No comments about Shanghai Mini Visitors' Guide.

1 comments about The Rough Guide to Goa 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. 
   QUICK INFORMATION
   
   The Rough Guide to Goa is firstly what it says it is - A guide. It has been put together to help and advise you with resourceful information for your forth-coming travels. This guide I would say would be exceptional for backpackers and holiday makers travelling only in Goa. If you are looking to travel other places in India please look to a more suitable book to cover your whole scope.
   
   When purchasing and selecting any travel books always look to see when the book was printed, this edition that I am reviewing is the 6th edition printed January 2006 this would be the most recent and up to date book in the Rough Guide to Goa series. Even though this book is a year old it still supplied me with all the information I needed books in this series are normally updated every two years.
   
   Just having returned from Goa myself, I found this edition to be excellent value for money all information given is extremely well written, descriptive, easy to understand, maps were detailed and were shown to be very useful and informative. For holiday makers it gives you some great tips if you decide to venture outside of your accommodation and take a closer look at life beyond a beach holiday, for backpackers or people just turning up for a few weeks wandering around, it can supply you with a quick fix in your moment of need.
   
   PLACES COVERED
   
   Panjim and central Goa, North Goa, South Goa, Around Goa, Mambai (Bombay) each place is also extensively covered with the history, the religions of Goa, Environmental issues in Goa, Natural history, Goan music and dance, Books. Language: Hindi, Konkani words and phrases, (food and drink terminology).
   
   BOOK OVERVIEW
   
   This book is beautifully laid out, we start with an introduction Where to go, When to go, Things not to be missed, I would advise you read this thoroughly before your visit so that you can make the most of your travels it supplies you with information on your expectations while in Goa. This is followed by the Basics, Getting There, Visas and red tape, information on websites and maps (please use websites extensively before you travel very handy for backpackers on the move) Insurance, Health (medical information please check all key points in this section before travelling) Costs, Money and banks, Getting around, accommodation (covering all ends of the scale) eating and drinking this covers places from the top end to a local shack on the beach. Communications and the media, Festivals and holidays, Cultural hints and etiquette, shopping and souvenirs, Crime and personal Security, Travellers with disabilities, Travelling with Children, Women and sexual harassment and lastly the directory (Things advisable to take).
   
   MY TIPS
   
   Going to brief over a few areas, Goa's number one income is made from Tourism therefore it's very commerical to other parts of India. I suggest reading this book thoroughly before travelling all website are handy for extra information, when travelling around word of mouth is the biggest source the people are lovely and will always go out of there way to help you with information. The hotels for Luxury Retreats are normally based to the South of Goa, The parties for the Backpackers look to the North. Markets (a definite for all) Nothing like the hustle and bustle great for a taste of India and you can pick up just about anything on the cheap of course haggling is part of life please stay light hearted about it all, the big flea market Anjauna (North Goa holiday makers can still stay in the South and travel North to the markets for the day they are easily excisable) Wednesday Mornings early till evenings the only draw back is the prices tend to start high some tourist will pay beyond (or will not haggle) to get what they want, always haggle, prices can start from as much as 4 times to high, but haggling remains all part of the fun to get your best price. The Mapusa Market (Friday Mornings) is good for Fish, Fruit, Spices, Sausages and other fresh produce sold along side tourist goods. There are also Nights Markets held inland from Baga that are really good but a favourite is Ingo's at Arpora which has a good mix of live music along side traders selling clothes. Fabrics can be bought and clothes can be made very cheap. You will no doubt at one point on your trip also be pestered by hawkers mainly on beaches begging or selling their wears it's just part of life in India. Temples and ruins are also a must again haggle your prices for trips (taxi drivers can vastly vary). As always enjoy yourself but stay sharp and keep your wits about you especially in crowded areas.
   
   There's also very many amazing beaches, so have a wonderful time relax and enjoy.
   
   A.Bowhill

2 comments about A Glimpse of Light: A discussion on the Hebrew Calendar and Judaic Astronomy (Based on Maimonides' Kiddush Ha'chodesh).

1. A clear text with the obscure mathematics used by the Rambam clearly derived and explained.

   I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the complex greek mathematics used by the Rambam.




2. This book is a valuable reference and aid to understanding the Rambam's classic: "Hilchos Kiddish HaChodesh" - Laws of the Sanctification of the New Moon.
   
   The book follows the text of the Rambam (Maimonides), and explains in detail each paragraph. The tables provided make interesting and useful comparisons to relevant sections (such as between current astronomical knowledge and the Rambam's figures, or the debate between Rav Shmuel and Rav Adda).
   
   It does tend to simplify a little too much in places, and the summaries at the end of each chapter maybe useful to some, would have been perhaps better placed at the back.
   
