No comments about Baghdad City Map.

1 comments about Go2Guides China Ages 5-7 (Travel Guides for Kids Who Are Going Places).

1. I have always wanted a guide that is written for children! The Go2Guides are perfect. So much information is a colorful and unique guide. My children are adopted from China and we are planning a trip back to see and learn about their country and heritage. These guides gave them so much critical and interesting information. I especially like that there are guides for the different age levels. My thirteen year old loved hers and my 6 year old was thrilled with her guide. It was obvious that each were written with the age level, interest level, and reading level in mind! I can't recommend them enough. Even if you never travel to China, the Go2Guides wonderful to expose your children do different countries. I am looking forward to the next ones!

No comments about Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail From Istanbul to India.

1 comments about Hedonist's Guide To Istanbul 1st Edition (Hedonist's Guide to..., A).

1. Hello all good travelers to Istanbul.
   What a great city.
   When i went there last Christmas i had two guides in my hand - this one and the Time Out Istanbul one.
   If you wanna spend a LOT of money, pick this one - its gonna be enough for you and don' t buy anything else. But if you wont spend 400 Euros a night staying at a luxury hotel next to Bosporus, get another guide. The book describes most of the expensive places, sometimes the outrageous expensive places with good photos and descriptions. Some could be affordable, but there is e.g. only two hotels in the 100-120 Euros a night area and those are around Hagia Sophia, which is not the place you are looking for a hotel (try Istiklal Kaddesi imho instead).
   Sometimes its good to know what you are missing though - and if you are like me - reading a lot about the place i' m going, you are gonna like this one.
   But if you want this as your travel companion, this is not for you.
   NIKOS

5 comments about Travels on my Elephant.

1. This book gripped me from the start. Mark Shand's matter-of-fact writing style and unshamedly romantic account of a trip across India on his elephant Tara, will make you curious about India and fall in love with this beautiful creature that became a grown man's best friend. A beautiful story for readers of all ages. I loved it and am about to read it again!



2. I have read all of Mark's books and this is my favourite. Full of humour, you can't help but fall in love with Tara and the magic of India. The sequel Queen Of The Elephants is also worth reading; this film of QotE is shown regulary on Discovery/Animal Planet.



3. A remarkable story about one of the few Europeans to enter the mystical, beautiful, dangerous, austere and disappearing world of the Indian Mahoot. Shand writes honestly and insightfully about his experiences on an elephant Trek through India which makes the book all the more refreshing. An easy afternoon read by the fire with your map of India on your lap.



4. The British seem to be particularly adept at coming up with whimsical ideas, making them happen, and then writing about them (cf. comedian Tony Hawk's Round Ireland With A Fridge, and Playing the Moldovans At Tennis or journalist Andrew Marshall's The Trouser People to mention just a few recent examples). Shand continues the tradition, concocting a scheme to buy an elephant and march around India on its back. This quick-reading book is an account of his adventure in India, where he purchases an emaciated 30-year old elephant ... from a pair of saddhus (mystic holy men) in the province of Orissa (a few hundred kilometers SW of Calcutta). His goal is to walk her from the coast to the great elephant market on the banks of the Ganges at Sonepur Mela, some 1000 kilometers north, in Bihar, where he would sell her.

   However, as he soon discovers, elephants have a lot of personality, and he quickly falls in love with his. The pleasure of the book is not its travelogue description of the sights and sounds along the way (although these do break things up), but the mischievous antics of the elephant and the discovery of its personality as a loving and lovable creature. Tara, the elephant, displays remarkable intelligence and wit over the course of the journey, although at times Shand does veer into anthropomorphizing her. While he doesn't go deep into the role of the elephant in Indian and Hindu culture, it's clear from his travels that they are widely revered as symbols of Ganesh, as bystanders often often small prayers and alms to Tara.

   Shand's own lessons in becoming a "mahoot", one who is versed in the ways of elephants and able to ride/guide one, is an equally fascinating and touching story. An older and younger mahoot are along to train him, as is a photographer friend and two rascally drivers with a support Jeep. It's a fun adventure, with a suspiciously fortuitous climax at the market, when Shand discovers he can't bear to sell his elephant for use as a moneymaking curiosity. It's a touching book in many ways, although some readers may be put off by the notion of a Westerner traipsing around a poor country on an elephant, especially given India's colonial past. Still whatever one may think of that, Shand's love for the animal is clearly genuine. He's written a followup book (Queen of the Elephants), that's apparently not as good.




