Asia Books - Page 5

Turkey (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A little light on the content 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

The guide has beautiful pictures, but I found it a little lacking in content, especially for the Ephesus area. If you are going on a cruise and stopping in Kusadasi as we did, we wanted information on the Kusadasi and Ephesus areas, including how to navigate ourselves through town, what the highlights are (where to focus our time) and how to get there, as well as some historical and background information. The little information this book did provide on Ephesus was something any taxi driver could have told us.

Good Supplement to a Human Guide 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book looks nice, feels nice, and I suppose might taste nice. However, after living in Turkey for a year I found this book to be lacking in practical information. Eyewitness guides seemed to be geared more towards the tourist-on-a-tour rather than a person trying to make it on their own. There are three reasons I say this:
1) The hotel information is mainly for nicer establishments and there are not many listed.
2) The pictures are really nice, but there is not a lot of cultural, historical, or instructional information.
3) The book is really heavy making it a pain to carry around.

I also owned the Lonely Planet Turkey book and loved it, I would recommend it over the Eyewitness Guide. It got me to where I wanted to go and I found most of the information to be accurate. People I worked with also liked the Rough Guide of Turkey.

One other suggestion, if you are just headed to Istanbul, or plan to be in the country for a long period of time I would purchase both a Turkey guide and an Istanbul guide in order to save having to carry around a huge guidebook to the entire country.

Editorial Review:

From Greek and Roman ruins such as Ephesus to busting bazaars to virgin beaches, this guide brings the reader the best that Turkey has to offer. Includes extensive coverage of the different quarters of Istanbul and highlights places such as Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure

Sarah Macdonald

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Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Essays & Travelogues

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 99 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and him, the finger.

But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes. “Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death.

Holy Cow is Macdonald’s often hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.

Trans-Siberian Handbook: Seventh Edition of the Guide to the World's Longest Railway Journey (Trailblazer Guides)

Bryn Thomas

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Transportation -> Railroads -> General AAS
Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Russia -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With over 90,000 copies now sold, this is the most popular Trans-Siberian guidebook. A trip across Siberia on the longest continuous railway track in the world is undoubtedly the journey of a lifetime. It's also a convenient way to reach China, Mongolia, or Japan. Tickets are not expensive or difficult to arrange. Readers can now travel almost anywhere they want in Siberia: we tell them how to organize a trip, where to get tickets, and where to go.

>Kilometer-by-kilometer route guide -- covering the entire routes of the Trans-Siberian, Trans-Manchurian, and Trans-Mongolian railways with thirty-eight strip maps in English, Russian, and Chinese: readers can see where they are as they travel
>Siberia and the railway -- the detailed history of Siberia, the construction of the railway and the running of the Trans-Siberian today are of great interest not only to visitors but also to armchair travelers
>City guides with maps -- the best sights, places to stay, and restaurants for all budgets: Moscow, St Petersburg, Ulan Bator, Beijing, and twenty-three towns in Siberia
>Nutshell information on Minsk, Berlin, Baltic Republics, Helsinki, Hong Kong, and Tokyo
>Rail fares and timetables
>Seventh edition includes seventy maps
>Plus Russian and Chinese phrases

Imperium

Ryszard Kapuscinski

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Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Eastern
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Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Sine qua non 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A lyrical masterpiece by this superlative writer! Nowhere have I found a dissection of the Evil Empire done with such fluid verse. He goes from the periphery into the heart of the beast and everywhere he discovers that appearances deceive and what seems to signal change is really a re-hash of old. Kapuczinski's sharp analysis and trenchant comments will be sorely missed!

Kapuscinski rulez! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book, all of Kapuscinski`s books are great. It takes you for a journey you don`t expect. Great style and I always regret it`s over, after I finish to read his book.

Recommended 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book after reading about the author in the Wall Street Journal. He died earlier this year. The author, a journalist, kept two notebooks while on assignments throughout the world, one for his assignment and one for himself. In this book he combined his observations from several trips he took within Russia and its states over a span of many decades. At times his writing style can be quite poetic, and the book is not unlike a travel book, although Soviet Russia was not a friendly place at the times of his visits. I intend to read his other books, and highly recommend this one.

