Southeast Asia on a Shoestring - China Williams

It is a legendary book, as it was the first Lonely Planet book and completely revolutionised the backpacking scene, making it less of best kept secret. Some will dispute that this is a good thing, but for better or worse this book has set many trends and standards in the travel industry. This book functions as a guide to things to do and places to stay in SE A.sia, it over all countries in the region including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and The Phillipines. I have still have my completetly battered and dog-eared copy from when I travelled in SE Asia, and it served as a great general guide. I think ...  Read the complete review

I borrowed this book from a friend and its the most useful book I have bought so far! The one I borrowed was the 2005 version but as she eventually asked for hers back, I had to go out and buy my own copy, which is the most recent 2008 version. Its fantastic, so helpful, I will definitely be taking it with me and I dont know what I will be doing without it! It covers Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. I looked on the internet at first to start planning my route, but it was so difficult searching different places and not getting the information you are ...  Read the complete review

The original and most well known of the Lonely Planet guidebooks, affectionately known as the "yellow bible". This review refers to the 13th Edition published in March 2006, there is however an updated version available now: 14th Edition published in March 2008. The mantra of this book is "Big trips on small budgets" and really is a very useful tool for the adventurous traveller. Coverage extends to cover the following countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Bali, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The book itself is 19.6 x 13 x 4.1 cm in size ...  Read the complete review

This is the first book from the 'Lonely Planet' guide, originally titled in 1973 as 'Across Asia on the Cheap' - after initial success, the book was later developed by writers Tony Wheeler and his wife Maureen into the title it still holds today; 'South-East Asia on a shoestring'. With the slogan 'big tips on small budgets' on the front cover, the book is geared mainly towards backpackers on a budget (as the title suggests). The countries roughly covered total as eleven, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, i say roughly with emphasis because all these areas are covered in 988 ...  Read the complete review

Lonely Planet is a brand of travel guides; they have one for most countries you can visit. When I travelled South East Asia I took their 'on a shoestring' addition. We found it very useful to help find accommodation, although, understandably due to the size of the book they can only put in information on a selection of hotels. We used it as a reference as to the area that all the hostels/guesthouses were in, but checked a few out ourselves. When using the guide book, even if it is the latest version, you should be wary that facts such as the cost of guesthouses and exchange rates can vary from the time the book was written, but of course it's a good point of ...  Read the complete review