5 comments about Trekking in the Patagonian Andes (Walking).

1. This book is a perfect introduction to the wealth of hiking possibilities in patagonia - many of them are still significantly under-used and of equal calibre to the more famous routes. The general information sections are quite good, and give a good feel for what conditions are like both trekking and travelling in general; a good purchase for planning your trip. Where the book falls down is on the actual trekking notes, which are consistently inaccurate, obscenely outdated and sometimes quite misleading (see other reviews). On this front, Cerro Electrico is not safe - however Cerro Electrico Oeste is safely climbable without mountaineering equipment (although crampons are a nice idea) and gives mind-blowing views of the rear of Fitzroy - I think this might be what the author actually had in mind.
   
   The best use of this book is as an introduction/inspiration, then get hold of decent military maps (plentiful in santiago and buenos aires) and local advice (abundant) and go from there. Given that many of the treks require some degree of independence and judgement (especially in snow-bound regions), pretty much any information should be taken with a grain of salt and certainly should be double-checked independantly or at worst against common sense. It is a pity no better alternative exists, but the general information is good and if prepared, leave the fun of route-finding up to yourself.



2. I am an avid traveler, hiker and explorer and have found the Lonely Planet guides to be the absolute BEST if your intention is to explore the "ins and outs" of a country without the services of an in-country guide or tour service. They are a valuable tool for the experienced treeker/hiker/tramper and also a great resource for the urban adventurer. Lonely planet pulls their data from a variety of folks- including locals, recent transplants and adventurers- who provide extremely relevant input for the books. I always find their rating of lodging and food accurate~~ low budget is truly low budget and their recommended picks are always clean, comfortable and well situated. I also find their description and maps of hiking/trekking/tramping routes very accurate, although I would still recommend using up-to-date topo maps, GPS or hiring a local certified guide if you are exploring off-piste, mountainous or rugged regions anywhere. There is no replacement for experience and sound judgment in the backcountry. This particular guide book is wonderfully laid out and their advice is keen. Unless you have a solid 3 months of time to adventure in more than one of the regions it is best to pick an area (like the Lakes District) and focus your time in one place. Obviously the Torres Del Paine or Fitz Roy regions see a lot of traffic but the other areas are absolutely fabulous, as well. While other guide books may cater to the "guided tour crowd", I find Lonely Planet caters more to the independent intrepid traveler. Two Thumbs Up. Enjoy your exploring....



3. For the last year I've been planning a trip to Chile and Patagonia. This book has helped me plan and organize and decide which areas I want to see. This book has been full of helpful information about all the different treks in this region, the difficulty rating, miles, average days specific trails will take, and great maps. Not only does the book give great info about specific treks, it also gives really great information for newer backpackers, such as a checklist of what you should bring on the trek, what kind of food to bring, how to use a compass, first aid info, etc. (Though you should know these things before you trek around Patagonia.) I give this book 5 stars.



4. Everything that is in this book can also be found online...with a little digging. So if money is limited forgo this book, if not, it's a good, one-stop source of information.



5. I used the 1998 edition for a three month trip in 2005. I went on long treks near Ushuaia, PN Los Glaciares near El Calafate, PN Torres del Paine, PN Nahuel Huapi near Bariloche, PN Chiloe, and PN Villarica.
   Sometimes I found it difficult to interpret the directions until after the fact, however, the information was almost always correct. Not bad considering that the book was already several years old.
   Planning out several months of travelling in advance and buying maps in Santiago and Buenoes Aires is impractical. The maps in the book were often the only navigation tool available and were suitable.
   The pictures are beautiful.
   If your Spanish isn't very good you will find this book is indispensible. (I had just enough to get on the right bus)I would strongly recommend this book to anyone planning to hike in the Patagonian region of Chile and Argentina south of Concepcion.

4 comments about Time Out Patagonia (Time Out Guides).