Editorial Review:

By "the conjuror extraordinary of modern portage" (John le Carre)--a personal, brilliantly detailed exploration of the almost unfathomably complex Soviet empire. "When a writer of Mr. Kapuscinski's genius writes of the snows and the steppes of Siberia, of the doomed Aral Sea and Kiev . . . no pictures are necessary."--The Wall Street Journal. First time in paperback.

Istanbul (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Turkey -> Istanbul
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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Turkey -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Informative and easy to read 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best guide books I have ever read! SO easy to leaf through it and find exactly what one is looking for. The maps are well drawn and easy to navigate, and the photograph make the whole experience complete. I loved most the chapter on foods and drinks to be tasted in Istanbul. Will be a great guide to take along on my trip there.

Excellent giude 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I had never used this series of guidebooks before, so I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised during my recent visit to Istanbul in June of 2007.

The main selling points of these DK guides are the superior maps and illustrations of tourist attractions. Major museums, mosques and palaces are shown in detail, with drawings and photos of the interior and exterior, as well as nicely illustrated historical tidbits. For doing the touristy things like visiting major attractions and taking pictures, this guide is great.

I am not sure how good this guide is when it comes to restaurants and nightlife. I did not explore that side of Istanbul as much, and what I saw did not impress me much.

Overall, I think I would have preferred a guide geared more towards active young people with a slightly cynical edge - this guide seemed to present everything as pretty and somewhat sterile. From what I saw, Istanbul definitely has an interesting culture that this guide did not fully capture.

Overall, good guidebook, and highly recommended. Read it ahead of time to know where the main sites and activities that interest you are located. Then do some more research online for good hotels to stay in - online reviews are more up to date.

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: Tie-In Edition

Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I get it now, Le Ly. Thank you. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Not having lived a very memorable life, my own writing has leaned toward fiction. Nevertheless, I tend to judge memoirs--and this is a good one--by the same standards I use for great literary fiction. One of those standards is the opener, or first line, in this case, "SUFFOCATE HER!" the midwife told my mother when I came into the world.

This is what we in the business call a 'zinger,' the equal of Camus' "Mother died today." or Melville's "Call me Ishmael." What a beginning! On trial for her life right from the git-go. This opener effectively signalled the continuous trials and potential consequences Le Ly would face for the rest of her life. She would have to come from stern stock if she were to survive, and her mother held her genetic end up with her smokin' response to the midwife, "I will bury her when she stops breathing. Now get out of here."

I have been a student of the Vietnam War since I first joined the Army as a chopper pilot in 1967--ironic because I've never set foot in that unfortunate land. I suppose I'm motivated by survivor's guilt. Anyway, Le Ly's fine memoir anchors a good bit of my newly won understanding of that longest and strangest of American wars. Coming from a Republican military family and growing up in the Cold War as I did, I believed at the time that everybody knew about and accepted the Domino Theory. And with my father a Korean War veteran (as well as WWII and Vietnam) I believed that any communists that were brazen enough to encroach from the north could be pushed back with a proper dose of American military muscle. I served in S. Korea myself many years after that war and things seemed to be plugging along rather nicely, thus preserving in my mind the validity of the Domino Theory. Then came Vietnam and the awful realization that we were not invincible. Hell, we got our butts kicked! Initial study from an unbiased source--General Westmoreland--suggested that America didn't lose the war, the South Vietnamese did. And he was right in a sense. Marvin the ARVN was quite content to sit back and let Joe slug it out with the VC and the NVA. I couldn't understand this. How could they take such a lackadaisical attitude about the fate of their nation when they had so much at stake? Did this mean they were for communism??? How could anybody with half a brain be FOR communism? I am not and never have been a practicioner of 'Jane Fonda logic' wherein if America makes a few mistakes, then the injured party must be lily-white, Q.E.D. I could see what rats the VC and NVA were. I knew they were just a front for a repressive dictatorship. Why couldn't the South Vietnamese see that? I was baffled.

