $14.95)

The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia

The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia


by Frances Wood

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 270 PAGES

Wood draws on hundreds of archival photographs, manuscripts and paintings from the British Library in telling this lively story of the art, culture and history of diverse trade routes. With chapters on jade and silk, trade during the Han Dynasty, Dunhuang, the Great Game, explorers and the Silk Road today. (ASA36, $28.95)

Trans-Himalayan Caravans, Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh

Trans-Himalayan Caravans, Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh


by Janet Rizvi

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 388 PAGES

Rizvi draws on archives, historical sources and personal interviews with modern traders in this colorful account of this history of trade in High Asia from the seventh to the twentieth centuries. (HML86, $29.95)

World Religions: Eastern Traditions

World Religions: Eastern Traditions


by Willard G. Oxtoby

  • RELIGION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 515 PAGES

A clear and insightful introduction to Eastern religions by a team of scholars, covering Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist and East Asian traditions. Scholarly, but still rewarding for the general reader. (ASA07, $79.95)

Among the Mountains, Travels through Asia

Among the Mountains, Travels through Asia


by Wilfred Thesiger

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 174 PAGES

A classic account of intrepid British explorer Wilfred Thesiger's travels through the mountain ranges of Iraqi Kurdistan, the Karakorams, the Hindu Kush, and Ladakh. (ASA28, $17.99)

Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh

Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh


by Dalai Lama | Peter Matthiessen | Helena Norberg-Hodge

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 226 PAGES

Norberg-Hodge documents her community work and changes from traditional ways of life; she has lived and worked in Ladakh since 1975. (HML24, $16.95)

My Life as an Explorer

My Life as an Explorer


by Sven Hedin | Anthony Brandt

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 546 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

One of the great adventure books of all time (it's on National Geographic's list of the 100 greatest, My Life as an Explorer chronicles the extraordinary feats of the indomitable Swede Sven Hedin (1865-1952) across Asia. (CAS06, $16.00)

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang


by Sally Wriggins

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A nicely illustrated account of an extraordinary, 16-year trek from Xi'an to India by way of Central Asia in search of the origins of Buddhism by Xuan-Zang, the famous 7th-century Chinese monk. (ASA31, $25.00)

Glacier Ice

Glacier Ice


by Austin Post | Edward R. LaChapelle

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 145 PAGES

A classic book of extraordinary black-and-white aerial photographs of mountains and glaciers by two devoted men of ice. Ed LaChapelle's text is paired with Austin Post's stunning aerial photographs of glaciers from Alaska and Chile to Switzerland, the Himalayas and other parts of the world. (SCI07, $27.95)

Wild India, The Wildlife of India and Nepal

Wild India, The Wildlife of India and Nepal


by Guy Mountefort | Gerald Cubitt

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

An informative introduction to the natural history of the region in a handsome oversize volume. With hundreds of extraordinary photographs of the wildlife and landscapes of the Himalayas, the Indo-Ganges Plain and the Deccan. (IDA02, $29.95)

Birds of India

Birds of India


by Richard Grimmett | Carol Inskipp | Tim Inskipp

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

Thoroughly revised, with 73 new plates and many others updated or repainted, the second edition of the masterful Birds of India now features all maps and text opposite the plates for quicker and easier reference. (FG43, $39.50)

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas

Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas


by Bikram Grewal

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

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. (HML31, $15.95)

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.