1. This book has an amazing amount of information on Patagonia in general, and specifically Valdes Peninsula where I will be visiting. I was going to spend a lot of money with tour packages, uncertain accommodations, and a guy waiting at the airport holding up my name on a poster board...but now I can arrange it myself with this book and a taxi.



2. Excellent guide for someone taking a trip to Patagonia. Precise in the level of information provided. It was used extensively during the 8 thousand mile trip by car. It helped in taking many decisions on sights and where to drive to and what to see.



3. I have just returned from traveling five weeks through Patagonia and found myself using "Time Out" regularly for its engaging history, cultural and overall coverage.
   
   I started out in the Argentinean Lake District (Bariloche) and wove my way down to Tierra del Fuego (Ushuaia), crossing various times between Argentina and Chile. "Time Out" was my companion guide to both "Footprint" and "Rough Guides".
   
   No other guide gives you as much information regarding outdoor activies: Hiking, Golfing, Fishing, Hunting, Skiing; even Scuba Diving (you can dive the icy waters of Ushuaia!). The writing is engaging and erudite. For those that love nature no other guide gives you as much as this guide.
   
   HOWEVER, "Time Out Patagonia" should not be considered as your primary travel guide. It is more of a companion guide. It offers only a handful of restaurant and hotel recommendations, and often these recommendations are the most expensive. The small maps in this book are pathetic, and will help you locate nothing of significance.
   
   "Time Out Patagonia" fills in the gaps that the other guides have. This is the guide you will read after the other guides have helped you with your accommodations and eateries (consider: Footprint Argentina 2006 - highly recommended - see my review). Strongly Recommended.



4. It contains less information as it is thinner. It is organized more like documentary than guides, as you have your own transportation and go for trekking for days into the wildernss in both Chile and Argentina. It doesn't have the info of the popular tourist towns, accomdations and excursion operators. I bought also the Footprint and Rough Guide for the 40 days backpack trip mainly in Argentina in Dec 2007. They complementing each other and I personally like the Footprint. Email tenny52@yahoo.com if you want to know more about the trip.

No comments about The History of Chile (Palgrave Essential Histories).

3 comments about The Rough Guide to Chile Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map).

1. Great waterproof map, with enough detail to plan a road trip. Reliable, up to date information, and excellent quality graphics



2. I have just returned from a trip to Chile. Prior to my trip to Chile I purchased the CHILE Rough Guide Map. I traveled over 2000 mile over Chilean roads with a rental car. I found the map to be very accurate and useful for navigating the primary roads as well as the secondary roads in Chile and extreme western Argentina. The map is water resistant and due to this treatment is also resists tearing on the folds as do so many paper maps. Lacking is the detail of city streets. The COPEC gasoline stations sell a set of map books, "RUTAS DE CHILE 2008", detailing the various highways of the country by sections and this has detailed city maps. These guides are a useful addition to the CHILE Rough Guide Map.
   
   Larry Ver Hage, February 7, 2008



3. Bought this for our second trip to Chile and found it very unhelpful. The quality of the 'plastitized' paper and the printing quality seemed very good. But then we tried to use it. Kept getting lost and stuck on wrong routes etc. Then we would go back to our old map, which was paper and in shreds, but it had all the secondary route numbers or at least put those routes on the correct end of town or in the right area so we could find the turn off. They need to go back to their sources on this one for better data.

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Chile 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. My husband and I loved this book. We are senior citizens who wanted to spend a few days in Chile on our own, prior to a cuise around Cape Horn to Argentina. This guide gave us very accurate, detailed information in many areas: transportation, hotels, restaurants, sights. We used it during the cruise to tailor our own shore excursions. It contains every bit of information that you would need for a very enjoyable trip to Chile. Chile is safe, very modern, and beautiful. English is not common but people were friendly and very well educated. Take a phrase book along. If you speak Spanish, you will not want to leave. This is a better experience than Mexico.



