On eight treks in Nepal's Himalaya; to Kanchenjunga, Manaslu, Annapurna, Everest, Langtang, Dolpo, Api and Mugu, the true spirit of trekking is captured in Kev Reynolds' reverence, curiosity and ongoing love of the world's greatest mountain range. The Himalaya are no ordinary mountains. Stretching through five countries and dwarfing all others, they have captured the imaginations of travellers and mountain lovers for centuries. While some seek to reach their snowy heights, many more step out onto winding and climbing trails to trek through the heart of the mountains, and live – if only for a little while – the life of an adventurer. The first time a trail is explored offers unknown beauty and fresh experience around every turn. This is Kev Reynolds' collection of eight such discoveries along popular trails and into lands previously locked away. Brought to life in vivid style, Reynolds evokes the scent of fragrant rhododendron jungles and travelling past terraced fields, hillside villages and ancient temples. Then exploring into hidden valleys beyond the reach of civilization, and on to towering, ice-locked peaks that scratch the sky. All the publisher's proceeds from sales of Abode of the Gods will be donated to the Nepal Earthquake Appeal.
Kev Reynolds is a freelance writer, photojournalist and lecturer. A prolific compiler of guidebooks, his first title for Cicerone Press (Walks & Climbs in the Pyrenees) appeared in 1978; he has since produced many more titles for the same publisher, with others in the pipeline. A member of the Outdoor Writers Guild, the Alpine Club and Austrian Alpine Club, his passion for mountains and the countryside remains undiminished after a lifetime's activity, and he regularly travels throughout Britain to share that enthusiasm through his lectures.