Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Lonely Planet reviews the islands

Very excited to get this year's Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia, not least because of the memories it brings back. When I was traipsing through the islands back in the day, it was Lonely Planet that served as my informal tutor. I don't know where that dog-eared edition ever went, but God bless it.
'
I've always found Lonely Planet more appropriate to my situation than a Fodor's or a Frommer's, which are fine in their own right, but skew more towards the five-star-hotel traveller than the backpacker who prefers to flop in guesthouses with mandis. (For those of you who don't know what mandis, are, well, you're in for a treat ...)

There's an inherent flaw in every travel guidebook, of course. It's like that law of physics that says that once you observe a phenomenon, the phenomenon itself changes, simply thanks to the fact you're looking at it. So it is with guidebook mentions; when a terrific losman gets featured, there's a risk of it getting overrun and ruined. Such is the dilemma of travel writing.
Neverthless, can't wait to dig in to see what Lonely Planet's 11 authors have compiled for this edition, fanning across the archipelago to discover the best of the best. I'll follow up with a fuller review later, but in the meantime you can check out Lonely Planet's Indonesia section here.

Today's Top Stories

1 comment:

Brett said...

About bloody time, eh? Lonely Planet is about as good as it gets for Indonesia. Funnily enough, its my first go-to (after Wikipedia) for information on Indonesia - and I live here!!

I am amazed that there are only 11 writers!