Lonely Planet a book full of Bull Crap

ColinT

No I don't think they are idiots either. I met the guy who researches the India edition twice recently (not an idiot!). He was responsible for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He was doing his research in late 2004 for the next edition, due out some time in Sept/Oct 2005. So there is going to be a big time lag between research and actual publication.

Auntyji

I'd like to know when Indians started using "lemme" (often used in the original post)....did something change in the years I've been away? I still remember those tough teachers of mine, banging the Wren & Martin (ancient text on English grammar) into our heads!

dumb_bacchus

Woow you wont trust an indian condom cuz u might get HIV. And all those indian who use them dont care about HIV - you mean. Btw try Durax next time or moods for that sake. We even get dotted/striped/flavored.

btw. I am an Indian and remember we coined the word Karma.

Rob_The_Pom

The books are completely updated every two years. Check out the excellent article from the New Yorker that was given above.

I have a lot of issues with the content of their books. I find some of the book so PC it irritates the hell out of me. But, if they sell so many copies and have been incredibly successful they must be doing something right.

Things do change, they can't have someone permanently checking every hotel, and putting out a new book every week.
They do state that 'prices go up, good hotels go bad, and bad hotels go broke'.
They also ask for people to let them know when this happens.

I'm not entirely sure where your argument is coming from, simply that it doesn't show the 'real India', and as I said above, no guidebook can ever really show the 'real' country. Real life in every country is normal, mundane, and generally unexciting - that isn't really what most tourists are looking for.
People who want the 'real' experience will do what Nick H has done and take up long term residence in a place, then books like the LP become superfluous.

I also refer you to the fact that the lead author is Sarina Singh who is Australian-Indian and has spent most of her adult life there.

How exactly are they breaking anyone's trust?

It seems that the biggest complaints about the LP come from those outside the target audience.
The book isn't perfect, and I think I probably prefer Rough Guide now, but it does a job, and does it quite well.

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Karma Queen

you're twisting my words. all the guide books say it is best to bring your own contraception. now, they may be completely wrong, but i *personally* would rather not take that chance.

ok?

tstan

A brilliant insider reference about Tony Wheeler and Lonely Planet, Gayamom!

Merchant's views, as always, were thought-provoking.

There seem to be schools of opinion about guide books, just as there seem to be different views about tourism (short luxury trips as opposed to three weekly and highly planned expeditions as opposed to unfocussed indefinite journeys). There is also a lot of intellectual snobbery!

I'm sorry that I haven't contributed much to the forum since I returned from India in February. I have been very busy at work and also I have been doing extensive research for my next overseas trip in December/January, from Istanbul to Cairo.

For the benefit of new members and visitors to the forum planning a journey to India, I would like to recommend that they borrow a guide book from their library. At the planning stage, it doesn't really matter that the guide book is not the current one. In ideal circumstances, it will be possible to borrow the LP, Footprint and Rough Guide simultaneously. I recently staggered home on Friday evening, not from one of the numerous Italian restaurants, but from the local library with my daypack full of guidebooks for Turkey and the Middle East and out of consideration to fellow residents of my inner city suburb, I returned them after the weekend!

These gave me a basic framework of the places that would be worth visiting, a rough idea of the cost (of accommodation, in time, entry fees, transport, visas and meals). Having established what this might be, I buried myself in historical accounts and I don't expect to buy a guide book until the last week or so before I leave Sydney.There is no pre-booking apart from the first night or three and I always research the best method of getting independently from the airport to the guest-house.

The next stage is to work on improving my Arabic and learn a few phrases of Turkish and continue with the background reading. For India, while it is well worth learning a bit of Hindi, Maharathi, Bengali or other language used in the area you will be visiting,but English is sufficiently well-spoken just about everywhere.

The new LP guide for Lebanon and Syria is much more slick and easy to negotiate so I imagine that the new LP guide for India will be much the same. Personally, I prefer the Rough Guide and Footprint Guide because they are less focussed on restaurants and accommodation than the LP. Knowing admission hours and entry fees, along with transport details and good quality maps of areas being visited is also crucial to the enjoyment of a holiday.

A couple of years ago, when I was travelling in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, I met a Frenchman who travelled without a camera or guidebook. He was a happy and knowledgeable traveller. What more can I say?

Best wishes to my old friend Shimla.

PRIYA

I am also non-Indian, but I'll defend India to anyone who tries to put her down. Sure, I'll admit there are flaws, but there are more positives in India, I feel, than anywhere else.

When friends first heard I was going to India, they thought I needed my head examined (so did I ) but they hadn't been there. I was even mocked when I got back home.........who cares - I've been, loved it, every awesome bizzare, wonderful moment!!!!

I do use LP - to try and do some positive promoting of Zimbabwe with all the negative stuff that's written there.

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randomviolins

Aw heck, Auntyji.
Why are you pickin on me?
I really do not know what is lovelyindia's first language. It could be Slovenian for all I know. That was the point of my post. Inquiring minds want to know (or not).

