Strangely enough I flipped through that guidebook a year and half ago hopping to gather info on Colombia. I didn't care for it so I turned to Thorntree and it's participants in order to familiarize myself with Colombia. My instinct was correct and I have encouraged many others to do the same. I heard over and over on Thorntree to ignore the LP guide. Funny how the publisher would ignore the voice of interested travelers writing directly under their noses. Yet they pull posts so therefore they do read this site. Makes you wonder.
11
edamedam
I've looked through some Colombia LP books, although I do not remember which editions they were. What I can remember is that they were lacking a lot of information, especially of very interesting things to do. For example they do not mention Panaca, which are huge domestic animal parks, with shows and the like. They are extremely popular with Colombians, but there's no mention in the book. I did not buy any of the books in the end, and have only used them in Europe where I guess they have to be more careful.
I guess all of this calls for tighter checks on what they print and the kind of people they hire.
12
helsinki84
the general information about colombia and places to visit in the book is OK
but dont trust the accommodation, restaurant and bar recommendations... it's better
to use other sources in the internet or just ask locals for the best and cheaper places...
anyway, colombia is an amazing country and you will get by with the lonely planet...
13
hardnosethehighway
"As for the Colombian book, it is without a doubt the worst guidebook I've ever seen."
Indeed-it's a total POFS no matter who wrote it.
"tony wheeler (if i remember right) who is the aus owner of lonely planet"
Not any more-he sold it to the BBC and has has only a minor share in the company.
14
firearm
No, we cannot trust LP any more. So we shouldn't buy them anymore. But a different brand or no guide book at all from now on.
15
danharris76
The question is if we need travel guides in 2008, when we have fellow travelers on-line that are more up to date than a book who was edited 2 years ago. In the case of backpacker places, not once I have found myself following the recommendation of "Lonely Planet" just to find out that the place has lost its reputation longtime ago.
Travel guides need to adjust to the new era, minimize their books size and be more up to date if they want to survive the travel 2.0 era.
16
outues
It is actually true that the lonely planet guide for Colombia is very poor, and all the owners of the guesthouse that I have met in Colombia told me that the guy who did the lonely planet couldn't speak spanish, was stubborn an really not reliable !
Actually all the prices of this guide were outdated !
That's one of the reason why I have decided to create a website for travelers, so that they can put their own information, and share them, updated the prices...
it is there : http://outues.free.fr/travel
you can help me and write there your informations when you travel
17
soniaby
my boyfriend is from slovakia and he says when he and his friends first read the LP guide to czech and slovakia they all fell about laughing,it was so bad!and they did actually wonder if the author had ever been to slovakia!
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