Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet on a Shoestring Series) (Paperback)

by Chris Taylor (Author), Peter Turner (Author), Joe Cummings (Author), Brendan Delahunty (Author), Paul Greenway (Author), James Lyon (Author), Jens Peters (Author), Robert Storey (Author), David Willett (Author), Tony Wheeler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there, chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

This totally revised edition is the progeny of the first Lonely Planet guide, produced in LP founder Tony Wheeler's kitchen more than 25 years ago. True to its origins, South-East Asia on a Shoestring will help you travel from Myanmar to Sarawak on the tightest of budgets. This is the word on independent travel to the region, with more than 160 maps, border-crossing and visa information, public transportation tips, a thorough language section and glossary, plus itineraries for short trips or years-long journeys. --Kathryn True

Product Description
This travel guide is designed for those on varying budgets and covers Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Product Details

• Paperback: 928 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 9th edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864424124
• ISBN-13: 978-0864424129
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,721,072 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lonely Planet-Southeast Asia, March 18, 2000

By A Customer

This book is an adequate guide but it needs improvement in several areas. I used this book during Janurary and February of 2000 when I traveled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Last year I used the Lonley Planet-India and found it was much better than Southeast Asia. Here are the weaknesses. 1. The numbers of the locations on the maps should be used in the text describing the location. This would grealy improve you ability to plan your day or route. 2. Maps should be improved. I would be willing to spend a few dollars more for better maps. 3. Hotel, restaurant, etc. names are not printed in bold type. This makes it more difficult to use. 4. It would be very helpful to grade the sites with a priority to reduce the time one spends reading fine print and get on with seeing the country. When I return to this part of the world next winter I will try to find additional books to correct these weaknesses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this book !!!!, October 15, 1998

By A Customer

I travelled for about 45 days in Vietnam, Malalysia and Thailand with this book and found it completely unsatisfactory relative to the LP for the individual countries. Those books offer so much more in background information and tidbits that would help you plan your time wisely that I scrapped it while travelling and traded up for the country versions of the books.

I had a big weight factor in the rest of the books I carried (LP India really kills) which convinced me one book was better than 3 but don't do it ! It will suffice in a pinch but you will be often looking over the shoulder of your fellow travellers which have the fuller versions of the countries covered in SE Asia.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst travel guide I ever used!, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

We recently traveled through Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia and found this guidebook practically useless and certainly frustrating--definitely not worth its weight. We have used other LPs in the past and found them to be at least adequate but this one doesn't even rate that well. It lacked many important details--such as the time/distances between many points, availability of various transportation options and routes, decent maps--the list goes on and on. Even though prices change often and currencies fluctuate, even a vague idea of prices (is it $10 or $100??) would have been quite useful to help us plan better. Although we ran into many people all 'armed' with the LP, they all had the same complaints.