2. having spent a couple of months travelling through chile, i got to know my rough guide well, and had chance to compare to many of the other guide books out there, there are speciality books which cover other areas better and in more detail, some only available in chile. but of the mainstream guides this is definately the best. the cultural information is where the rough guides stand out, in fact a couple of our favorite places in Chile didnt even warrant a mention in one of the better known guide book series. the section on accomodation was the most lacking although occasionaly useful, as none of the guide books seem to have discovered the backpackers hostels which cover chile. but aside from this if you want a guide to chile, this is one of the best.



3. The Rough Guide is full of useful, accurate information ( a little out of date) - but the writers lack a certain enthusiasm for this country. An enthusiasm that can be found in other books such as the Open Road guide.



4. If you're planning a trip to Chile (or wish you were) this is the book to get you ready. Dealing with everything from money exchange to lodgings to transportation, it has invaluable information to carry you from "tourist" to "traveler." The content is divided by geographical sections (much as the country itself is) to make it easier to plan a trip or get the specific information you need on a trip already planned. If you're interested in getting away from the escorted "back on the bus in five minutes" type of trip, this guide will get you there. There are wonderful descriptions of each region and its attractions, plus names, phone numbers and prices for food, lodging, transportation...even the location of the cambios de change for changing money, ATMs, and tourist informtion centers in each town.
   We picked this up by chance in a local library and found it so valuable we're planning to purchase our own copy before our upcoming visit. We'll let you know how well it represented reality when we return!



5. The Rough Guide to Chile is a good guide book that offers more than its name suggests. I used it in Santiago, Valparaiso and Vina del Mar to discover what Chile could offer to a traveller. I got a chance to exchange information about other books on Chile, with the help of which some other visitors were, like me, trying to find out their way through the country. As far as the content is considered, the Rough Guide to Chile surpassed all of them. However, Chile is a fast-changing country: some attractions and places are classics, yet others come and go. The book requires minor updates for the latter. In addition, information about specific places--museums for example--is brief.

5 comments about A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Napa Wine Country.

1. Fabulous book. Loved the details about the visits and winemakers. Read it and took notes and learned a bunch. Not only do you get to virtually visit the vineyards and wineries but you get to learn about the all the seasons of the wine year. I was on the edge of my chair waiting for them to visit a place I'd been to - or to persuade me to visit one I hadn't considered. I've been to Napa on vacation 4 times but this will be my companion the next time. The only thing missing was a glass of wine to go with it. And maps - please add maps.



2. It's hard not to like an amicable story of two friends on a quest to tour every tasting room in the Napa Valley in a single year. A comfortable self-deprecation by the narrator, amusing insights into the behavior of other visitors to the Valley, snippets of interesting conversations with vintners and servers, all overlaid with continued uncertainty about whether the year's grapes will survive the unusual weather and provide the basis for more good wines. Only the most hard-hearted of readers wouldn't want to join Rick and Hank on one of their tasting adventures.
   
   But there is a sense that a bigger book was waiting to be written. The thesis of the book seems to have been "It's fun to wander around the Napa Valley". Well, duh. Perhaps a bit more attention could have been given to how the vintners adjust to changing climatic conditions, or how the Valley accommodates the newcomers who change their life to be nearer to Napa, or how local government tries to reconcile the rural character of the Valley with the increasing tourist stream.
   
   I won't discourage anyone from reading this book. If you have a rainy Sunday afternoon, a nice bottle of pinot noir, and are looking for a light, fun read, you can do little better. But if you're looking for something with a bit more oak and tannin, you should look elsewhere.



3. While this is the 93rd book on wines that I've read since October of 2006, it also ranks as one of the most informative and enjoyable. It's a virtual cornucopia of wine information, providing the reader with a pretty good overview of how great wines are made and the challenges of growing grapes, all under the guise of covering the wineries and tasting rooms of Napa Valley and its associated AVAs (American Viticultural Areas).
   
