I try to read as much as I can about places I visit. Typically, I can find several dozen books, so the task is to choose the best. I usually find a combination of history, fiction and memoirs.

Finding books is a bit more difficult for Sikkim than for other places we’ve visited. I’ve done a thorough search for books on Sikkim, and have turned up only a few, none of which are available directly from Amazon. I ordered two books from IndiaClub.com. One arrived in a week or so, the other arrived in a couple of weeks, shipped from Delhi. Next, I did a more thorough search and turned up a number of books I could get from Amazon resellers. I ordered the books, and have received all but one of the books, which is being shipped from Delhi.

Here is a list of what I’ve found:

Sikkim: A Traveller’s Guide, Photographs and Essays by Sujoy Das, Text by Arundhati Ray. Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001 (This is the book most often recommended)

Garuda & Winged Horses by Somnath Guha. Srishti Publishers, New Delhi , 2001

Memoirs of a Political Officer’s Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan by Margaret D. Williamson. Wisdom Publications, London, 1987

Mountaintop Kingdom: Sikkim Photographs by Alice S. Kandell, text by Charlotte Y. Salisbury. Norton & Co, New York (no pub date listed)

History of Darjeeling and the Sikkim Himalaya (this book not yet received; being shipped from India).

I also ordered one DVD from Amazon, The Lion’s Roar, a documentary about the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa filmed in 1985

The next task is to read and digest as much of this information as possible!