Lonely Planet Vietnam Cambodia Laos & the Greater Mekong (Multi Country Guide) [Paperback]

Nick Ray (Author), Tim Bewer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Multi Country Guide | Publication Date: September 1, 2007

Discover Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & the Greater Mekong

Take a slow boat down the mighty Mekong past remote jungles, ancient temples and intriguing hill-tribe villages.
Get up close and personal with wild elephants in Laos.
Trek to secluded waterfalls through Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.
Explore magnificent Angkorian temples without the crowds in Cambodia's Preah Vihear Province.

In This Guide:

Full-color chapter on the region's ancient wonders, from majestic Angkor Wat to World Heritage-listed Lijiang.
Border crossings chapter to help plan your adventure, with info on which borders are open and a map with marked crossings.
Visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For sheer global reach and dogged research, attention must be paid to Lonely Planet…' --Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2003

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: 524 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 1 edition (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741047617
• ISBN-13: 978-1741047615
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #968,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Travel > Asia > Laos
  • #73 in Books > Travel > Asia > Cambodia
  • #93 in Books > Travel > Asia > Vietnam

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, March 4, 2008

By 

T. Ng "virgochick71" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Vietnam Cambodia Laos & the Greater Mekong (Multi Country Guide) (Paperback)

Lonely Planet has really cornered the guidebooks market but in this case, I feel it's not deserved. I just got back from a trip to Vietnam (a destination I settled on after reading the book and gauging the amount of time I had) and all the information in there was outdated and inaccurate. I also had Rough Guides a friend gave me last minute and I much preferred it. The print says it was last updated a year or 2 ago and I understand that's the nature of the beast but it was still disappointing.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent starting point, August 1, 2008

By 

Alexander Steffler (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Vietnam Cambodia Laos & the Greater Mekong (Multi Country Guide) (Paperback)

I spent six weeks in May and June 2008 backpacking around Southeast Asia, and this was my primary guidebook. Overall, I found it to be helpful for the macro-level stuff: planning my itinerary, getting a general overview of each country's history, and budgeting.

I give it three stars, however, because although it's unreasonable to expect it to be as in-depth as the individual guidebooks for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, I often found that the authors omitted useful listings for lodging, places to eat, and sites that were included in other books.

If you plan on taking only one guidebook for VN, KH, and LA, this is a good choice. (Another option is Moon, but at the time of my trip it was even more out-of-date than the LP guide.) Just keep in mind that you'll want to refer to other guidebooks, which I found to be readily available from hostels, cafes, and other travelers in this well-traveled region.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly adequate for a short Southeast Asia tour, November 23, 2009

By 

J. Rodina (Paxson, Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Vietnam Cambodia Laos & the Greater Mekong (Multi Country Travel Guide) (Paperback)

We just returned from a three week trip to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. We spent about 10 days in Thailand, one week in Laos, and only four days in Cambodia at Siem Reap visiting the Angkor Wat complex. As we only had time on this trip to hit the highlights, this book was just fine. We actually brought along the Lonely Planet Thailand book and for such a short trip, it was too big and definitely in the way. If you're really backpacking and traveling for many weeks or months through Southeast Asia, I wouldn't recommend this book (buy the individual country books), but for a standard vacation it was a great resource.