Auntyji

NO, randomviolins, not picking on you at all! I am serious...I didn't have the freedom to use English this way in the school I went to in India (English teacher was a tough old bat). So I was curious about her usage of the language, that's all. Agree with you about inquiring minds!

Obvious question, but do you play the violin?

Nick-H

It's True! It's True! Come to Chennai, it is normal, mundane and generally unexiting ...In a hot, tropical, wonderful sort of way

They still come in handy to see where one might go for the weekend. On those few occasions when I'm not being normal, mundane and generally unexiting

Had one of those the other day, encountering my first aggressive street dog. Luckily my shoulder bag was between it and me and it bit the bag. I can do without too much excitement

Which is kind of a good example: I guess the books have to warn about the dogs, despite all the rest I see being entirely unagressive, even a little nervous.

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cyberhippie

Wow are we reading the same Lonely planet here?? Innaccurate yes, opnionated yes, but really to hold the LP even partially responsable for the world's misplaced image of India is taking things a bit far!
It's a travel guide book for goodness sake and should be treated as such. The LP grapples with the same complexities in describing India "the whole" as many a scholar!
India has changed undoubtably, but has the evolution taken it beyond what some have described as "dark and dirty".
The scams and touting goes on anabated, at the same time as India launching it's latest bunch of Satellites, water or the shortage of clean drinking water is still a national problem, even as the software companies of Hydrabad and Bangalore post ever better quaterly reports, whole cities or even states suffer power shortages, with all the health repercussions that brings, fake goods still flood the Indian market, and a women walking blindly into a dangerous area could find herself in a dangerous situation.
This is happening alongside the recent gains in the economy and Indias new place at the world table.
Of course this isn't anything like the true picture of India as it is for the most part a very friendly honest country to travel and the logisitcs get easier every year thanks to better road and rail infrastructures
So the crux for the LP is, do they ignore the "dark and dirty" side of India that does undoubtably exist (I'm sure many old India hands would tell you that India is probably more dishonest now that 25 years ago) or does it deny that general information to it's readers??
The LP it seems to me try to relay this info in a responsable manner, it starts it's dangers and annoyances with the statement that "India is generally a safe country to travel in" (no bias there) and the medical section simply offers you a range of diseases that are present from time to time, again a responsable attitude in ANY guide book, that travellers frequently become travel hypochondriacs can hardly be blamed on the LP!!
The LP tries to encapsulate India for tourists, it doesn't try to make any athropological or cultural statement other than try to help visitors aware of cultural mannerisms (these are often a bit jaded and old fashioned I admit but hey some hold on to social niceties longer than others)
It offers a range of information helpful to the individual, some of which "worse case scenario" but nevertheless people like to inform themselves of the possibilties while on the road. That, I feel is obvious by the number of queries about women travellers and drinking water etc we see posted regulary on forums like this one!
The LP doesn't claim to explain India, personally I feel only a fool would attempt such a huge task.
India is a country of extremes the new shining India sits happily alongside the the "dark and dirty" India, that is undeniable. So why beat up on the LP for pointing out that difficultes exist for the traveller even within the new modern India.
I think this thread is gradually drifting down the road of what constitutes "real India" Merchant's India is there for all to see, the new confidence, better cars, expats returning to add weight to the new comsumer revoltion, aspirations to sit on the security council, Cyberbad, Disneyland, the space program and a completely new kind of modern Indian.
However the old ghosts of corruption, infrastruture spending, womens rights, just won't be excised, these do impact on the tourist, allbeit in a very small way.
The LP has to address these problems to ignore them would be unrealistic and iresponsable. How peope interpret this information and use it on a trip to India is down to the individual, some will quickly see that life is a little different on a day to day basis, others will remain within their cultural cocoon with the LP as their only reference point, neither reaction can be solely attributed to the LP!!!

kiwi_razz

The LP does warn against these dogs.

Of course if the non-aggressive dogs could use the internet they would rant and rave about how the LP paints the picture that every single dog in india is nothing but a bunch of aggressive rabies-infested curs.

IVAN

Ha, Ha, Ha... Exactly!

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oldhippie

Perhaps someone should forward this thread to Tony Wheeler and crew. I somehow doub't that it would make any difference....

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Shiver me Timbers

Well, I haven't read Lonely Planet India, all the info I need is on this site.

I have, however, recently got the Iran, Central Asia and Pakistan editions (no other choice). I have failed to find any scaremongering in these books, even where maybe there should be. For instance, on trekking in a remote corner of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province - "If you choose to trek in this valley, bring a local guide if possible, as the area has a reputation for lawlessness and banditry." Area? One might say the whole of Pakistan has that reputation!

Lonely Planet books have a quote on the back - "Lonely Planet indisputably makes the most far-flung destinations seem instantly accessible." Just what more do you need from a guide book than that?