Well, along comes a nice lady with the incongruous name of Le Ly Hayslip, who writes a book about those very South Vietnamese who didn't care about their government, or their nation (at least as we Americans tried to define it for them), or to my great surprise, communism or democracy or freedom (again as we defined that term). All they really cared about was getting the rice crop in and raising a few sons to do the same. Then the VC came into their village and beat everybody up, so they felt obliged to follow communism. Most of them didn't really know what that meant, but if the VC would stop beating them up, they'd learn a few songs and dig a few bunkers, then get back to the rice crop. The VC would leave and the Vietnamese Republicans would come in and beat them up again. So they were obliged to pay a few bribes and act 'patriotic' so the new bully would go away and again they could get back to the rice crop. This bizarre pattern only seemed normal to them. Throughout their recent past they had always been plagued by one bully or another--the French with their Morrocan allies, the VC, the NVA, the Republicans, the Americans--they were all the same to them. There was always somebody trying to get between them and their rice paddies. Deep down inside they were as apolitical as the grains of rice they were so diligently trying to harvest. You can eat rice. you can't eat dogma. The rice had fed them for generations. The VC et al. only fed them baloney. I get it now, Le Ly. Thank you.

--Ejner Fulsang, author of "A Knavish Piece of Work." Aarhus Publishing, 2006

Editorial Review:

A Vietnamese woman describes her journey from war-torn central Vietnam to the United States, recounting how she endured imprisonment, torture, rape, near-starvation, and the deaths of members of her family. Reprint. Movie tie-in.

Frommer's Thailand (Frommer's Complete)

Charlotte Shalgosky

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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Southeast

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go--they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!

Frommer's holds the key to worry-free travel in this exotic land, with valuable cultural insights, the latest trip-planning advice, detailed maps, and smart tips on language, local customs, and getting around. You'll find honest, in-depth reviews of luxury beach resorts, high-tech business hotels, intimate inns, and simple guest houses and bungalows, all based on recent personal inspections.

We'll show you spectacular beaches, waterfalls, floating markets, majestic temples, ancient ruins, national parks, palaces, and traditional villages. We'll lead you to amazing restaurants, and even take you elephant trekking in the Northern Hills. You'll also rely on us to guide you through the confusing, bustling, but intriguing city of Bangkok (our author, who lived there while writing this guide, knows it intimately, and discovered all sorts of hidden surprises). With Frommer's in hand, you'll experience all the wonder of Thailand!

Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics)

Wilfred Thesiger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The magnificent obsession 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

The Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter, or as the Arabs called it, The Sands, is one of the most inhospitable places on earth, and one of the least populated as a result. Like Mt. Everest, or the South Pole, each of which became the obsession of some men, sometimes costing them their lives, the Empty Quarter became an obsession of Wilfred Thesiger. He was not the first Westerner to cross it, Bertrand Thomas was, in the `30's, and then Harry (Abdullah) St. John Philby after him, but Thesiger is deservedly the most famous, due to this wonderful account that is difficult to put down. His birth and childhood in Abyssinia, in 1910, the son of the first British Ambassador, seems to have marked him for the "path less traveled." To fully appreciate "Arabian Sands,' it helps to have read "The Life of My Choice," his autobiography.

The first part of "Arabian Sands" covers his youth in Africa, and his initial desert trips in Dhaufar, and in the Danakil country. The end of the book involves his travels in then "forbidden" Oman. The heart of his story though, is his two epic crossing of The Sands. Unlike other Westerner explorers, he was unsupported in his efforts, by other Westerners, save for the financial support of the British Anti-Locust Board. He had to live by his wits, establishing firm and trusting relationships with his beloved Bedouin (Bedu) who were the essential element in his success. In so doing, he developed an understanding of the conditions of their very harsh life, and enthusiastically emulated them. In addition to coming to terms with the "ship of the desert," the camel, and adapting to the rhythms of desert travel with such transport, he also had to stay one step ahead of central authorities, and deal with the tribal politics, which invariably meant that some tribes would be hostile to both him, and his traveling companions solely for tribal reasons. Furthermore, since he was not a Muslim, he had to deal with those individuals and tribes who were hostile due solely to his non-adherence to their religion and beliefs, but Thesiger was wise enough to realize that much of the hostility resulted from the fact that all the other Westerners who were exploring were looking for oil, and the natives feared a loss of their land - it was hard for them, or even most Westerners to understand his motives of doing it solely "because it was there." After his second crossing he was arrested in the town of Sulaiyil by adherents of the Ikhwan, the fundamentalist brotherhood that very well may have made an "example" of him, "to encourage the others", and executed him. It was only the direct intervention of his friend, Philby, with the Saudi king, Abdul Aziz, which secured his release.