5. British writers, writing about India are of two types. One are genuine humanists who look at today's India from an objective albeit sometimes sympathetic point of view. Mark Shand falls in the other category- ruminating nostalgically about the Raj, although, the present story is somewhat melodramatic and about an elephant.
   One good test to distinguish between the two is to ask the question, what would the person be if the 'Raj' was still alive. I am positive, Mark Shand would fall into the class of people who would live secluded in "McCluskeygunge" (a closed gate communty of Anglophiles) and sneer at the poor natives with an upturned nose!
   Unfortunately, fair skin on its own merit(?) still attracts salutes in India. The three hundrend years of oppressive british tyrrany has been hard to shake off. Shand lives by the power of his white skin and rules with his green currency and day dreams about the serenity and glory (for the english) of the Raj.
   I have yet to come across a genuine expression of guilt or shame in a britisher about their colonial sins. To take the case of India, the richest coutry on the planet, sucking it dry of all its resources and riches, and leaving it to fend for itself. And now Shand returns to satisfy his whim of travelling on an elephant and revel in touristic sightseeing of the poverty and the overwhelming deterioration! Utterly disgusting!!

No comments about Timeless India (Timeless).

2 comments about Dancing Out of Bali (Periplus Classics Series).

1. Dancing Out of Bali

   John Coast

   Dancing out of Bali tells the story of how a young Englishman, John Coast, brought a troupe of 44 Balinese dancers and musicians from a remote village in Bali to London's West End and New York's Broadway. This was in 1952. It is the account of a man's burning ambition and a brilliant piece of anthropological, historical and cultural writing. And a great introduction to anyone visiting the island.

   When he was a Japanese prisoner of war, John staged Indonesian dance performances in the prison camp to entertain fellow prisoners. After the war, he returned to England. Restless and bored, he left for Bali at the age of 34. Indonesia had just won independence from the Dutch after four long years of fighting. This was 1950.

   I remember hearing about a white man, Tuan Coast, living in the area where I was going to school. I used to see him driving about in his battered jeep. There were not many jeeps, and even fewer foreigners in those days. I had no idea what he was doing. I now know he was fulfilling a lifetime's ambition.

   There was turmoil at that time in Bali between those for and those against independence. On a visit to one of the Balinese princes, John once spotted a cocked revolver in a briefcase. The prince had supported Dutch colonialism. That was not popular with the independence fighters and they were the ones now in control. Even John slept with a gun under his pillow.

   The leader of the freedom struggle was the charismatic, half-Balinese Sukarno. He became the country's first President. He had many political enemies. Sukarno supported John's mission and John thereby became embroiled in Indonesian politics.

   He lived simply on not much money, like a real Balinese. He learnt the language and ran a small guesthouse. He understood Bali's culture and beautifully describes Balinese ceremonies, dances and music. He did not shy away from controversies in the book, such as the role of the caste system in Bali. Many of the controversies are still hot topics.

   John supported Indonesian independence. The new Indonesian government appointed him press agent and gave him the grand title of "Technical Expert on Cultural Relations and Information for Countries Abroad." He knew President Sukarno and describes what it was like to be with the great leader and attend his rousing speeches.

   The last time the world had seen Balinese dance was in 1931 at the Colonial Exhibition in Paris. It was a great success. It was John's passion to make sure that the world would once again experience the breathtaking beauty of Balinese dance, costumes and music.

   He revived the moribund Peliatan dance troupe and brought in new dancers. A 12-year-old Balinese girl named Raka, who was a beautiful legong dancer, became the star. He sought out the retired dancer and choreographer, Mario, and persuaded him to create a new dance especially for Raka. It's still danced today. It's the Bumblebee Dance.

