UKH

Contemplating a trekking trip next year. Undecided about whether to go independently or on an'organised'trip and unsure about which area..... so please recommend me a good general guidebook for inspiration.

Thanks

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Jamie McGuiness - trekking in the Everest region

In reply to earlsdonwhu:
Anyone else got any other recommendations which would include other parts of the country?

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

To be honest most of the trekking guidebooks are out of date, due to a combination of things - info changes too fast, too much info on the web, more development in Nepal, more trekkers going with guided groups.

The Lonely Planet 'Trekking In The Nepal Himalaya' is probably as good a place as any to start as it has numerous areas and is updated *relatively* frequently. Some of the other guidebooks are 10+ years out of date.

In reply to Damo:

Thanks

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Damo is one of the resident experts on the region and I can only agree with him about the LP being good for an overview of many regions.

But if you DO go for the Everest region, and want to go it alone, then the Jamie McGuiness book "Trekking in the Everest region" is brilliant. It's more a guide to the valleys and peaks than other stuff, so can't get too out of date. Except, unfortunately, for a few earthquake-scale geological changes I suppose!

Depends on what you like as to how you go. Some people love being guided and would hate it any other way. I have friends like that. But we were the opposite. We always love being in the mountains by ourselves and wanted to just free wheel and explore as much as we could. The groups or guided individuals we meet along the way were not having even a fraction of the fun we had. Or at least they never showed it.

They often say that when you go with a local guide you really get to meet the locals. But you only meet "your" local(s). Your guide does all the negotiations between the teahouse staff and various checkpoints etc. Whereas we meet all the locals! Often sitting around the fire, just us with mama sherpa and the family, chilling out and feeling the vibe.

We went all over the show -- at all times of the day. The guided parties were always heading back to the teahouse around lunchtime or early-mid afternoon. And actually, some of the stuff some local guides were doing with their clients was really dangerous - descending big iced up slopes with massive run-outs in only trainers or light boots with no spikes. Ouch - scary to watch!

We grew up in the mountains, like Jamie McG (who wrote that book), so perhaps that kind of thing works better for us than most British people. But if you feel up to it, you can have a ball going your own path.

If you want to see what we did with our 30 days up there, you can have a look here:
youtube.com/watch?v=cRKboyEINqo&

Whatever you choose - have fun!
Bruce

In reply to BruceM:

Thanks for the detailed response.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

We went to lantang gossaikunder areas and rtook the lonely planet guide and rough guide to Nepal and they were fine
Cannot imagine an organised trek in Nepal it was pretty easy to get about and going on the bus is one of the best things you can do.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Just buy a map in Thamel and away you go. The trekking is pretty easy and the villages will get more if your money.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

Not been there for almost twenty years but the best book by miles was Trekking in Nepal - A Traveller's Guide by Stephen Bezruchka. It's a great all round guide. You should be able to pick it up in Thamel. A good idea with the Lonely Planet guide was to have lunch where they recommended you slept and sleep where they recommended you have lunch. You avoided the crowds that way. Although there was never much in the way of crowds in the Everest region and I doubt there are many trekkers there now.

In reply to BruceM:


Thanks, but no, not really! You need L.A to chime in.


Jamie has just said he's working on the update, but it wouldn't be out for a couple of years yet.

In reply to Damo: The Bells The Bells !
To the OP
Go independently and let your $$ actually reach the people of Nepal not just some office in Sheffield or Keswick. Unless of course you want to travel in an organised pod insulated from the realities of Nepal, no matter how good or difficult.
Be aware that the UK Gov still has a travel advisory against all but essential travel into Gorkha, Manaslu Langtang + Jugal areas which may affect your insurance if called upon in those regions.
As Damo has said most of the books are way out of date especially since the earthquakes have flattened so much of the infrastructure.
If you want to go somewhere more inspiring than the usual have a look at Paulo Grobels site for some inspiration
http://www.paulo-grobel.com/05_expes/03_topos.htm
http://www.paulogrobel.com/expedition/

Jamie McGuiness also has some interesting stuff to ponder
http://project-himalaya.com/index.html