"A not so lonely planet"

machadinha

LOL, this just passed by on the local news here:

Lonely Planet writer says he made up part of books.

Their website doesn't seem to feature a reaction yet. Pity.

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the opoponax

As I said over at thorntree, this might possibly explain all the times I looked at my LP in frustration and thought "Have they even been here???"

I was convinced in a lot of less touristed parts of India that the Lonely Planet writers either never went there and based the coverage on outside research, or the information was so old that it had nothing to do with the reality on the ground when I was there.

That said, it's hard to write a travel guide as exhaustive as the Lonely Planet books. It's the plagiarism I'm most angry about - that's not a matter of cutting corners, it's just morally wrong.

Shiver me Timbers

LP writers vary in their quality.

I remember in Pakistan the guy who covered the northern areas had apparently just sat in a guest-house in Gilgit for 2 weeks getting all his information off other travellers.

A couple of them that I've used - Mark Elliot and Paul Clammer - are really excellent, they really know their stuff, and go where no one else does - it's notable that they've both done guide books for other companies.

And then some, like this guy apparently, don't even bother trying. And now, don't even pretend to bother trying.

Jorge Reverter

I've always been quite sure that LP writers have never been in most of the places especially when they talk (better when they write) about "Off the beaten tracks" sites. The information is not accurate at all and even sometimes hotels or monuments are closed since years etc.

Jorge

baz

A nice wee bit of publicity for his new book too.

machadinha

I dunno, I suspect con artists can easily slip in in the field, and he may be on something of a wind-up. I guess there's a market for such stuff (Karma Cola, Are You Experienced... etc.)

It's funny though. As the Telegraph quotes him:

Macho wind-up, yes, very likely. <cross-posted>:

Yes, my thought too

PeakXV

I remember skimming through an Indian travel guide(can't remember if it was LP or RG) a few years back and spotting a totally inane statement about a place I'd been to and thinking that this writer couldn't possibly have been there.

With the travel info on the web these days - you could write an entire guide cozied-up in your easy chair - PDQ!

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Ignite

Well, it just goes to show, its not just the stuff thats published on the internet, but even books cannot be trusted anymore.

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bijapuri

John Mock, ( http://www.mockandoneil.com/ ) who wrote much of the LP books on the mountains of Pakistan is a professor in my home town, has visited N Pak umpteen times, teaches Hindi/Urdu at UCSC, and very respected. The rest of the LP staff, I can't vouch for.

I found their guide to Pak to be good in the mtns, fair in the plains, but useless in Lahore.
I've said before and I'll say it again:
their India guide is nothing compared to Footprints- it's chief Merit is unwittingly warning the discerning reader as to where the deadbeats and disease vectors are coagulating.

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machadinha

Oh, I've found their series quite adequate and accessible so far yes. No complaints

It's always instructive to pick up any publisher's title to your hometown/country btw. But then that's just tourism for ya I guess. Strange folks with strange conceptions and wishes. I always wonder what our Indian members make of foreigners' perceptions of their place for that matter. They sure show an astounding lot of patience and goodwill about it I've checked out travel forums to my country and a peek was all it took to run away screaming before even getting involved.

Shiver me Timbers

That's John Mock, he did the trekking chapters, and like you said, is well respected and much loved in that part of Pakistan and also in Afghanistan.

But the guy who did the basic bread and butter stuff for the north, his name was Lindsay Brown, I was told by a couple of people that he just sat in the Madina Guest House in Gilgit for 2 weeks collecting information.

navinkurian2002

After seeing their information on the Andaman I knew they covered select hotels (special mentions ) other gems were not even noticed...

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martinez

Although travel guides like LP and RG have their place and are useful to an extent,i must sadly report that whilst in Kolkata in December i could not fail to notice the large numbers of people walking around with their travel guides open in front of them and at the same time being completely oblivios to that which was going on around them. Some people seem to base the whole ,or a major part, of their trip on that which is written therein. The problem is that the individual risks missing so much of what is happening around them,like going to tourist sites and never doing an unplanned tour in an obscure part whichever city or countryside setting. We all seem to want to go down the well trodden road where many have been before instead of pioneering something out of a spirit of adventure.
As a consequence of my observations,may i encourage anyone that may read this post to protect themselves from the potential misuse of such otherwise useful publications

bijapuri

wow- I can't imagine sitting in the Madina hotel for more than the time it takes to see if anyone wants to share a jeep for a safari- I never did get any takers from that crowd- they were all too cheap. I did notice several guests seemed to have no trouble staying long periods there.
Why on earth one stays put in Gilgit at the only backpack hotel is beyond me!

In defense of the Madina- it's pretty nice for a backpack haunt, and the folks who run it are nice, but it is what it is. I remember something horribly wrong with my only night there- either the smell or something, but can't remember what exactly led me to flee the next morning!

machadinha

C'mon Bij, you're a better writer than that -- your goodies (or the neigbors') went overcooked there or something? (--> In reference to the smell, I mean, don't get me wrong.)