   The explanations however are full, and have clarified many different problems that I found insoluable with the Rambam, until reading this book.

4 comments about Frontiers of Heaven: A Journey to the End of China.

1. I picked this up after reading Stewart's excellent book on Mongolia. Originally published in England a decade ago, this account of traveling through China won the prestigious Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year Award. Starting on the coast, he traveled westward by bus, boat and train to a point south of the Great Wall where the Silk Road emerged from the desert to enter the Celestial Kingdom. To a certain extent, his Westward-Ho! venture retraces the steps of the legendary 7th-century monk Hsuan-tsang, who left the safe confines of mother China on a solo mission to gather sacred Buddhist texts from India and bring them back so that the Chinese Buddhists could be assured that they remained on the true path. However, Stewart doesn't shackle his narrative this particular hook; at times he's examining the state of modern China, other times the psychology of traveling alone, and sometimes the notion among Chinese that the world beyond the Great Wall is a barbarian one.
   
   From Shanghai onward, he finds that the notion of traveling West is curious to many Chinese. In a nation where wealth is heavily concentrated on the coast, the hinterlands are still regarded as a place of exile, and he's continually having to explain why he's headed that way. In highly readable prose studded with wit and observation, he wends his merry way, drawing assistance from a network of contacts, and even manages to have a brief fling with a woman in Xian. (This is notable, as it is the first outright admission of such a thing I've come across in mainstream travelogues.) The overwhelming image he sketches of modern China is one of rapid change and an embrace of the adage "to become rich is glorious." As one of his contacts explains the apparent dissolution of communist principles, "Human nature was a far more formidable opponent than international capital." One of the most interesting aspects of this is his discovery that in parts of China housing shortages are such that approximately 10,000,000 people live in converted caves!
   
   The latter third of the book takes him to Xinjiang province, where he witnesses the depressing transformations there (the government is engaged in a dramatic effort to resettle the region with ethnic Han in order to culturally pacify the area). From there he leaves China, onward to Tibet, an encounter with Kyrgyz tribesmen, and ultimately over the passes on dubious Pakistani buses. It's not the most cohesive journey, but the account is well-written and packs a great deal into its relatively few pages.



2. This book should be more popular! Stewart has the spirit of the intrepid traveler and the writing skills of a poet. I loved his descriptions of his travels along the Silk Road as well as his dry English wit. He is like Paul Theroux, another of my favorite travel writers, without the acidity and cynicism Theroux often exudes. Let's face it, how many of us are actually going to visit the remote places Stewart writes about? Reading about his encounters in Kashgar or Xinjiang is surely as satisfying and without all the hassles and unpleasantries of the real thing.



3. This is a nice travel book. I hesitated to buy this book, but his travels on the boundary of China fascinated me. I followed his land journey from Shanghai to Pakistan. The area he traveled in is Chinese Central Asia, and is inhabitated by Chinese and other nationalities. Until recently, this was a restricted area of China. Stewart makes it comes to life in his colorful and descriptive language. Along the way, you can also feel the sarcasm in his view of subjects. The biggest laugh came when Stewart was attempting to buy a train ticket out of a small town. After several days of being told he could not buy one, he finally asked the ticket seller to marry him, since he planned to settle in the town. A ticket magically appeared. That was an innovative way to solve a problem.
   
   I have been to China, but not the areas where Stewart wandered. His book gives me great interest in the places he described. A nice read.



4. The last of SS's books I hadn't read yet. This travelogue on China's western frontier had already been published in 1995 going on to win the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1996. (This award is apparently defunct sinche it hasn't been attributed from 2004!). Written twelve years ago, the book probably is not superupdated like republished modern travel books should be, but it does have its good points. What SS is justly famous for is his wit and humanity, that only sometimes lapses into cynism and a downright superiority complex. In this work tolerance and adaptation are the main characteristics of our traveler. The narrative structure is knowledge of places through human encounters, so the book is a collection of short profiles and stories linked together by the description of travel and bits and pieces of cultural preparation due to the author's reading and information gathering. The intinerary goes from Shangai to Rawalpindi, crossing China. Stanley starts from the Yangze by boat to Chongquing, then goes by train to Xi'an were he has a love story with a pretty Chinese girl and dwells on the importance of horses to the Chinese culture. Xi'an is the departure place for the Chinese western frontier, once by horse and now by train. With many inconveniences and with downright disconforts the train runs through Langzhou on the Yellow River, and from here Stanley detours to Xiahe on the borders of the Tibetan grasslands to give us some outlook on recent Tibetan history and the conflict with China. From Langzhou to Wuwei, now definitely on the Silk Road (the way of Xuan Zang), with many difficulties with train tickets (he has to propose to the station ticket office official to wrench a ticket to Xinjiang), through the Gansu corridor he manages to reach the Great Wall. Follows Dunhunag and famous Mogao caves and the story of Stein's discovery of the old Buddhist manuscripts. The issue of the Turkic Moslems and Xinjiang ("New Dominion") is examined in depth taking into account the problems of the ethnic minorities and the Han immigration. Follows Turfan and Ili, taking time to wander in the Kazak steppes, and successively Kuqa and the Great Game location Kashgar, that eventhough not as fascinating as we immagine it still survies in its multiethnic variety and maybe some of its cloack and dagger atmosphere. From Kashgar to Pakistan, along the Karakorum Highway by bus, through Hunza, to Gilgit and Taxila (Ashoka's capital with memories of the Hellenistic period) Stanley reaches Rawalpindi, were his first encounters with English speaking people open up his heart.
   The book is short and reads fast and the sketches of the people Stewart meets are really hilarious at times. If one likes the style, the desire to be taken along is guaranteed. A book to enjoy!

