Day: June 29, 2007

Nepal: A Guide to the Art and Architecture of the Kathmandu Valley (Book)

Most of the Nepal books I’ve read begin with a digestible dose of history: ancient rule, geographical regions, ethnic groups, social order, religion. I think this book’s version is more insightful, original and politically sensitive than the others. That’s followed by a chapter on Kathmandu’s architecture. Lots of people travel around the world specifically to admire temples and castles and things, but my interest in buildings is cursory at best. So I was surprised to […]

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Bibliographical & Other Resources

River Rafting Company Recommended by our Momentum Adventures guide on the Upper Klamath trip: http://www.driftnepal.com.np South Asia Bibliographies: Nepal A comprehensive listing compiled by UC Berkeley and subcategorized by academic area and media type. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/nepal.html Encylopedia Smithsonian: South Asian, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern Art and Architecture Another cool bibliography. http://www.smithsonian.org/Encyclopedia_SI/freersac/seasiart.htm Human Rights Watch Publications: Asia/Nepal On forced relocation, child soldiers, disappearances… http://hrw.org/doc/?t=asia_pub&c=nepal

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Everest: The Death Zone (Movie)

My thoughts… I really liked this Nova documentary. It explores the physiological effects of oxygen deprivation at high altitude, and particularly the effect on brain and lungs. It’s interesting from a scientific perspective, and I thought the underlying story of the climbers’ journey was equally riveting. Jody Foster is the narrator. I love her no-nonsense voice. The weird thing is that the more I read and see about the Himalaya, the more I wonder why […]

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