Maps

As visitors to Bhutan will be on guided treks, detailed maps are not needed - nor do they exist. The best planning map is Berndtson & Berndtson 1:500,000 Bhutan Road Map (ISBN 3-929811-21-9).

Detailed agricultural survey maps are held in the Society’s map collection, together with some relevant older India Survey maps. The various guide books have maps of treks and towns which are of practical use.

  Books

A selection of books recommended for study pre-trip. Many of these titles are available from the Society’s Collections, along with historic photographs taken in the early part of the 20^th century. For more information, or to search the Collections catalogue, please visit The RGS-IBG Collections page

TITLE	AUTHOR	DESCRIPTION
An Introduction to the Traditional Architecture of Bhutan	Bhutan Dept of Works	Detailed review of the iconography  and design of dzongs, monasteries, chortens and temples.
Bayonets to Lhasa	Sir Francis Younghusband	Description of the first expedition to Lhasa
Bhutan: A Trekker’s Guide	Bart Jordans	Popular Cicerone trekking guide
Bhutan – Footprint Travel Guide	Gyurme Dorje
Bhutan – Lonely Planet Guide	Richard Whitecross	Most comprehensive guide for the main treks
Bhutan and its Natural Resources	Sherubtse College, Bhutan	A collection of essays on the environment of Bhutan
Bhutan and the British	Peter Collister	A comprehensive account of the relationship between the two countries
Bhutan – Mountain Fortress of the Gods	Christian Schicklgruber	Accompanied1998 Bhutan exhibition in Vienna
Bhutan, the Early History of a Himalayan Kingdom	Michael Aris	The most authoritative history of Bhutan
Birds of Bhutan	Inskipp, Inskipp & Grimmett	A comprehensive field guide
Divine Madman, The	Keith Dowman	Translation of the poems and works of Lama Drukpa Kunley
Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon	Katie Hickman	Traveller’s account of a walk across Bhutan in the 1970s
From the Land of the Thunder Dragon	Diana K. Meyers	Study of Bhutanese textiles
Geology of the Bhutan Himalaya	Augusto Gansser	Large format and comprehensive guide
In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon	Joanna Lumley	Book published to accompany the 1997 BBC series tracing her grandfather’s career on the North East Frontier
Indigo	Jenny Balfour-Paul	The definitive book on the study of indigo dye across cultures
Land of the Thunderbolt	Earl of Ronaldshay	Past RGS President’s account of a British Expedition to Bhutan
Raven Crow, The	Michael Aris	A definitive history of Bhutan’s monarchy
Treasures of the Thunder Dragon	Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck	A portrait of Bhutan
Trees and Shrubs of Nepal	Adrian and Jimmie Storrs	The best available field book on the forests of Bhutan
Sikhim and Bhutan, 21 Years on the North-East Frontier,	J Claude White	Historical account of White’s 1905 expedition to Bhutan