   For anyone planning a visit to Napa, this book is a must read. The first 190 pages cover the authors' experiences touring Napa wineries for a summer, while the last part of the book provides comprehensive touring information on the tasting rooms, including such topics as wines, hours, directions, cost, ambiance, etc. In addition to picking up many invaluable insights on where to go for tours and tastings, you'll also learn a wealth about wine and the wine people of Napa....all done in a highly amusing and entertaining style. This book packs more insight into the world of wine than many books written by knowledgeable authorities on wine. That makes this book a must read for anyone who just wants to learn about wine in an entertaining read.
   
   You'll be hard pressed to find a more informative and more enjoyable book on Napa Valley wineries. It's much more than a great touring guide. Enjoy!
   
   Mark Vincent



4. This is a fun book to read. Part personal story and part tasting room reviews, it combines interesting information about wine making, the stories behind the people and the wineries, and details about each tasting room. It is well-written but in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. It's very approachable and teaches about the wine business without making you feel like you are an idiot. One of the authors is a professional in the wine industry, the other (the primary author) is a journalist with little experience other than he likes to drink wine. After reading this book, and knowing something about wine, I still learned a lot and was greatly entertained. I now want to plan another trip to Napa Valley as there are many new places that I want to check out! I have recommended this as a must-read to many friends as they plan their own trips or are just looking for a good book.



5. This book is a humorous narrative and guide to most of the wineries in Napa Valley written from the perspective of a person who likes wine, but hasn't adopted the artificial habits and vocabulary of a "wine snob". Rick Kushman has co-written a book along with Hank Beal, who is the executive wine buyer for Sacramento area Nugget Markets, that both informs and entertains for people who want to learn about wine and the hundreds of wineries in Napa Valley. It is one half narrative, filled with facts and information about the art and difficulties with wine-making, described through multiple interviews/conversations with local winery executives and personnel in the tasting rooms. The other half lists objective information of most Napa Valley wineries with facts that include: hours and days open, varietals offered, tasting and tour information, access information,and extras such as food offered or picnic areas. I have used this book several times to take friends and relatives to Napa and to successfully select vinyards that complement their interests and tastes.

No comments about Insight Guide Chile & Easter Island (Insight Guides Chile).

2 comments about Frommer's Chile & Easter Island, 1st Edition (Frommer's Complete).

1. I just went guidebook hunting at the local bookstore, and I settled on Frommer's Chile & Easter Island.. It's the most recently updated, and that makes a big difference. Santiago is in the midst of finishing (and beginning) some very big infrastructure projects. For example, Santiago has a new modern (but very confusing) bus system, and the metro more than doubled in miles over the past year. This Frommers guide has a great color map with metro stops in the front cover.
   
   The info in the Lonely Planet and other guidebooks is a couple years old. Plus the Frommers book seems to have the best information about private tour operators.
   
   Other bonuses include a chapter on Ushuaia, Argentina.



2. As the author of the newly-revised "Complete Guide to Easter Island" I believe I can say with some authority that I am qualified to comment on the Easter Island portion of this book and I might not feel so strongly about doing so if the title of the book didn't include "Easter Island".
   
   With the release of its first edition of "Chile and Easter Island", Frommer's has joined the community of guidebook publishers to offer coverage of, duh, Chile and Easter Island, though in keeping with many such guidebooks -- Moon Handbooks and Lonely Planet among them -- there is an inexplicably inadequate and disproportionate percentage of space devoted to Easter Island despite the fact that "Easter Island" shares half the book's title. (Note, by the way, that this review focuses on the Easter Island portion of the book and does not address the coverage of Chile in general -- so please keep that in mind before turning on Flame Mode.) As for the coverage here, 12.5 pages out of 483 are devoted to Easter Island, which represents only 2.6%. Compare this with Moon Handbooks Chile and Easter Island at 3% and Lonely Planet's Chile and Easter Island at 3.7% and it doesn't seem too out of line. However, there's more to coverage than the number of pages. Moreover, and interestingly enough, despite the absence of "Easter Island" in the title of Moon Handbooks South Pacific or Moon Handbooks Tahiti or even Insight's Chile, the number of pages devoted to Easter Island in these works is much more generous at 21, 23, and 21 pages, respectively. Even looking at more than half a dozen major recent guidebooks by number of pages shows that Frommer's is below the 17.4 page average.
   
