No comments about Extreme Tourism: Lessons from the World's Cold Water Islands (Advances in Tourism Research).

2 comments about Full Circle: One Man's Journey by Air, Train, Boat and Occasionally Very Sore Feet Around the 50,000 Miles of the Pacific Rim.

1. Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame) is more than funny: he's a perceptive and compassionate traveller! I loved his first two BBC travel series and their companion books, so when one day in Seattle, I read in the paper that the next evening he would begin a third, I made sure to tune in. I wasn't disappointed; from a remote Alaskan island so close to the International Dateline that Palin writes: "The Russian soldiers staring at me across the water have already had the day I'm having" to "the southernmost place of worship in the world, outside of Antarctica", this one is as good an armchair journey as any the BBC has produced. Something special: the photography is, as usual, superb, and there's an underwater sequence in the Philipines that has to be seen to be believed. So, either take a year off yourself (that's about what it took Palin), pack your own forty-eight (!) suitcases and spend your own mint to do this trip of a lifetime, or just do it with Mike Palin. After all, that's what books are for, isn't it?



2. Michael Palin's "Full Circle" trip involved traveling all of the way around the Pacific Ocean. He (and his film crew) started at the Bering Strait in Alaska and then traveled down the Asian side of the Pacific, crossed over to Cape Horn, and traveled up through South and North America, returning to Alaska.
   
   The trip covered 50,000 miles through 17 countries in ten months. Specifically, these countries were visited: USA (Alaska), Russia (Siberia), Japan, S. Korea (entry to N. Korea was denied), China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, USA (California and Washington), Canada (British Columbia) and back to Alaska again.
   
   This trip, like the other ones done by Michael Palin for the BBC, was filmed for viewing as a television mini-series. (This version is available on DVD, at least at Amazon UK.) Afterwards, Michael Palin and Basil Pao (the stills photographer in the filming crew) created this book as an alternative record of the trip.
   
   The book is richly illustrated with Basil Pao's beautiful photographs. Michael Palin's text is wonderful because he has a way of finding interesting places and people and of describing them with warmth and humor.
   
   The diversity of the many countries and places is amazing. Artic wilderness, tropics, deserts, cramped cities, huge rivers, high mountains, etc., etc. There are many high points along the way, the most exciting being when Michael Palin had to lasso a camel while standing in the back of a pickup truck that was going over bumps and around bends at break-neck speed!
   
   At the same time, Michael Palin does not shy back from visiting and describing the thought-provoking places along his journey. The Russian Gulag in Siberia, Hiroshima and the remembrance of the atomic bomb, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea and the border between Mexico and the United States are all discussed with unusual insight.
   
   This book easily deserves five stars. Except for the audio version, that is.
   
   The nice thing about the audio version is that Michael Palin reads the book himself, and he does a great job as a reader. But the audio version does not include Basil Pao's beautiful photographs, of course, and worst of all, it's abridged. My dislike of abridged audio books results in me giving the audio book version only three stars.
   
   Rennie Petersen

5 comments about Lonely Planet Indonesia.

1. This book is great for giving you ideas as to which places to visit. But seeing now that it's 3 years out of date it has a lot of errors. I just used it in august of 2003 and all the prices are way off. Expect to pay about 2-3 times (sometimes 5-6 times) what the guide says because Indonesia's economy has picked up since the book has been released. For example: Borobudur is listed as 10,000Rp (~$1.80CDN) for entrance in the guidebook, now it's 58,000Rp (~$10CDN). They should be putting out a new one soon so if you can, wait for the next one to come out.



2. This is a good guidebook and fairly accurate. In a country like Indonesia, however, things change quickly so use this book as a reference not as a bible. Do you own research and talk to other travellers. Since LP Indo is the default travellers' guide to this region, most of the restaurants and hotels are not the best values. Many get a steady stream of customers just because of a good review and never bother to maintain the facilities. The best deals require a lot of footwork and bargaining! Also, bus/boat schedules always change. So don't plan a rigid itinerary based on the data in this book. I know a couple that lost a week because they planned a trip around a ferry described in this book but didn't actually exist! Be prepared to wait if you're going off the beaten path. Some boat services are infrequent between the islands.

   Learning some bahasa indonesia always helps bargaining. The language section is adequate but the phrasebook is much better.




3. This is currently the best overall guide to Indonesia for independent travellers. It covers enough attractions to keep people occupied for months, and is more than enough for those with an average interest in the country.
   As usual with this series, it is strong on practical details like prices, public transport and city maps, though one should never forget that prices in particular will have changed by the time one gets there - this 7th edition was researched in 2002, and reflects the situation as it was then.
   There is also more than enough background information about culture and history for most readers.
   Note however that coverage of remoter, less-visited regions is poorer - the chapter on Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) is nearly useless, and the one on Papua (Indonesian New Guinea) is little better.
   Those with a deeper interest in Indonesia, or with an interest in a particular region, might want more detailed guides to those areas - Lonely Planet has great guides to Java and Nusa Tenggara, while Periplus has eight separate ones to all parts of the country, though the Periplus ones are best backed up with this book for practical details.



4. this is the most useful and necessary guidebook not only for indonesia but for any destination you may have!



5. This is a good book, but an updated edition is supposed to come out December 2006 so wait until then if you want this book.

No comments about Aegean Greek Isle Spiral Guide (Aaa Spiral Guides).

No comments about A Passion for Mars: Intrepid Explorers of the Red Planet.

No comments about Jesuit Mission Presses.

No comments about Footprint East Coast Australia Handbook (Footprint East Coast Australia).

No comments about Frommer's Adventure Guides: Australia and New Zealand.

1 comments about Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Australia.

1. Although the hikes in this book were numerous, I did quite a few and all were breathtaking. Bushwalking in Australia is an excellent guide to hiking all over the continent and seeing every type of terrain that this diverse place has to offer. This book made my time is Australia so much more valuable and was worth every penny. It even has instructions on how to take trains and buses to trailheads. One of the best hiking books I have ever used.

1 comments about Wild Shores of Australia.

1. Wild Shores of Australia is a nice book that is worth the money because of the destination itself (Australia) and the great pictures by several photographers.

   The story of Ron Fishers journey along the Australian coast is a clean and sober guide, that gives you great ideas for your next visit down under, but it doesn't go any deeper than that. The historic details give lots of `nice-to-know' information about the coast that is traveled.

   A nice one to have on your coffee table, whether you want to visit Australia soon or just did.