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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 EXHML45. Buy these 5 items as a set for $76 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Lonely Planet Northeast India

Lonely Planet Northeast India

by Mark Elliott | Joseph Bindloss | Lindsay Brown

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 376 PAGES

This guide covers easternmost India in the hallmark Lonely Planet style, covering Calcutta, Sikkim, West Bengal and Orissa along with the newly opened and little-visited northeastern states. (IDA518, $23.99)

Touching My Father's Soul, A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

Touching My Father's Soul, A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

by Jamling Tenzing Norgay | Broughton Coburn | Dalai Lama

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 316 PAGES

A personal account of the business of Everest, the 1996 IMAX Expedition and, most significantly, of a son who is grappling with the legacy of a famous father. (NPL42, $15.99)

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)

Sikkim Map

Sikkim Map

by ITMB

  • MAP

A full-color detailed map of Sikkim for travelers at a scale of 1:140,000. (HML75, $9.95)

 
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)

Buddhist Himalayas

Buddhist Himalayas


by Olivier and Danielle Follmi | Mattieu Ricard

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES

A big, beautiful celebration of the Himalayas, featuring 185 richly colored, often double-page photographs and essays by Mattieu Ricard. (HML53, $32.95)

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi


by William Dalrymple

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 350 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Dalrymple infectiously interweaves his own experiences over a year in Delhi with the art, architecture, history and literature of the city. (IDA06, $16.00)

Delhi, Then and Now

Delhi, Then and Now


by Dilip Bobb

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 202 PAGES

A rich portfolio of archival photographs and illustrations, together with vibrant new pictures, capture Delhi in all its glory past and present. (IDA408, $39.95)

In the Shadow of the Himalayas, A Photographic Record by John Claude White 1883-1908

In the Shadow of the Himalayas, A Photographic Record by John Claude White 1883-1908


by Kurt Meyer | Pamela Deuel Meyer

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • OUT OF PRINT

A collection of 144 remarkable documentary photographs of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim at the turn of the 20th century by John Claude White (1853-1918), the first British Political Officer to Sikkim. (HML71, $65.00)

India

India


by Stanley Wolpert

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 281 PAGES

Reflections on India -- religion and philosophy, art, culture, and politics -- by the dean of its American historians: beautifully written, and provocative as well as evocative. (IDA04, $24.95)

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 Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Tibetan Book of the Dead


by Graham Coleman | Gyurme Dorje

  • RELIGION
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

The first complete English translation of an indispensable work on Tibetan religious beliefs. (TBT88, $21.00)

From Heaven Lake, Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet


by Vikram Seth

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1987
  • PAPER
  • 178 PAGES

An unconventional, award-winning travelogue of a 1981 trip to India from China via the Himalayas by the marvelous Indian novelist Vikram Seth. (HML19, $15.00)

Himalayan Passage, Seven Months in the High Country of Tibet, Nepal, China, India, & Pakistan

Himalayan Passage, Seven Months in the High Country of Tibet, Nepal, China, India, & Pakistan


by Jeremy Schmidt

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

National Geographic Expert Jeremy Schmidt and photographer Patrick Morrow recount their circumnavigation of the Himalayas, accompanied by their wives. Their journey by bike, truck and foot across Tibet, Nepal, China, India and Pakistan is illustrated with 32 pages of color photographs. (HML05, $18.95)

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)

View from the Summit

View from the Summit


by Sir Edmund Hillary

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 310 PAGES

The remarkable Hillary discusses the adventures that shaped his long life. (HML89, $14.95)

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)

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India and Nepal

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India and Nepal


by Bikram Grewal

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

A slim pocket guide to 252 of the most conspicuous birds of India and Nepal. (IDA46, $15.95)

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)

Surviving Everest

Surviving Everest


by

  • 2003
  • DVD
  • OUT OF PRINT

A celebration of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by National Geographic. The documentary details the many triumphs and disasters that have occurred on Mt. Everest, including original 1953 footage and a 1984 tribute. (HML58, $24.95)

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.