   As a new entry in guidebooks with Easter Island coverage I'm inclined to be more forgiving, except that it seems evident the authors failed to learn from earlier and better works on the subject, such by David Stanley or Wayne Bernhardson -- authors who seem to have a handle on what Easter Island is about, not just what it is to visit the place. Thus, what is particularly damning about this first Frommer's edition is the relative absence of anything about the people of Easter Island; it is informational about a visit, perhaps even a bit abstract, but little more. Still, the text is reasonably well written and informative and appears to be fairly up-to-date, except for a few gaffes (they pluralize some Rapanui words like "moai" by erroneously using an "s" -- Rapanui has no such letter in its alphabet); they make the same stupid statement many authors ignorantly make about Ahu Akivi being the "only ahu facing out to sea" (when in fact it, like all other ahu, face inland to ceremonial centers); there is an inane reference to the Te Pito te Kura stone as being magnetic, which is sensational at best because much of the geology of island has magnetic properties; and they employ the usual blather about the stonework at Vinapu giving rise to theories about South American connections to Easter Island (but without explaining why such theories are not only incorrect but have been abandoned).
   
   The authors wisely recommend that visitors rent a vehicle to get the most out of the island rather than relying solely on local guide services, though they appropriately heap high praise on Ramon Edmunds and Josie Nahoe Mulloy of Haumaka Archaeological Tours -- and they rightfully observe that even four days is barely enough time to see what the island has to offer. They also note that one can and should walk the streets of Hanga Roa rather than having to rely on other transportation, but oddly enough they devote virtually no space to shopping for souvenirs, checking out the feria, or mentioning why one should experience the island's church on Sunday mornings. Neither do they devote much coverage to "night life" but that may be just as well given the sedate contrast between the restaurants and the raging intensity of the discos on the weekends.
   
   As with other, similar guidebooks, this one divides accommodations by price range, though departing from their own convention, they do not divide dining this way, despite the fact that there are big differences from, say, Merahi Ra'a (which is modest and relatively inexpensive) and Te Moana (which is fancy and expensive). As is typical with many tour books about Easter Island, they rave about La Taverne du Pêcheur probably because it has become chic to do so rather than acknowledge the banal truth about its pricey food, its pathetically slow service, and its needlessly surly owner. (With alternatives like the recently-opened Au Bout du Monde, La Taverne hardly has a monopoly on French cuisine on the island and the quality of food and service at the former could very well run the latter out of business.) The book also sub-divides the island into South Coast, North of Hanga Roa, South of Hanga Roa, and Northeast Coast, with routine if woefully brief information as to what's available to see in these regions, and, with only a single page devoted to rudimentary maps of the island and Hanga Roa, one hopes the visitor will have another guidebook or other resources to turn to before planning a trip to or arriving on the island. There is brief mention of the Biblioteca William Mulloy, MAPSE, and outdoor activities like horseback riding and scuba/snorkeling, though the statement that, because vehicular access to places like Terevaka has been prohibited, "some locals still sneak up" to Terevaka "in a 4×4" is irresponsible to mention, as if it were a tacit encouragement to violate this prohibition.
   
   In short, this first venture by Frommer's barely meets the minimum standards for coverage of Easter Island, despite such high billing in the title of the work. Since there are many other, better works available, and since the authors apparently didn't see fit to turn to them to make their own guidebook better, to say nothing of the question of just how much time they spent on the island itself (because it doesn't appear to have made it onto the pages of the book), it seems they merely wish to compete with guidebooks using similar names -- but the similarly shallow depth of information contained in this guidebook will ultimately make for a disappointing visit by anyone solely relying on it for a visit to our favorite little island.