1 comments about Nanda Devi: A Journey to the Last Sanctuary.

1. Thomson has given us one story of a mountain; a story of friendships, adventure, and the real world of people and the politics and beliefs that make the world fascinating, but at times troubling. The cultural lessons of the locals (India) and of the participants were very intriguing.
   
   Written in a straight forward manner, keeping our interest but not making the read a job with complicated plots and subplots.
   
   Recommended to us by someone not interested in mountain adventures, but who never the less enjoyed the book.
   
   Includes color and b/w photos.

No comments about A Season in Red: My Great Leap Forward into the New China.

1 comments about Zhao Shanghai China Travel Guide (Zhao Cards).

1. The language barrier in China is greater than the Great Wall and Zhao cards is the solution. The authors seem to know Shanghai intimately, as the recommendations for food and places to see were all great. This efficient and well-suited travel guide is a must for Shanghai.

1 comments about Thailand: Traveller's Wildlife Guide (Travellers' Wildlife Guides).

1. La tipica "Traveller's Wildlife Guide": interessant per la seva descripció de les espècies més comunes, però amb poc contingut descriptiu dels espais naturals i els millors llocs on trobar-les. No més que un punt de partida per organitzar un viatge naturalista

4 comments about Pocket Map and Guide Istanbul (EYEWITNESS POCKET MAP & GUIDE).

1. So small it can fit in the smallest pocket. Gives the basics. You'll probaby want a more thorough book, but that doesn't mean that you'll want to carry a bigger book around.



2. Istanbul is my next travel destination. I've got all the big books, but I plan to take this one out with me day-by-day. It's got a clear, easy to read map and simple descriptions of the things I want to do. Small enough to fit into any pocket.



3. I found this to be a nice overview of Istanbul. However, some of the recommended restaurants/cafes were nowhere to be found, and I was surprised by some prejudiced comments in it.
   I would recommend Rick Steves' guide instead- it was very useful for getting the most out of a short trip as well as giving concise history/cultural info, and the DVD (which i borrowed from the library) "Hidden Turkey" was a nice overview of a few aspects of the country (agriculture, food, culture etc.)



4. I can not make any review by the simple reason that till now I did not received the book I've bought a month ago.
   Regards
   
   Roberto Felicio Coimbra

1 comments about Journey to Khiva: A Writers Search for Central Asia (Kodansha Globe).

1. Christ, I don't even know where to begin. In a nutshell, the crappest book I have read in years. It was so bad that it moved me to write a 5-page single-spaced letter to the author, where I detail page by page all of his mistakes, inconsistencies, insensitivities, and general points of wrongness, as well as pointing out his lack of style, bad prose, bad spelling and bad attitude.
   This is written in 1991 by an extremely conservative old British guy, who goes into Soviet Uzbekistan looking to experience it as the country where some of his fellow British gentlemen travelled back in the 1800's. He does not care for the current culture, for contemporary politics, does not like to try the local food, makes no friends, and waxes nostalgic for the British Empire.
   He sees the half-starved Soviet Russians standing in breadlines (this is the early 90's, when there was no food) and calls them "crocodiles". Apparently long lines of people waiting to buy some food don't look aesthetic.
   He spells things wrong, including place names, the names of historical figures, and names of the local ethnicities. Other times, he condecendingly uses the old-style names coined during the British Empire days, and no longer in use.
   He is arrogant, dismisses people's hospitality as annoying, and refuses to fraternize with the locals.
   In short, absolutely the worst book on the area you will ever read. Uzbekistan has a lot to offer, and this traveller talks about none of those things.