The real guide

by David Reed, Martin Dunford, Phil Lee

INTRODUCTION

Nepal forms the very watershed of Asia. Landlocked between India and Tibet, it spans terrain from subtropical jungle to the icy Himalaya, and contains or shares eight of the world's ten highest mountains. Its cultural landscape is every bit as a dozen major ethnic groups, speaking as many as fifty languages and dialects, coexist in this narrow, jumbled buffer state, while two of the world's great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, overlap and mingle with older tribal traditions - yet it's a testimony to the Nepalis' tolerance and good humour that there is no tradition of ethnic or religious strife. Unlike India, Nepal was never colonized, a fact which comes through in fierce national pride and other, more idiosyncratic ways. Founded on trans-Himalayan trade, its dense, medieval cities display a unique pagoda-style architecture, not to mention an astounding flair for festivals and pageantry. But above all, Nepal is a nation of unaffected villages and terraced hillsides - more than eighty percent of the population lives off the land - and whether you're trekking, biking or bouncing around in packed buses, sampling this simple lifestyle is perhaps the greatest pleasure of all.

But it would be misleading to portray Nepal as a fabled Shangri-la. One of the world's poorest countries (if you go by per capita income), it suffers from many of the pangs and uncertainties of the Third World, including overpopulation and deforestation; development is coming in fits and starts, and not all of it is being shared equitably. Heavily reliant on its big-brother neighbours, Nepal was, until 1990, run by one of the last remaining absolute monarchies, a regime that combined China's repressiveness and India's bureaucracy in equal measure. It's now a democracy, but corruption and frequent changes of government have led to widespread disillusion and spawned a simmering rebel insurgency; political freedom has changed little for the average struggling Nepali family.

Travelling in Nepal isn't a straightforward or predictable activity. Certain tourist areas are highly developed, even overdeveloped, but facilities elsewhere are rudimentary; getting around is time-consuming and sometimes uncomfortable. Nepalis are well used to shrugging off such inconveniences with the all-purpose phrase, Ke garne? ("What to do?"). Nepal is also a more fragile country than most - culturally as well as environmentally - so it's necessary to be especially sensitive as a traveller. Tips for minimizing your impact are given in Basics.

Topography is obviously a key consideration when travelling in Nepal. Generally speaking, the country divides into three altitude zones running from west to east. The northernmost of these is, of course, the Himalayan chain, broken into a series of himal (permanently snow-covered mountain ranges) and alpine valleys, and inhabited, at least part of the year, as high as 5000m. The largest part of the country consists of a wide belt of middle-elevation foothills and valleys, Nepal's traditional heartland; two ranges, the Mahabharat Lek and the lower, southernmost Chure (or Siwalik) Hills, stand out. Finally, the Tarai, a strip of flat, lowland jungle and farmland along the southern border, has more in common with India than with the rest of Nepal.

Highlights

Given the country's primitive transport network, most travellers stick to a well-worn circuit, with the result that certain sights and trekking routes have become rather commercialized. Don't be put off. The beaten track is remarkably thin and easy to escape in Nepal - and this guide is intended, first and foremost, to give you the confidence to do just that. It's the out-of-the-way places, the ones not written up in any book (even this one), that you'll remember most fondly on your return.

Everyone touches down in Kathmandu at some point, but for all its exotic bustle, the capital is rather rough going these days - logistically it makes a good base, but you won't want to spend lots of time there. Hindu temples, Buddhist stupas, rolling countryside and huddled brick villages provide incentives for touring the prosperous Kathmandu Valley, as do the historically independent city-states of Patan and Bhaktapur. The surrounding central hills are surprisingly undeveloped, apart from a couple of mountain view points, yet a few lesser routes, such as the road to the Tibet border and especially the Tribhuwan Rajpath, make for adventurous travel - especially by mountain bike or motorcycle.

The views get more dramatic, or at least more accessible, in the western hills. Pokhara, set beside a lake under a looming wall of peaks, is the closest thing you'll find to a resort in Nepal. Other hill towns - notably Gorkha and its impressive fortress, Manakamana with its wish-fulfilling temple, and laid-back Tansen - offer scenery with history or culture to boot.

It's in the teeming jungle and ethnic villages of the Tarai that Nepal's d...

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

330 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David[2spaces]Reed: write script novelizations
David[3spaces]Reed: Journalist
David[4spaces]Reed: Art
David[5spaces]Reed: Business, Real Estate
David[6spaces]Reed: Stonescaping
David[7spaces]Reed: Computer Science
David[8spaces]Reed: Social History
David[9spaces]Reed: RPG

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went to Nepal last year as part of a group tour. I was armed with this guide in order to do some exploring on my own in Kathmandu & Pokhara, and to have the right background for hiking a few days along the Annapurna trek. Wherever I go, the Rough Guide is usually my first choice as it contains a well-balanced mix of background info, dependable information on hotels/restaurants/transportation, fantastic topic-related inserts (e.g., the people of Nepal), and good pictures of the top attractions. For example, I was very happy when I visited several UNESCO World Heritage sites in Nepal - the Rough Guide came in very handy with its detailed descriptions of walking routes and associated maps (no local guide was necessary).
The book has two major shortcomings, though. First, trek descriptions are very brief, and not very informative with regard to the villages and its amenities/restaurants that you come across (idea: maybe the guide should be split in two books, general/culture vs. trekking). Second, the maps of Kathmandu do not capture the complexity and size of this city.
Overall, not a bad guide, but not delivering the depth I am used to in the Rough Guide series.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I've read every page in this book at least twice, I may as well count it as a book read. A pretty good guide all-around, though it could use more options in the shoestring budget zone, as could all guides. Overall, a good intro, great basics, helpful details. A good tool.

[Guy Ferguson]

Looks like the best of about five I borrowed from the library in the last few weeks to plan my Nepal trip next montrh ([excitement])