Roof of the world, land of legend and beauty - within its narrow confines, Nepal contains an utterly spectacular variety of culture and landscapes. Footprint's 3rd edition Nepal Handbook will guide you from the vast sweep of Himalayan peaks to ornate temples and pagodas.

Robert Ferguson first travelled to Nepal in 1984, aged 18, with a huge rucksack and tiny budget. He got a board-and-lodging job with a local trekking agency that finished with a trek around the Annapurna Circuit. He was hooked. He returned to Kathmandu in his early 20s as a mountain guide, leading groups around the Annapurnas, the Everest region and Kanchenjunga.

Back in the UK he became operations manager for a leading UK trekking specialist to Nepal as well as starting his own tour operation in the Himalaya. The highlights of his many visits to Nepal over the years are his honeymoon, which involved driving from Lhasa to Kathmandu and a recent visit with his wife and two teenage daughters, trekking in the Annapurnas, rafting and tiger watching in the Terai.