The book contains numerous excellent maps, which outline his trips, as well as the tribal areas. It also includes some excellent black and white photographs, many of them of his traveling companions. On a personal note, he inspired a passion to visit Yabrin, on the northern edge of the Empty Quarter, and I was able to see it develop into a significant town, over a 23 year period, a far cry from the absolute absence of people at this oasis when he passed through in 1948.

I couldn't give the book a 5-star however. As one other reviewer indicated, it would help if we looked a bit at the man himself, and his reference frame. The book was written around 12 years after the events, and he admits to not maintaining accurate notes, so how much was changed in his memory? Certainly he experienced "comradeship," like men do in war, but does that mean we should have wars for this experience? It seemed that he unduly romanticized the hardship, and bemoaned that the bedu would loose their remarkable way of life with the coming impact of the modern world. And there is no question that there are only a few real bedu left on the Arabian peninsula, as they have enthusiastically embraced the conveniences of the modern world in the subsequent 60 years. It should be noted that Thesiger carefully picked the timings of his travels, to do so only in the winter. If he had spent a couple of summers with the bedu, I strongly suspect that much of his romanticism would have evaporated, and the hum of an air-conditioner would be much appreciated. Also, there may have been more than an aversion to the modern material world behind his passion for the remote areas of yore - throughout his life, including his days in Kenya at the end, there was always a youthful companion with him.

Setting aside these caveats, and realizing that the prism may be distorted, his achievements are remarkable, and we are fortunate to have an enthralling narrative of this vanished way of life.

Editorial Review:

Arabian Sands is Wilfred Thesiger’s record of his extraordinary journey through the parched “Empty Quarter” of Arabia. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life—“the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets.” In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels. His now-classic account is invaluable to understanding the modern Middle East.

Cambodia (Country Guide)

Nick Ray

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Still the essential guide for traveling in Cambodia... 5 out of 5 stars.
29 of 30 people found this review helpful.

I've been to Cambodia several times now and this is the guide I will continue to buy. It's important to have an up to date guide to Cambodia as the country has and is changing so rapidly (5 years ago you couldn't walk 20 metres without coming across someone with a gun in Phnom Penh and most of the roads weren't sealed). I would still buy each new edition that came out simply for the knowledge of the important basic things that change like transport routes and times etc. that are constantly changing.

Cambodia is now well and truly open for tourists. I know from speaking with locals that the author, Nick, spends a lot of time in Cambodia and has great local knowledge (I'm kind of cheesed a little since he's included many of my previously unknown haunts and now they get filled up well in advance).

I do have some criticism of the guide, and I guess how people use it. First, people mostly tend to go to restaurants and guesthouses recommended in the book. I've found many places that I've enjoyed staying that are not in the book and in many cases are better than places in the guidebook (and cheaper, many places, particularly in SEA put their prices up after getting an LP inclusion). The towns are generally small enough that you can look around and also ask people who live there for their recommendations. (Most times you can `feel' when someone has no agenda in recommending a places versus someone who'd take you someone who gains to get a commission out of you going there - and the commission system is well and truly alive in Cambodia - they're not huge in $ terms but you don't want to stay in a dump when better alternatives are available and also there's the consideration that price you pay in Cambodia is not always related to the quality you get).

The other thing is often Lonely Planet uses text from previous editions (which is particularly worrying for guesthouse inclusions) and so some descriptions are a little (or a lot) out of date. While there are definitely some good places recommended there, you will often find them full of other backpackers and tourists so either you can't get a booking or there will indeed just be tones of people there which will likely detract from your experience. Restaurant and guest house recommendations, particularly in the two major cities need to be used with discretion. It's also good to spread your money around.

Some of the benefits of the book - it does clue you in to things that are very important that you otherwise would have a hard time finding out - e.g. if you take the bus from Thailand, they do slow that bus down and make the trip long and tiring as you're pre-sold for a commission to the (rotating) guesthouse they drop you off at (so you're deliberately) exhausted late at night; another useful tip was the dangerous Malaysian boats that do the Siem Reap - Phnom Penh route. You need impartial and insider advice for these kind of things because you wont necessarily get it from an average local (unless you really have their confidence and then they might tell you about stuff that sometimes doesn't get into the guidebooks - e.g. how many travelers have been killed or injured using certain types of transport like their outdated planes and some boats and other local knowledge you simply cant get from this guidebook).