   The book is full of tales of persistence against the odds. It is impossible to imagine the difficulties in the early 1950s of arranging theatres, publicity, stage settings, tailors, hotel bookings, visa applications, flights and a million other things. There were no faxes, few telephones and no e-mail. The 44 dancers and musicians were not interested in any of this. The most important thing, as far as they were concerned, was a special dish made with rice and chillies, three times a day, every day. Also on the shopping list were clothes for 44 assorted Balinese who were not used to anything less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

   The group, who had never left their remote village, departed Indonesia on 21 August 1952. It took 4 days to fly the 8,000 miles from Jakarta to London. They danced in London at The Winter Garden Theatre the day after they arrived. It was a full house. There were rave reviews. The leading dancers of Saddlers Wells came. Little Raka was a star overnight. She was invited to Covent Garden and photographed with Frederick Ashton and Margot Fonteyn. Mrs Churchill came to the show and wished them well.

   In September, they flew to New York. The Fulton Theatre, Broadway, was sold out for seven solid nights. Dancers of Bali was the first Broadway hit of the season. Everyone courted them. Richard Rodgers, who put on South Pacific with the famous Bali Hai song, came to the show. Mrs Theodore Roosevelt invited them home to meet her grandchildren. Ed Sullivan televised parts of the Bumblebee Dance and the Monkey Dance to an audience of 30 million.

   Then they were off to Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, Washington, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, where the legongs got seven curtain calls.

   They met Bob Hope and Bing Crosby just after they completed the Road to Bali movie, and became instant friends. The girls met and adored Olivia de Havilland. They saw Fred Astaire and visited Walt Disney in the Disney Studios - he was busy designing Disneyland at the time.

   It must have been overwhelming for my countrymen and a steep learning curve. One of the dancers said,

   "Now that I know how movies are made, I dare go see them and enjoy them. I used to think that real events were filmed, and I always felt so sorry for the people who were shot or killed."

   John's companion and my great friend, Laura Rosenberg, arranged for Periplus, the leading publishers on Indonesia, to reprint Dancing out of Bali to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the English edition. Sir David Attenborough, who worked with John, has written a perceptive introduction. There are recently discovered photographs and detailed captions.
   
   I first met John and Laura in the early 1980s. John died in 1989. Laura still visits Bali. It is a great service to John's memory and Bali that this important piece of history is in print again.

   I enthusiastically recommend the book.

   Murni
   Ubud, Bali




2. A delightful read of a place where I also live. When so many mediocre books have been coming out about the beauties of every kind of Indonesian art and cultural practice (written by people with no real idea of what their talking about or describing narcissistic New Age quests for paradise)--this book has something meaningful to say. I enjoyed it immensely. It's full of life.

3 comments about Culture Shock!: Vietnam (Culture Shock Series).

1. This book is a must for anyone planning a visit to Vietnam. My wife and I visited Hanoi three years ago and the content of this book hit the mark. It is full of practical information that is up to date and written by someone who has been there. This book will keep you from cultural mistakes that might cause you to offend someone and will help you get around the country in a smoother way. Our family is now returning to Vietnam for a four year stay and this book will be going with us!



2. This is one of the two books I read in preparing for a 3 week stay in Vietnam. The content was right on the mark, and helpful for even this traveler. In essential tips it more than paid for itself! It is simply a must for those traveling to Vietnam.



3. The writing in this series is variable, but it's the content that we read them for. The others I have read usually score a bullseye in that respect. In this case I wish they had found someone else to write the book. The author seems to be a rich Western housewife whose colonialist attitudes are sometimes offensively apparent. A good chunk of space is dedicated to the problem of keeping the servants in line and how hard it is to find good help - which is pretty useless to the average traveller.

   There is some useful cultural information buried in this entry, but not enough. Very disappointing. Not what I have come to expect. Somebody please suggest a more useful book on the subject.

No comments about LUXE Australia Travel Set (Luxe City Guides) (LUXE City Guides).

1 comments about Two Lands, One Heart: An American Boy's Journey to His Mother's Vietnam.

1. Two Lands, One Heart: An American Boy's Journey to His Mother's Vietnam by Jeremy Schmidt and Ted Wood -- what a gorgeous book for anyone interested in Vietnam, the refugee experience, the going back to your native land or family's homeland! The photographs are wonderful and the text is factual, interesting and fun. I bought this book hoping it would be at least mildly interesting for my Vietnamese-American students--what a delight to receive the book and to realize that all my students would enjoy the story and photos. It's hard to find good stories about Vietnam. I applaud the authors/photographer for putting out such an intelligent, sensitive and enjoyable book. Adults as well as kids will love it. It would be a perfect book for teachers who have Vietnamese students, but anyone would like to learn about Vietnam from this charming book.