Countries Visited: Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh

Himalaya is a travelogue written by Michael Palin and published in 2004. The second of Palin’s area specific travelogues after 2002’s trek the Sahara sees the veteran travel writer take on the mighty Himalayas. The book was once again the accompaniment to the BBC series of the same name.

Palin once again employs the diary style writing format to document his Himalayan adventure which is still as easy to read as any of this his previous journeys. Like the mountains themselves, the route Palin follows isn’t as straight forward this time round as he makes his way around the various countries located around the Himalayan mountain range over a period of six months.

After Sahara, choosing the Himalayas was the logical next step, as the writer explains the Himalayas are to mountains what the Sahara is to deserts, both colossal in nature and worthy of their own book. The distances travelled this time are impressive with 4,800km covered horizontally from Pakistan to China with the highest point of 5,300km reached at the Everest Base Camp.

In Himalaya, the reader once again benefits from Palin focusing on a specific area of the world for this journey. The people and cultures of the areas in and around the Himalayan Mountain range are covered in great detail and are presented as always with several historical anecdotes and Palin’s trademark sense of humour.