I am posting this out of sheer frustration and to give a warning to people travelling to South America who are basing plans around the 2002 edition of the lonely planet.
The 2002 edition of LP is shit. It recommends places that have either become ruined from bing in the book, or just as likely, were not good to begin with. The best places we have been in Peru (Huanchaco, Huacachina) were not even in the book! There was nothing at all listed about them! This week we went to accomodation here in Valparaiso that gets a rave review, all "antique fireplaces, great views" etc and found it to be more expensive than stated and with nothing endearing whatsoever about it. We promptly found accommodation half the price, with free breakfast and internet and great a view around the corner. This place is not listed in the book. Similarly, the best and cheapest accommodation in Iquitos, Hobo Hideoutt, is not listed at all in the guidebook.
Tonight we went to Cafe tutti (sp?), described as having brilliant seafood, although expensive. This we found to be the worst restaurant in Chile. We paid 15,000 pesos but were initially ignored by the waiters, then did not have our drinks brought to us, were brought the wrong food and were then overcharged. And the place has no charm compared to anywhere else in Valparaiso. This restaurant is given the best writeup out of all the restaurants here.
We dont expect perfection. We understand that opinions are subjective and that, as the book says, things change etc. but as the title says, this guidebook is shit. Fair enough, we have found cheap or good accommodation from it but have learned to rely more on taxi drivers and having a look around/talking to people, or checking out Frommers website. Problems like these are to be expected I suppose, given the fact that they try to cover the entire continent in the same amount of space as Mexico (about 1000 pages).
Dont follow the book. Find things for yourself.
Opinions?
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<hr>Problems like these are to be expected I suppose, given the fact that they try to cover the entire continent in the same amount of space as Mexico (about 1000 pages). <hr></blockquote>
thats why I don't bother with the shoestring guides.
All guidebooks inevitably suffer from problems...
For my trip I'm using Footprint 2004 AND the LP 2002.... For each place I take the consensus of views in both books...
But what's the alternative? You need guidebooks to get you started... The LP maps are generally very good too...
And on a longer trip the combined books make sense - otherwise you have a lot to carry around!
Most Lonely Planet guide books are excellent,but I have to agree about the South American one. I back packed around South America for six months 1999/2000 and found the Lonely Planet guide book was not as good as 'The
South American Handbook' (Footprints) I would still recommend anyone going to S.A. to take the Lonely Planet as a back up.
It's only really good when used in conjunction with other people's advice, that way you get the best of both worlds. I always have had a soft spot for LP - using it since first trip away but it was interesting when I went to Ethiopia everyone seemed to hate the woman who had written it because she made things up! You just have to be careful not take everything they say at face value.
I too used the LP guide during my SA travels and found it to be of little help as well. There were so many places (hostels, rest., bars, discotecas) that the guidebook listed and when we went looking for them; they no longer existed. Also, the prices were always lower in the guidebook, but I think that is expected as it is difficult to keep up with inflation and constant price changes. That is why, I think it is important to write LP and keep them updated/informed on any changes we encounter. All in all, I found it much easier and more accurate to ask other backpackers, locals, etc. rather than referring to my guidebook.
I agree that in general, all the S American LP guides are terrible -- the Peru one is written with a superior gringo attitude poking fun at the peruvians. Teh mexico guide misses out on outdoors ( hiking et al ) completely, focussing just on shopping, eating and lodging.
NOne match the classic guides to India and SE Asia in the 80s, written with a very good understanding of the local culture, and peppered with fantastic sketches.
BUt then, I use LP mainly to get an orientation to a new town or city, where is the bus terminal, the stations, teh banks, the PO, markets and cheap hotels. Maps ( although again many LP maps of cities just focus on downtowns and not the greater metro area thats a big handicap ).
I feel LP is diversifying in its catalogue, but the quality of guides is reducing somehow, it gets more impersonal, more like Fodors...
It all depends on how you use them. Lonely Planet is excellent for the kind of situation where you arrive in a town, late at night with nowhere to stay. Also, some of the safety/medical information can be useful if you need a hospital in a hurry for example. The maps, areas to avoid, areas where there are groups of hotels, approximate prices - for that sort of basic information, its usually excellent. I like the no nonsense - 'this is what you get for this much in this category.' Even if the prices are out of date you can usually extrapolate them. The prices in the Argentina guide for example are pre-devaluation, so they are completely wrong, but you can calculate relative price ranges.
The problem I see when I travel is that I see lots of people using LP as a sort of bible or route map around countries, and if you use it for that you are
- missing out on alot of what the country has to offer
- far too reliant on its piecemeal/patchy/out of date information
All guidebooks are always going to be a bit out of date since it takes so long to prepare/print/distibute them. Personally I would NEVER use a guide to a continent as the information contained would always be too thin to be much use. I always use the country guides even if that means spending more money and lugging some about. In addition its always best as oliveoil1980 says to obtain as wide a variety of information as you can.
The other thing to consider is that hundreds of young and inexperienced westerners go travelling in the developing world every year - most of them have no idea of how to behave and respect different cultures/how to travel/how to look after themselves/avoid dangerous situations etc etc (I know I didnt when I went round southeast asia and India when I was 18 - many years ago sadly) and Lonely Planet helps to 'guide' many of these young people who are off on their travels for the first time round these countries without either they or the countries visited suffering too much damage. For that reason alone it serves a valuable purpose.
Magic Hat.
Well I'm GOB SMACKED.
Guide books are 'quintessentially' exactly that!! GUIDE BOOKS. If you'd like to fund a tour around SA for me to compile the "Complete Idiots Dossier To South America" let me know, I'll give up my day job in sunny Lancashire, UK. & spend the rest of my life treking around SA. You'll never get your book finished, but hey!! I'll have a whale of a time trying to get it all together...............
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