Lonely Planet a book full of Bull Crap

lovelyindia

I am a female 25 yrs from USA,back from my tour to India,which lasted for 6 months almost all my six months between those sweet & caring South Indian people and over 15 days in Goa.I am on my knees oh god i wann a rebirth in India and only in Bangalore, What caring, compasionate,well learned,lovely people,I have just decided to get back as soon as i can,I wann rest of my life to be spent in India.
Lemme bring it to all your attention that lonely planet is nothing but one big basket full of lies,All according to this book is every Indian seem to be a criminal,an Aids or HIV patient,all are cynic unread people,and people seapping contaminated water and also not to use Indian made Condoms. Oops did i says Condoms!!Well lemme give u a brief in my other posts.While i read through this Shitty Lonely planet book,what i understand is these people seem to be strongly backed by big Corp's.Thanks to my fortune spending on Bottled Water in India (Which was not required).Well to be precise whats this fuss all about bottled water,some say if i swallow the water while brushing my teeth i will get some disease,what rubbish,are we the only humans on this earth,there seem to be a lot well mannered people here than back home,lemme make u understand there is no problem of that sort,I have spent a fortune in buying bottled water till i tried the one i use to get in hotels while having food or the one i used to get in my local friends houses...they were directly from the city supply and they are potable,i used it,i never had any problem,i saved a lot of money.
We all are filled with a lot of crap from this lonely planet book in our heads and we tend to be a lot weird when we come visiting these places,We just need to understand one thing junkie's are every where.Remember America has a very large number of junkies well gun totting junkies.
Wait for my next post all about my experience in India and with Indian friends.

claurianta

I think the lonely planet writes about bottled water because there is a lot of water in india that even the locals won't touch that a naive foreigner might try to drink. Personally I only drank non-bottled water in places that I saw locals drinking.

Merchant

Yes, the dark side of the LP. I've written here about its underpinning racism but most folks didn't agree with me.

-m2-

Hi lovelyindia, welcome to Indiamike.

If you didn't like the LP, why not toss it. If you take the time to check around the site, you'll notice that some of the very topics you deride are the ones prospective travellers to India obsess about. In various polls and comments by our members over the years, the LP guide is probably overall the favorite. Even veteran members often find some uses for it; people who treat guide books like bibles have only themselves to blame.

Shaktipalooza

I've always thought that was a bit true myself. The overall attitude too often seems to be cynical and condescending. Like the writers venture out just enough to decide what to bitch about the most.

Have to agree that lonelyplanet licks ass. During my first trip to India we quickly realised their hotel recommendations were spotty at best. I actually took a pic of myself at the doorway of one of their most highly recommended hotels in Varanasi. Garbage piled high on either side, too bad the stench didn't come across on film.

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crvlvr

lovelyindia, welcome and thinks for youur post. I look forward to more informative contributions to IM from you.

jens

I think LP's dangers, annoyances, scammers section is one of the most useful. An Arizona-er eh.

Out of the way places are not covered well but that's why one goes there. They are used by a wide number of travelers so it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Potable or not.

biglzz

lp's not too bad ,in my opinion. ive been 2 india 2wice now ist time for 6 months 2nd time 6mths as well,but on the last leg of an 18 month se asia trip,its like baggage, carry what you need, give the rest away.as for bottled water if i was off 2 india for 2wks theres no way i'd drink out a tap/well for obvious reasons,if i were you id stop looking at india through 'rose tinted spec's' it's good to take them off now and again & take a look around.

crvlvr

Most of those travel books are written by one time travellers and probably work for the casual tourist. But as IMer would know, you won't find Steven Ber's knowledge of the Indian trains, Beach's observation of "Indian culture" and polls like "How do you Wipe" in any kind of travel book. Thats this kind of info one needs to understand and prepare India.

Merchant

Fear is a huge industry--there's tons of money to be made. The LP is good about articulating the reasons you should be afraid (reasonable or unreasonable), and then tut-tutting you about them, since their writers are supposedly above such bourgeois paranoia. But it is fun to be afraid, especially while traveling. India is usually the locus of this--witness all of the useless knickknacks that appear on people's "must pack" lists, every possible emollient, disinfectant, and stomach pill in the pharmacy, plus the requisite mosquito netting, luggage chain, padlock for hotel room door, water purification tablets, first aid kit, syringe needles: all the stuff you're "supposed" to have in India, because the LP said so thirty years ago.

It does people some good to puzzle through all these quandaries, and there's no way you can talk them out of their fear, until they get to India and discover that, for all the exotica, it's a real place, with real people who mean you no harm.

I'm against all the fearmongering, in print or on the web, but there's a huge investment in it.

Sama

Ever since 9/11, this society has become even more fear-based. I live in white-bread suburbia outside of Chicago and people are afraid to let their kids walk one block to the school bus stop. I know women who are AFRAID to go into Chicago, either driving or on the train. They think I am either crazy or Wonder Woman to go to India all by myself...

The other day I heard a woman tell her little girl, "now stay real close to me, don't walk away.... you don't want someone grabbing you and taking you away from me forever, do you?"

Yup, never too young for the indoctrination...

__________________
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"a clear conscience is the sign of a bad memory"

claurianta

Yeah, in the Middle East and India kids used to run up to me and try their English or just wonder at the foreigner (and beg for money/pencils/whatever). Back in Europe, I'm an evil stranger who might abduct kids so you should never come close to me (or any other unknown person).

Karma Queen

seems like you're wearing rose tinted glasses lovelyindia. don't mean to cause offence, i just disagree - as much as i adore india, not everything is lovely. eg -i did get ill from the water, and so i think bottled water is sensible. i wouldn't trust indian condoms - a lot of indian products aren't made to the same standards, or go through the same tests as products from home. although LP does get a little carried away with the fear factor, it is written by people who are just like us. it served us well while we were travelling. it wasn't our bible, but i couldn't have travelled without it

Seeker710

well, i appreciate your heads-up about LP. i'm using the guide on my trip later this month. i don't think a single guidebook can encapsulate a country and every experience of every traveller. however, with that being said, LP's job is to communicate to you things that their writers experienced or things that were reported to them by users of its guides. if they didn't tell you about the padlock and chain, or possible sickness caused by drinking bad tap water - you'd bitch up a storm because three weeks of your trip was ruined "DAMMIT LP I trusted you to inform me about this stuff!!!" you'd exclaim.

i'm sure i'll not experience half the ugly things that LP warns about - but i won't be paying some dude to clean crap off my shoes (that he put there) or be letting the rickshaw driver tell me my hotel is full so he can take me to another really good one (where he gets a commission).....both things that LP warned me about and were confirmed by indiamike.com IM'ers.

keep posting and sharing your experiences - but please be a bit more circumspect about what guide books are supposed to do for you....keep you a little safer and to help you understand a bit more about the things you see and do in foreign places.

regards,

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Phillip

"I am a firm believer that EVERY person, every once in a while, needs a good ass kicking."

-anon

anonymous

The politically correct brigade in full howl. Also the English usage by the OP seems a bit surprising for an American female.