Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway (Country Travel Guide)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pakistan is among the tourism world's best kept secrets, and this book throws open those secrets very well. Lonely Planet has always been good with detail and comprehensive coverage, and that trend continues with its coverage on Pakistan.

Without the off-the-beaten track records, I would have missed some of the greatest historical and cultural artifacts that Pakistan has to offer. And the guide truly works as you trek up north into Pakistan's majestic mountains that offer the most mind-blowing natural beauty - even India's Kashmir area is nothing compared to the rugged and untouched beaty of the Swat River Valley all the way to whitewater rafting areas in Gilgit.

So when you head to Pakistan, definitely take this book along.

I found this book very helpful in getting to know this exotic country, full of adventure and culture.

I recommend this book highly to folks who want to know about the indus valley culture and Pakistan.

After using this Lonely Planet Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway 7th edition during my recent 6 week trip to Pakistan I must say that this book is an essential guide for sure. I traveled all along the Karakoram Highway from Kashgar (China) down to Islamabad. From Islamabad I continued to explore the rest of this fascinating country to the southern city of Karachi. If you are planning a visit to Pakistan you simply must have this book. My only criticism is that the map inset of the Karakoram Highway contains serious errors such as placing Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan along the Karakoram Highway region. Lonely Planet should correct these errors as soon as possible so travelers don't think they can cross into Pakistan from those two countries through which I also traveled in 2008.

Very detailed information about a remote part of the planet. Good pictures, but very small in the book. Day-by-day diary information for a trip on the Karakoram highway by bicycle, too. It appears the reviewers last visited in 2003 or 2004. The current (2007) security situation near the Northwest Frontier provinces (where Osama is allegedly hiding) is an important concern in deciding to make the trip. It would be helpful to list a URL in the book for up-to-date security information, on a Lonely Planet web site.

This book made my trip BRILLIANT. Do not believe what you read in mainstream press. Go visit Pakistan !! Much more interesting than India.

The first five reviews listed here pre-date the May 2008 publication of the 7th edition of the guidebook, and refer to comments on earlier editions. Please submit reviews only on this edition of the guidebook, not on previous editions. Amazon should correct this oversight. Contributing authors, John Mock & Kimberley O'Neil

Lonely Planet Guide is the bible of all backpackers. Once again I would not travel without this addition for Pakistan.

Wow, what a tale! It is a story of ultimate innocences, abandonment, and courage to overcome the worse possible adversities. I worked with women who had been abused and abandoned as Isabel had been. She captures their feeling of absolute hopelessness . When I would ask these women why they stayed under such circumstances. They would say things like I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't support the children alone, or worse felt they probably deserve their misery. Isabel experienced all these feelings, but overcame them for the sake of her children. Most woman wouldn't have quite as many male admirers to help as she, but none the less when you don't have a choice you do what you need to do. This is a story any woman who is being abused should read. Yes, there can be a better life!

Jane Yanagi

I used this guide in 1988. Loney Planet has had time to correct errors. Let us hope they have.

Example: Lonely Planet said catch a bus in Peshawar for Darra at the bus station in Grand Trunk Road. No one in Peshawar had a clue what Grand Trunk Road might mean. In Peshawar, Grand Trunk Road is known as GT Road.

After much difficulty getting this sorted out, the traveler learns that buses for Darra do not leave from this station. Buses for both Darra and Chitral leave from an open field called something like Nee Ooo Wah Dah.

These errors create doubt about the reliability of the rest of the guide.

One expects better from Lonely Planet.