The Rough Guide to Nepal (Paperback)

by Rough Guides (Author) "Nepal forms the very watershed of Asia..." (more)
Key Phrases: sacred garden, peacock window, tourist bus park, Kathmandu Valley, Durbar Square, Mahendra Highway (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
INFORMATIVE, UP-TO-DATE GUIDES WRITTEN WITH CANDID ENTHUSIASM

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Product Description
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 diverse: 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 practices.

Yet it’s a testimony to Nepali tolerance and good humour that there’s 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, the dense, medieval cities display unique pagoda-style architecture, not to mention an astounding flair for festivals and pageantry. Above all, though, Nepal is a nation of unaffected villages and terraced countryside – 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, it suffers from many of the pangs and uncertainties of the developing world; 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 a very precarious one. Political freedom has done little to improve the lot of the average family, while corruption and frequent changes of government have led to widespread disillusion and spawned an intractable Maoist insurgency.

Travel within Nepal isn’t straightforward or predictable. Certain tourist areas are highly developed, even overdeveloped, but facilities elsewhere are rudimentary; getting around is time-consuming and often 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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 561 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 5 edition (October 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858288991
• ISBN-13: 978-1858288994
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #316,596 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully useful book for travels in Nepal, January 8, 1999

By	Luke Chen([e-mail]) (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nepal: The Rough Guide, Third Edition (3rd ed) (Paperback)

The best thing about this book is its vast coverage; especially those places off the beaten track. It has a lot of practical information and despite being 2 years old now, it was still fairly accurate. Other travel books attempt to be encyclopedic about Nepal,... documenting everything without prioritizing the places that people actually do visit. David's book goes into a lot of detail about places of interest, both historical and practical info. For example, the book had an excellent section on Chitwan national park. In fact, on our recent trip it saved us from getting a guide. I thoroughly recommend this book. The author even keeps a website to update the readers. Great.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Accurate, January 21, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Guam, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nepal: The Rough Guide, Third Edition (3rd ed) (Paperback)

While in Nepal last year I found this book to be exactly what I needed to get around as easily as possible. I usually use Lonely Planet Guides when traveling, but in this case - the Rough Guide is superior. Now if I can only get it back from my friend....

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent travelling companion, June 24, 2001

By	Aaron (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nepal: The Rough Guide, Third Edition (3rd ed) (Paperback)

great guidebook. Describes in detail the good, the bad and the ugly of Nepal. The language section was extremely useful. A few hours spent learning some useful greetings and phrases will pay off tenfold upon arrival in Nepal. Being able to bargain or ask for directions in the native language is a lot of fun and much appreciated, especially since most travellers do not take the time to learn anything more than "Namaste."