but I always start planning a trip to a new place by reading the Insight Guide about it.

The Insight Guides have background essays on history and culture followed by narratives of the major sites accompanied by gorgeous photographs.

That's how I decide WHERE to go within the country--or whether I want to go at all.

To decide HOW I want to go there, I get the Rough Guide, which concentrates on lower- to mid-budget travel.

I looked at a couple online (that ones that give you a peek at a few pages) and wow. I think this will be the one(s) and I see they also give other suggested reading material.

And I did a quick check -- my local bookstore sells them.

I used the latest Lonely Planet edition of the time, which was out of date. A landslide covered the trail a few years before, and the book still carried old directions. Luckily, we decided to follow the trail signs posted by Nepalis. It could be different now (hopefully).