Reading, Listening, Watching
What type are you: do you prefer to read up and get informed before or after a trip? Apart from the essential, mostly organizational info, I’m more the type to dive into books, watch films, and listen to podcasts afterward. That way, I can better process what I experienced and understand other content more easily.
Here you’ll find various travel tips—both general and specific to different destinations. The books mentioned don’t have any Amazon or similar links—but a quick web search will give you plenty of info!
Travelling in general
Iyer, Pico: “The Art of stillness”
Alain de Botton: “The Art of Travel”
India, general
Fiction of Indian Authors
All by Rohinton Mistry, but especially “A fine balance”
Adiga, Aravand “The white tiger”
Ghosh, Amitav “Sea of Poppies”
Ghosh, Amitav “The glass palace”
Ghosh, Amitav “The hungry tide”
Roy, Arundhati “The ministry of utmost happiness”
Kushwant Singh “Train to Pakistan”
Fiction and Essays of non-indian Authors
Dalrymple, William “Nine Lives”
Tarquin Hall: all books about the indian detective Vish Puri (they all start with “The Case of…”)
History, presented in an engaging way
Dalrymple, William: “White Mughals”
Dalrymple, William: The Last Mughal”
Dalrymple, William, “The Anarchy”
Coffeetable books
Ackermann, Michael “End Time City”
Rai, Raghu “Mumbai”
Rai, Raghu “Raghu Rais Delhi”
Rai, Raghu “Raghu Rais India”
Singh, Raghubir “River of Colour”
Movies
All by and with Aamir Khan, esp. “Dangal”, “PK”, “3 Idiots” and “Lagaan”
Trilogy by Deepa Metha: “Earth”, “Fire” and “Water”
Mira Nair “Salaam Bombay” and “Monsoon Wedding”
Himalaya
Erika Fatland: “High: A Journey Across the Himalaya”
Peter Hopkirk: “The Great Game”
Ladakh + Zanskar
Kamerakidz: Winter in Zanskar (Photo-Documentary)
Special recommendations:
Kim Gutschow: Being a buddhist nun (Nonnen in Zanskar)
Monisha Ahmed: Living Fabrics (Nomads in Changthang, weaving)
Travelogues or similar
Helena Norberg-Hodge: Ancient Futures
Michel Peissel: Zanskar. The hidden kingdom.
Edward Fox: The hungarian who went to heaven
Liz Harris: The Road Back
James Crowden: “The Frozen River – Seeking Silence in the Himalaya”
Movies
All documentaries by Marianne Chaud
The broken moon
YouTube
AskManavTV – Speed Hiker, who documents his trips very well
India in Motion – wonderful documentaries about the daily life in Ladakh, Zanskar and around
Rajasthan
Devi, Gayatri: “A princess remembers”
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer: “Heat and Dust”
Sikkim
Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha: “Dzongu Nye Mayellyang Sikkim” (nur direkt in Sikkim erhältlich)
Thomas K. Shor: “A Step away from Paradise”
Doma Yishey: “Legends of Lepchas”
Andrew Duff: “Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom
South of India
Blog from one of our colleagues in Kerala: https://sreejithpnair.wordpress.com/
Roy, Arundhati: “The god of small things”
Wood, Michael: “The smile of Murugan”
Nepal
Maurice Herzog: “Annapurna”
Samrat Upadhyay: “Arresting God in Kathmandu”, “The Guru of Love”, “The Royal Ghosts”, “Buddha’s Orphans”, “The City Son”, “Mad Country”
Prajwal Parajuly: “The Gurkha’s Daughter”
Ankit Babu Adhikari + Pradeep Bashyal: “Sherpa”
Jonathan Gregson: “Massacre at the Palace”
YouTube
Nicholas Eager – beautiful documentaries aboutTrekkings
Postsoviet Countries in general
Erika Fatland: “Sowjetistan”
Erika Fatland “The border”
Ryszard Kapuścińsk: “Imperium”
Online-Zeitung: Novistan
Kyrgyzstan
All by Tschengis Aitmatov, especially. “Jamila”
Kazat Akmatov: “Arhat”
Armenia
Franz Werfel: “The forty days of Musa Dagh”
Chris Bohjalian: “The Sandcastle Girls”
Rolf Hosfeld: “Tod in der Wüste – Der Völkermord an den Armeniern”
Elif Shafak: “Der Bastard von Istanbul”
Georgien
Haratischwili, Nino: “The eighths life (For Brilka)”
Melashvili, Tamta: “Counting Out”
Steavenson, Wendell: “Stories/Stole – A Journey through Georgia”
Websites
Stefan Applis: https://stefan-applis-geographien.com/
Jozef Antala: https://www.caucasus-trekking.com/