Lonely Planet’s Burma guide called unethical

by Anna Brones on

Traveling can be political, and as reported by the BBC last September, guidebooks even more so. The current political situation in Burma is so highly charged that Britain’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) is asking travelers to stop buying Lonely Planet’s guide to Burma in order to encourage the company to withdraw the book from the market.

The TUC along with Tourism Concern, Burma Campaign UK and the New Internationalist launched an online petition on Thursday calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Lonely Planet guidebook because “holidaying in Burma is one of the most unethical trips you could make, given the brutality of the current regime,” as New Internationalist co-editor Chris Brazier explained.

This brings into question what role tourism plays on the political scene. Both the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese unions have asked travelers not to visit their country as long as the military regime is in power. Lonely Planet however believes that travel choices should be left up to the tourists themselves and that publishing a guide on Burma “does not of itself represent support or otherwise for the current regime.”

What do you think? Should Lonely Planet withdraw its Burma guidebook?

What to do with used guidebooks?

by Iva Skoch on

I have about a thousand guidebooks. That is a slight exaggeration, but I do have a lot of guidebooks. While I would love to keep them all–in case I ever go back to destination X and reuse them– but it is probably not a smart thing to do.

I tried to use my 2003 Costa Rica Lonely Planet guidebook during my second trip last year and let me tell you, it did not work. Most of the recommended restaurants, hotels and business were no longer there. While the important stuff – like national parks and such — remained unchanged, you might as well just go completely without a guidebook at that point.

What do you guys do with older, used guidebooks? I have sold a few on ebay, but I am thinking there might be a better place to sell old guidebooks and buy new ones. Anyone?

Lonely Planet’s ultimate travel resource books

by Neil Woodburn on

At what point did Lonely Planet become National Geographic?

I just got my hands on two recent publications from what was once a small guidebook company specializing in Southeast Asia. The Africa Book and The Asia Book are the latest endeavors into big league publishing from Lonely Planet; and both are loaded with images as spectacular as anything one might find in the pages of National Geographic.

But what makes these books even better than anything National Geographic has ever produced, is that they continue to maintain that same Lonely Planet travel philosophy which has routinely produced some of the very best guidebooks in the world.

The Asia Book and the Africa Book are both patterned in the same manner. For starters, they both have the same subtitle: A journey through every country in the continent. And, they’re not lying.
Each glossy-paged, coffee table book dedicates 2 to 4 pages per country, briefly describing the landscape, history, people, marketplace, natural beauty, cuisine, the urban scene, and a handful of other topics that vary on a regional basis. The best section, however, details the top five to ten “essential experiences” for each country. This would be the best travel highlights, each of which makes me salivate every time I read them.

And then, of course, there are the photos. Just in case the text hasn’t won you over, a series of jaw-dropping photographs are there to complete the job. This, folks, is the one-two-punch to really get that travel bug itching.

Something else I quite enjoyed about this series is the thematic travel routes at the beginning of the books which tie many of these countries together for those interested in much longer travels. The Great Journeys section of the Asia Book, for example, features such grand expeditions as the Overland Trail, Island Hopping around Asia, the Silk Road, the Annapurna Circuit, the Empires of the East, and In the Footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia.

Very cool! If you’ve ever said, “I want to go to Asia/Africa,” but don’t know too much beyond that, you should really consider picking up one of these books. Keep it out on your coffee table like I do and leaf through it occasionally when you have some free time. Before you know it, your Places to Go list will be unmanageably long. And you’ll have Lonely Planet to hate for that.

The best place for Santa to live is Kyrgyzstan

by Jamie Rhein on

Last night was Tuttle Park’s annual holiday party. Every year this small recreation center of Columbus Parks and Recreation treats kids from surrounding neighborhoods to craft projects, food treats, games and Santa. Our Bolivian friends and Japanese friends were there, as were assorted other folks who I recognized from other years.

When Santa arrived about an hour into the party with not the loudest or jolliest Ho! Ho! Ho! in the world, the outfit did it’s magic and kids clamored to get in line to tell him what he or she wants. My son said seeing Santa was the best part of the party. This is only one holiday happening Santa has to attend–never mind Christmas Eve where he has a whole lot of globe-hopping to do.

If Santa really did make the rounds on Christmas Eve, heading down chimneys and through doorways around the world to deliver gifts, according to a study by a group of Swedish engineers, he should live in Kyrgyzstan to minimize a time crunch.

These engineers have calculated the distances between various places in the world where the bulk of the world’s population live and came up with the location of the best place for Santa’s workshop. Kyrgyzstan is it. That’s much harder to pronounce and spell than the North Pole is, however, so I don’t expect this will stick any time soon. What a clever study, though. It might give Kyrgyzstan a tourist boost if they figured out a Santa theme park or something. There’s a Santa Claus, Indiana that capitalizes on Santa Claus. Why can’t there be a Santa Claus, Kyrgyzstan? I can see the CD title. Caroling with Kris Kringle in Kyrgyzstan. [via Jaunted]

On the Lonely Planet Web page on Kyrgyzstan the country is described as: “No whistles and bells, just friendly faces and some mighty big mountains.” If Santa moved here that would change. There would be whistles and bells–sleigh bells and whistles each time he rounds up his reingeer to head out. Can’t you just see the building in the photo fixed up like Santa’s workshop? Slap a few giant candy canes in front, and you’ve got the beginning of a whole new look.

American Express, Lonely Planet, IgoUgo, and Travel & Leisure Unite Online

by Catherine Bodry on

That’s a lot of big names all together. And there’s one more: Travelocity. How are all these companies linked, besides under the umbrella of travel?

Answer: Amex’s new travel “sitelet” Local Color, which has destination-specific search capabilities using Lonely Planet, IgoUgo, and Travel & Leisure. Lonely Planet provides the destination guides, Travel & Leisure contributes articles about classic and up and coming destinations, and IgoUgo supplies travel reviews. If you want to book a flight, just click on the link and you’re whisked to the Amex-powered Travelocity site.

The site also has currency converters, access to “travel specialists,” and a travel support center. In fact, there are so many services that the site is practically overwhelming. But it’s fun to play around in and certainly informative.

Happy planning!