1 comments about Argentina/Bolivia/Brazil/Chile/Paraguay/Uruguay Super Atlas.

1. I had to use this book for a report in my geagrapy class on Uruguay, and it helped quite a bit!

1 comments about Desert Memories: Journeys Through the Chilean North (Directions).

1. I've lived in Chile and I've lived in the desert (but not Chile's Norte Grande). Ariel Dorfman writes very compellingly about the many complex aspects of desert life - the mining-based economy, the range of people who come from elsewhere, the relation of the desert as "periphery" to those "other places" who live off its wealth. Also he does justice to the desert's beauty, native peoples, transportation systems. He involves himself in the narrative, almost Woody-Allen style at times, but this book isn't in the British travel narrative mode of "here are all the awful things that happened to me." Rather, it's a story of extraordinary people and places - world-class scientists, grass-roots activists, byzantine networks of in-laws (few Chilean memoirs would be complete, lacking these!). It's a measure of this gifted writer's absolute skill that he has so many funny moments, and fine descriptions of the desert's landscape, and the pathos of people working to reclaim the ghost towns of the mining industry, all in one book. One of the book's most moving moments, for me, is the chapter that ends with the narrator observing of one town citizen who'd returned to a reclaimed ghost town, that there was no need to ask if he'd kept the key to the house he'd been forced to leave thirty years earlier.

   The title is absolutely right: memory and time are crucial to the desert. In writing of Chile, one of the most complicated and interesting country of the world, Dorfman brings with him his experience, contacts, broad awareness of this land. The narrative is beautifully structured, too. Dorfman, in all, is getting better and better with time. There are many wonderful books about Chile's extraordinary history, its many-layered social class structure, its heart-breakingly beautiful geography. The field of social and ecological memoirs/travelogues about Chile is a very crowded one, with some top-notch writers (think Darwin, just for starters...). Desert Memories is one of the best books there is for anyone considering a trip to this country.

4 comments about Chile Experience Travel Guide.

1. You will absolutely, positively not find another guidebook on Chile that can compare with this one. Terrifically comprehensive and loaded with color photographs - many of them taken by the author - this book is obviously a labor of love. Highly recommended, whether you're looking to read up on specifc topics or going straight through, cover to cover.



2. If you are a casual traveler, you might find something you weren't expecting. This is so complete, you'll find just what you're looking for. If you are an outdoor-adventure type, this is a must have for the time of your life. If you like history and architecture, you'll find it here. Chile, that skinny little country is full of fun and adventure. Josh Howell is the perfect guide.



3. Chile's very own publisher has finally produced and English language complement to their well established line of Chilean guide books and maps. Travel Guide: Chile Experience is much more than a guide book. It's a lesson in culture, history, flora, fauna, gastronomy and more!

   Written by a man who has spent the better part of his adult life in Chile, this book offers a perspective of Chile no Andean traveler should be without. From history and flora to indigenous culture, architecture and adventure this book educates the reader, adding depth to hikes, tours and conversation.

   With maps, precise explanations and well researched tour suggestions and contact information, this book also offers detailed and digestible information for travelers interested in adventure and remote locations.

   Finally, with charts, topographical maps and satellite imagery, this book pulls ahead of the leading pack of travel guides. Apart from the flowing, easy-to-read writing style, the maps and excellent graphics truly make this book a must have.




4. Traveling is not a dream. Traveling is a need. Man, in state of nature, is an explorator. A traveler.
   So begins Chile Experience, a very interesting and complete travel guide.
   It's not an ordinary guide. At your bookshop's, you can find - you know, this kind of so-called guide which topics look like dictionary definitions... or books full of pictures, in which explanations are non-existent or so. Chile Experience includes both, and, moreover, it has been written by a Chile's lover, I guess.

   From Atacama desert to Patagonian pampa, from Chile's climate to its history, this book involves the reader in the discovery of a culture, a country, a Nature whose riches we can hardly imagine.
   The proverb says that traveling makes youth. Find a second youth in Chile - through this guide !

2 comments about Chile in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture (In Focus Guides).

1. Not a spectacular work, but is takes care of much of the information about Chile.



2. This is a great little book. It's an excellent intro-to- Chile book. If you only want a short, easy to read, interesting book about Chile, this is it.

No comments about The Diary of Benjamin Reynolds (The Journal of a Voyage 'round Cape Horn from Philadelphia to Chile and Back Again Via Rio De Janiero in 1840-41).

1 comments about Waterproof Chile Map by ITMB.

1. This map has excellent details. However, because Chile is a very long, narrow country the map is broken into sections and moving from one section to another is confusing.

No comments about Patagonia Sur Tierra del Fuego Costa a Costa.

No comments about A Yankee in Patagonia, Edward Chace: His thirty years there, 1898-1928.

1 comments about Backpacker Patagonia (Backpackers' Latin America).

1. We just returned from a six week tour of Patagonia using this guide. We enjoyed all of the hikes, treks and tours recommended in the guide. We stayed in some of the recommended hostels and found them to be as described. Restaurants, addresses, telephone number, and e-mail addresses listed in the book were mostly obsolete; to be expected in a rapidly changing area swarmed by tourism. Except for public transportation costs, the costs of all services listed in the guide were off by 30 to 40 percent (too low).
   