5 comments about In Patagonia (Penguin Classics).

1. This is a book on a potentially engaging topic that came to me with high critical recommendation, but frankly didn't deliver. Chatwin's narrative is sentimental and seems in many cases superficial. His observations of the Welsh sheep ranchers seemed focused on insignificant details to the point that one may wonder if Chatwin had ever been diagnosed with autism. I couldn't finish the book.



2. I had never heard of Bruce Chatwin before, but whilst shopping at a used book store, as I held IN PATAGONIA in my hand, my friend said: "Oh, Bruce Chatwin--he's a great writer."
   
   From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn't stop reading it. The short segments worked well for me, I liked the style. I learned so much about the country, its history, and all sorts of interesting characters. This book is a great read, and I went on to read his others.



3. We are preparing to visit South America, so this book is very apt. The author put together a new kind of travel story, weaving imagination with reality. It seems to us that a lot of South American native literature does the same thing. A fascinating insight into life in Patagonia, whether you read it as travel stories or fiction.



4. When I read that Bruce Chatwin had died at the age of 31, I personally grieved as if he had been someone I knew. It is rare to find a book of gentle surprises with wonderful sentences and description, a treat to read, a promise of things to come. But that was not to be. I mourned for what we all lost. There are other books by Chatwin but I like to wonder about all the things he would have written had he lived. Prior to his death he had been in China where he became ill with some tropical disease. He returned home to die, his book on China unwritten, perhaps unplanned. Here are a few of his books: The Songlines, On the Black Hill, The Viceroy of Ouidah. There are more.



5. Chatwin's story of his search to find the skin of a giant ground sloth and the people he meets along the way in Patagonia is a truly different type of travel literature. Rather than a simple travel diary, Chatwin introduces the reader to a number of the different personalities that inhabit this bleak, but beautiful landscape

5 comments about Lonely Planet Chile & Easter Island.

1. I have used LP guides all over the world, mostly for the maps and hostel listings...so when I went to Chile, I happily bought the Chile guide. I threw it out two weeks later. The maps were incorrect again and again, information was just plain wrong, the listings unhelpful. We ended up walking all over one town looking for a hostel that had been misplaced on a map, we missed buses, and were shocked at how horrible "the best hostel in [a certain town]" was. Fine adventure and all, but after I trashed the LP, we used my friends' Rough Guide instead (which thankfully had correct info) and we saved our time and enjoyed ourselves for the rest of our trip.



2. thanks to lonely planet we found chilestay apartments at www.chilestay.com an inexpensive alternative to a hotel. also, lonely planet provides a comprehensive and updated information about places to visit and enjoy.



3. I usually don't like the LPs but this one worked out great. I left it in Santiago with my sister. The thing about travel books is that they are just guides to give you ideas. Never go by the book, it makes for a boring life. The best adventures I have every had in South America were the ones that were not planned that goes for life too. The Easter Island part was good because it gave alot of info about the history and culture and gave directions to the museum so that we could get even more info if needed. I also like the Spanish vocab in the back because my Spanish is Mexican border now and guess what a sopa in SA is a bread and here in border land it is a soup. winter in Santiago you want soup not bread. Buy it and see the world the best thing in life is to follow you heart and dreams.



4. We just returned from 6 months in South America. We traveled with the Footprint guidebooks but had many opportunities to use the Lonely Planet, as that is what everyone carries.
   
   Almost everyone who was carrying this book complained about it. It is full of errors and the maps are hard to read. Hostal Nancy, in Puerto Natales, for example, is shown on the complete opposite side of town.
   
   Do yourself a favor and try out another guidbook. Get away from the Lonlely Planet people. Look at Footprint or Rough Guide.



5. I visited chile in early 2007-I credit this book with the best time of my life...I you go to Lake region around Puerto Montt, this book will tell you all the cool hostels to stay...Organized information and useful...lots of good restaurants and hostels. Also recommend Argentina guide from same publisher...