February 2005 Archives

I only managed to read this at the end of the Exodus trip from Delhi to Kathmandu, as I borrowed it from the better prepared Kirsty for the final few days and the journey home. In the end, it lasted well into the first week of my new job, and provided a fascinating read. I'm glad I've got another WD to hand; City of Djinns was well written and very educational, without being at all heavy.

My only wish is that I'd read it before getting to Delhi as the book provides historical and modern-day contexts for all the places we visited, and the city and its inhabitants as City of Djinns is part diary, part travelolgue, part historical synopsis drawn from William Dalrymple's time in Delhi.

Buy it: Amazon link

Bought in readiness for my trip from Delhi to Kathmandu, courtesy of Exodus (and my savings...), this travel guide was an excellent resource for the first few days of the trip (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra / Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri). In fact, it covered everything until we left Tundla Junction on the train for Allahabad.

The information was up-to-date, well structured and presented, and it was easy to find the cities and places we visited.

Buy it: Amazon link

Another pre-trip purchase, I opted for the Lonely Planet's guide to Nepal over the Rough Guide's mainly on the basis that the LP was published more recently, and so should be more up-to-date. Given the curtailment of our trip, and in particular the fact that we didn't get to Pokhara, I didn't really get to test out the book, but the background information and maps fpr Kathmandu and the places we explored in the Kathmandu valley were excellent.... and I'm certainly hanging onto my copy in anticipation of a return the Nepal, in more peaceful times.

Buy it: Amazon link