mussoorie, mountains and books

I first came to know about Bill Aitken when I chanced upon a book called Nanda Devi Affair authored by him. The book is based on his attempts to climb the revered Nanda Devi mountain in Uttaranchal. It was this book which converted me into a "hill person". Here the travel writer and author gives list of five must-reads on the Himalayas.... When Men and Mountains Meet by John Kaye It is an academic book, but Kaye is a wonderful yarn spinner and he talks of explorers, administrators, eccentrics and some other outstanding characters in this book. Man Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett He was a local man, so he knew his ground. He wrote of the culture and people of Kumaon with authority, and the characters in his books are as interesting as the tigers he shot. Nanda Devi by Eric Shipton One of the most romantic books on the Himalayas. Nanda Devi is a very inaccessible peak and Shipton was among the first who found a way to the Nanda Devi sanctuary. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Thi

Ruskin Bond is the most famous resident of Mussoorie and has written about everything that is there in Mussoorie. In his book, Landour Days: A Writer's Journal, he gives account of his life in the part of Mussoorie which is away from the Mall Road crowd. I myself disappear into one of the guest houses in this part of the Queen of Hills when life in Delhi becomes too much of a burden. "The habit of keeping a diary has led me into trouble more than once," writes Ruskin Bond in the introduction to this journal of a year in his hometown of Landour, Mussoorie. Filled with warmth and gentle humour, this book captures the timeless rhythm of life in the mountains, and the serene wisdom of one of India's best loved writers. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670911704/awebloonruski-20

Pankaj Mishra finds peace in a simple and remote Himalayan hamlet that succeeds in ignoring the rest of the world... http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/india.html