Nepal Guide Books

1. Stan Armington, Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, 5th ed. (1991, Lonely Planet, Berkeley)
   Good, concise trekking guide. Probably the best starting point. The detailed itineraries are helpful, but there is no need to follow them. The 7th edition (1997) is even better, and quotes me on page 104. Compact and light enough to carry along.

   Stephan Bezruchka, Trekking in Nepal, 6th ed. (1991, The Mountaineers, Seattle)

   Comprehensive trekking guide. Excellent discussion of health issues. Good for detailed planning. Much heavier than the Lonely Planet book.

   Insight Guides - Nepal, ed. Lisa Choegyal (1993, Houghton Mifflin, Boston)

   A good introduction to Nepal with many beautiful photographs. Not a typical travel guide. A fine source of inspiration, but not particularly practical. Printed on very heavy glossy paper. I did not bring this to Nepal.

   Karl Samson, Frommer's Nepal, 2nd ed. (1993, Prentice Hall, New York)

   Concise, practical information, especially for Kathmandu. Excellent restaurant recommendations. The most up to date. Very light and compact.

   Tony Wheeler, Nepal, 2nd ed. (1993, Lonely Planet, Berkeley)

   Good sight-seeing guide, especially for the Kathmandu valley. Oriented toward budget travel.

Remember that all guide books are somewhat out of date. The trekking guides, in particular, do not always reflect current conditions. Roads are being extended, new lodges are constantly going up, and the conditions are improving rapidly. Most trekking guides were originally written when conditions in rural Nepal were far more primitive. Primitive conditions can still be expected on the less traveled routes, however.

A few items not easily found in guide books when I went are the following:

• I found that two airlines, Nepal Airways and Royal Nepal, were providing flights to Lukla in the Everest region, so finding a flight was easier than in the past, when Royal Nepal was the only choice. you really want to. There was also a helicopter service by Asian Airlines, which is less affected by clouds than the planes are, and costs just about much.
• I could get a visa valid for up to 60 days in the US, which made a renewal in Nepal unnecessary. There was no money-changing requirement to get a trekking permit, and no need to get it in person if you don't mind paying a small service charge to a travel agent.

• The road east out of Pokhara now extends beyond Birethanti, although some maps still don't show it going that far. You can walk from the road to Birethanti in a half hour or so. You can even take the road further and go around Ghorepani and Poon Hill entirely if you don't want to deal with the climb.

• A hot spring next to the Modi Khola river, between New Bridge and Chhomrong, has become a very popular stop on the Annapurna Sanctuary trek, although it is barely mentioned in Bezruchka's guide, and is not among the suggested stops in the Lonely Planet guide I had.

• Most lodges have extensive menus, especially in the Annapurna region. There is no need to eat dal bhatt, the rice and lentil dish popular locally, unless you want to. Most Nepalese food is extremely bland and underspiced. You may want to bring some condiments.

Much has changed since 1994, although I also found much that was the same in 2000, when I made my second trip. The biggest changes I found then were an explosion of internet cafes, especially in Kathmandu, plus somewhat improved transportation. Prices hadn't changed much. The Maoist problem was on the rise, but not as bad as it would get in the following years. Reportedly, things have stabilized in 2006, and tourism is once again on the rise. My guide Lal told me that for safety and the economic benefit of Nepal, independent trekking is no longer permitted, and each trekker must at least have a guide and porter, and arrange the trek through a recognized agency.

Scott A. Yost Contact Scott A Visit to Nepal