Lonely Planet Afghanistan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Country Travel Guide) [Paperback]

Paul Clammer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Country Travel Guide | Publication Date: August 15, 2007

Discover Afghanistan

Blink as you emerge from the cliffs at the top of one of Bamiyan's enormous Buddha niches.
Stop pedalling for a moment and drift in your swan-shaped pedalo on the waters of Band-e Amir.
Utter a great smoking sigh of contentment as you puff on a sheesha at Mirwais Shandaiz.

In This Guide:

Chapters on working and safety in Afghanistan, with advice from resident expats.
Specialist contributors write on journalism, women, and trekking in the Wakhan and the Afghan Pamir.
Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler reflects on travel to Afghanistan over the decades.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is not the typical guidebook for the typical tourist; it is meant for... armchair travelers and the few independent ones who are up for the challenge." --New York Times, August 26, 2007

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 1 edition (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740596420
• ISBN-13: 978-1740596428
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Travel > Asia > Afghanistan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only book out there, October 23, 2007

By 

Mark Schlegel (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Afghanistan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Country Travel Guide) (Paperback)

This is a great first edition guide to Afghanistan. For a book without much competition, LP has provided a lot more detail than they needed to to corner this market. Helpful sidebar commentaries on Hekmatyar and other political personalities in Afghanistan. The security situation has worsened since the book was written, so some of the land routes described here are no longer viable. Only complaint: the maps are full of careless errors, which are disappointing to discover stumbling around Kabul at dusk. Doesn't anyone proofread these things? Hopefully these will get ironed out in the next edition.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a Good "Guide", but worth reading for general info, October 16, 2009

By 

John Paskey (Phila, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Afghanistan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Country Travel Guide) (Paperback)

...this after just getting back from Afghanistan ...as a tourist. Take everything in this book with a grain of salt. It's a fast moving country and to try and list "tourist" sites, places to stay, and places to eat could be portentially deadly. Good background info read before you go, definitely, but used as a "guide" ...good luck. Left mine at the Serena in Kabul (in the library if you need one while your there). The first LP guide which really lent credence to the "Lonely Liar" reputation LP has around the world.

One star because, honestly, LP should not be trying to put out a guide to a country in this kind of shape which is changing so dramatically and quickly. The book was probably outdated before it even hit the shelves. But hey, so what if people read it, get the wrong idea and get killed there, as long as they make money, right?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent primer on Afghanistan, May 23, 2009

By 

George A (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Afghanistan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (Country Travel Guide) (Paperback)

In preparation for a military deployment to the country I had been doing extensive reading on all aspects of Afghanistan, which can get depressing. So I picked up the book in the hopes of getting a current, positive view of the country by someone with first-hand knowledge and a appreciation for the culture, and was not disappointed. If you are looking for the fastest way to get your head around its complicated history, the first 60 pages hits all the critical events neatly and is probably the best short history I've come across. As someone not planning on utilizing the actual travel information, the rest of the book serves as a good introduction to the various regions and major cities and gives you an appreciation for the geospacial relationships within and the layout of the country, its topography, and the general flow of its cities. The traveler specific information (transportation, lodging, food, costs, etc) seem very detailed and complete, with many options per city and reviews, addresses, phone etc for each. Seems like if would be very usable to a traveler. Throughout it ties in cultural as it applies to the modern westerner and by the end you'll have a pretty good frame of reference for further study. Certainly a must for anyone visiting as a tourist (but remember the security situation is quite different now, as the book also warns), and I think also an important read for the soldier that can give you the quick look at modern Afghanistan and also its history from a perspective we're generally not provided.