Of course I am aware of it. I was the author in charge of the Colombia guide last edition and will be on the ground there in the fall again to research the next edition. Not only are you referring to something that is half a decade old, Kohnstramm was an isolated incident and was subsequently removed from the author pool. Secondly, he wasn't actually even contracted for a portion of the book that requires traveling - he was not responsible for any on the ground research in the Colombia guide. That he was suppose to go to Colombia and didn't go is a rumor (perpetuated by his book) that anyone with intimate knowledge of LP can sort out for you. Kohnstramm needed to sell books. And for that, you need a scandal.
As an LP author and I can speak for my colleagues as well, we meticulously research everywhere we are contracted to go, we never take freebies in exchange for positive coverage and 95% of the time people never even know we are there - we travel incognito as to not compromise the research, so you will often have business owners say things like, "He never came here,"when in fact we did but didn't announce ourselves. I know. I hear it all the time about places I have just visited. It would be quite unfortunate if you lost confidence in LP based on a sensationalist account - the author pool is made up of a slew of well-respected travel writers and journalists the world over who would never even think for a second about compromising the research or their jobs by not going somewhere or taking a free dinner. Not a chance.
Although Im not personally a fan of telling travelers to negotiate Colombian bus fares, it is something that is possible to do and many Colombians do it often. It all depends on supply and demand. I have seen it done myself with my own eyes.
I hope you are willing to pick up an LP again! We'd love to have you back.
Kevin