   The reasons we purchased this guide for our trip was that it had the most current publication date and it addressed the primary area that we intended to visit: Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia.
   
   The primary reason for awarding a low rating to this guide book is the guide book's abominable design (risk of ordering on-line):
   1. It is printed on heavy large format glossy paper and contains many pages; hence, it is very heavy. Too heavy to take with you in the backpack. Small format books like the Lonely Planet guides are more convenient to pack and haul with you.
   2. The maps in the guide book are illegible. Use of color and small print on the maps and in the reference symbols makes them unreadable in low light conditions. Guides like the Lonely Planet that use simple monochrome line drawings for maps are superior.
   3. Including ads in a guide book not only adds to its weight but is ethically questionable.

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Argentina.

1. The Rough Guide to Argentina (2nd edition published in January of 2005) is the best guide available for the entire country. I phrased it this way because Time Out Buenos Aires (published July 2006) is by far and away the best guide for the city of Buenos Aires.
   
   If you are a little leery of purchasing a guidebook printed almost two years ago I would recommend purchasing Time Out Buenos Aires as well because it seemed that only in Buenos Aires have things changed so rapidly that a newer guide would be necessary.
   Having said that you certainly can get away with just having The Rough Guide (just know that prices have gone up - which happens with all guide books).
   
   When comparing The Rough Guide to Argentina to Lonely Planet Argentina (the only real competition since Fodors, Frommers, and Bradt just don't compete) I can easily recommend Rough guide over Lonely Planet. The Rough Guide simply has more information (it has 372 MORE pages than Lonely Planet has). A few times I found that I'd read about a very intriguing and little known attraction in the Rough Guide only to find it missing altogether in Lonely Planet. I know that most guides are striving to also highlight the off the beaten track activities as well as the major ones and The Rough Guide achieves this in a much better way than Lonely Planet.
   
   I don't fault Lonely Planet for this because they produce good travel guides (especially in Europe), but it seems that they made the decision to not go as in depth as The Rough Guide has in South America (since I also found the same to be true with the Chile and Peru guides).
   
   The maps are very easy to use and more intuitive than Lonely Planet's, but it would be nice for Rough Guide to copy LP in printing the elevation and population of cities and towns.
   
   All areas of the country are represented well in the guide. Some are a bit more heavily detailed but it does not come at the expense of others.
   
   The "Basics" section is very detailed in highlighting entry requirements, transportation, health and safety issues, etc. There is also a lengthy discussion on the history of Argentina, it's peoples, culture, political system, food, etc.
   
   You will definitely not be disappointed after purchasing this guidebook.



2. I agree with pretty much with what has been said in the reviews below. The Rough Guide is a better value from the Lonely Planet, if nothing else for the additional number of pages (a third) that allow the authors to get into more detail on the history, politics and minutiae of places to stay and see.
   
   There are a few problems or personal recommendations I would make, or emphasize. The Guide is absolutely on target by recommending not to bring travellers checks. Not only are the banks loth to take them (only a minority actually do, the maximum is $100 per day) but there is an extraordinary amount of paperwork and they charge enormous fees. I brought most of the checks back home. There is a problem with Argentinian ATMs not listed in the Guide. Most ATMs use a 4 letter code and do not recognize 4+ codes from the USA or European debit/credit cards. You will quickly recognize and love the small minority that do (such as the Columbia Bank).
   
   The maps were very helpful to me.
   
   Some of the places described in the book were apparently never visited by the Guide's researchers, who must have relied on second-hand info from tour operators or Information agencies. A case in point is the Baritu National Park and its launching pad, the village Los Toldos, which are described from a standpoint of someone who has never been there.
   
   In general, I would say that the country is best experienced if one avoids organized tours. Argentines are a warm, interesting and interested people. It is one thing to sit in the bus with a bunch of Europeans and gringos and another to sit together with the locals... indigenous ladies returning from the market, old men in old hats, groups of seductive young women... you will see more of the land and experience more of the people. If you visit Iruya (which I thoroughly recommend), don't just stay for a couple of hours before returning to Humahuaca; i suggest renting a room in the village (for ridiculously low proces) and staying for a couple of days.
   
   There is very little about other countries and potential issues involved in crossing the borders. This goes for Brasil, Bolivia and Chile.
   
   Still, this is the guide to get. Enjoy the travels.



3. book arrived much earlier than other I'd ordered at same time, great condition, but extra box packaging is not necessary. Books like that only need padded envelopes.



4. I liked this better than the Frommer's guides, but I think the Lonely Planet guide does a better job. As a traveler on a student's budget, I didn't find this particular guide to be that useful or user-friendly. It IS informative and can be useful (language section, brief culture/history section, health section, etc.) but as I said, it wasn't right for me.
   
   I suggest the Lonely Planet guide to Argentina.



5. Three things:
   1. I have not yet been to Argentina so I have not verified my conclusion.
   2. I have not seen other Argentina guide books.
   3. I have a shelf full of other guide books for other countries and this is quite simply the best and most comprehensive travel guide I have ever seen. In the future I will consider Rough Guides first above all others, then evaluate.