For the tourist just doing the major sites, the book has extensive maps and guides to the Angkor temples and their history and layout and also Phnom Penh (which is unfortunately where most people may end their trip). The brief guide to the local language in the back will most definately help you connect with the already friendly locals. Even if you only learn please, hello and thank you, people will greatly appreciate your efforts.

The guide to some of the lesser known places is less comprehensive (eg. North, and east and some parts of the south like Campot and Kep). My friends and I were in fits of laughter at the description of Sen Monorom being like something like Switzerland! It's a LONG trip and the end result is very baron, and, unfortunately, losing lots of trees due to extensive and damaging logging. Nonetheless, I found the trips to the outlying places to be extremely rewarding. There's practically no tourists (you can have amazing trips and have entire beach to yourself for a day for less than $20) and some of the food, sights, sunsets and other experiences are simply stunning. You may however want to pass on those black delicacies they seem to enjoy tucking into on the bus... they're fried bush spiders! Cambodia does though have some of the nicest sugar cane juice I've tasted anywhere in South East Asia.

BTW if they're still using the 4 people for 3 seats in the car, just pay for the extra seat if you're doing more than 3 hours or you will find yourself in excruciating pain. Also, because it changes so often the guidebook will not be useful if you're taking an internal flight (other than the standard Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route which uses brand new planes), as some of the planes are VERY old, tires are sometimes bald, flights full (which can be a problem if you want to get back), and there have been accidents which they wont tell you about. Do your own research.

For people traveling on their own or as a backpacker I'd strongly recommend befriending a local or two as a guide. I always take some time to 'feel' the authenticity of the person approaching me and as they talk to me and that pay's huge rewards in a country where there is a hidden commission system. I've met two that I'd just take with me over the entire country next time as guides because they have extensive insider knowledge and can be invaluable if you get into trouble, especially if they relate well to other people.

Cambodia offers trips that you simply cannot do in the same way in other countries in the region because there are so many tourists, laws and other limiting factors. If you've found a great concierge (who is connected to what's happening at the ground level) or a good guide you're going to get access to trips and really deep and rich experiences that will stay with you for a lifetime. And, these are not in the guidebook, which, IMHO, is a great thing because you'll enjoy a totally unique experience and you'll get out of it in proportion to what you put in and not some off the shelf, generic and standardized `you can take your photos now' tourist experience. Sadly, in a few years time you may not be able to do this in much of South East Asia.

So grab this guide, go beyond the majors of Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and enjoy one of the most beautiful countries in South East Asia, Cambodia. Treat your Lonely Planet as a guide and not a bible and you'll have the time of your life.

I hope you enjoy your time in Cambodia as much as I have.

Editorial Review:

The previous edition was the top-selling guide to Cambodia during 2006 in US bookstores (BookScan).

Lonely Planet Tokyo Encounter

Wendy Yanagihara

Amazon Price: $9.59 List Price: $11.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $5.25

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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Japan -> Tokyo
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Subjects -> Travel -> Asia -> Japan -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What Will Your Tokyo Encounter Be?

...playing paparazzo to Harajuku's famed and outrageously clad cosplay zoku (costume-play gang) (p12)
...sinking sake in the down'n'dirty alleys of the Golden Gai (p14)
...waking at dawn for the freshest sushi breakfast at Tsukiji Market (p13)
...strutting down Ginza's boulevard lined with fashion straight off the catwalk (p18)
...blowing off steam the traditional way, in a popular neighborhood onsen (p176)
...getting your geek out in Akihabara's bargain bins of electronics, games, and manga (p19)

Discover Twice the City in Half The Time...

...full-color pull-out map and detailed neighborhood maps for easy navigation
...our experienced author recommends the top neighborhoods, shops, restaurants, sights and entertainment
...unique itineraries and highlights help you make the most of a short break
...locals reveal Tokyo's secrets: from a fashion designer's favorite places to shop to the restaurant recommendations of an organic foods chef