5 comments about Ukraine (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

1. I gave this book as a gift to a family member who was going to the Ukraine, and we found it to be very informative and useful.



2. This little book is packed with information. I would say this book is essential if you know nothing about Ukraine, and very useful if you know some Ukrainian or Russian. Despite the fact that almost everyone in Ukraine speaks Russian, and in some areas they speak only Russian, all the sample translations in this book are in Ukrainian. It would be useful to have both Ukrainian and Russian translations in the book.



3. I recently used this book on a 2 week trip to Ukraine, we spent most of our time in Eastern Ukraine and a few days in Kiev. The coverage of Eastern Ukraine is sparse, to say the least. Kharkov, for instance, is a huge city but there is very little coverage. The practical information that is presented is useful, however, I feel that it has a very negative connotation (watch out! this country is dangerous! kids will hate it!) and the author approaches it with more fear/caution than sense of adventure and exploration.
   
   The historical/cultural information that is presented is interesting to read, and the author makes some great recommendations for future reading about Ukraine.
   
   I'm glad that we had this book with us, but we found the Bradt guide much, much more detailed and useful for use while in Ukraine.



4. This is probably the worst travel guide I've ever read. It completely misses the point of travel in Ukraine. It's constantly referring to the sub-standard quality of virtually everything and trashes all but three or four destinations. I can't tell you how many times I read descriptions of places I've visited an scoffed at how offhandedly they were dismissed.
   
   People don't visit Ukraine for a relaxing week of 5-star hotels and Western European-style tourism. If not looking for family or engaging in business, people come to Ukraine for a decidedly different tourist experience. Yes, it's an experience that is a little rough around the edges. But it's also filled with cheap and convenient travel, incredibly hospitable and authentic people, and a surprisingly rich and diverse country that mixes snowy birch forests and rocky sub-tropical beaches, as well as European and Soviet history. However, this book is content to write off entire regions of Ukraine.
   
   The LP folks were recently back in Ukraine doing research for the new edition, but I'm not all that hopeful much of this can be salvaged. Go with the Bradt Guide, it's the best guide to Ukraine available.



5. It's hard to judge a travel guide before the actual travel, but this guide is verbose and useful. There are recommended places to stay and good tips what to see.

5 comments about River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny.

1. Burdened with a brutal history of Cossack conquest, labor camps, gulags, displaced people and rapacious resource plundering, and all but abandoned by the state that exploited it, Siberia is the perfect choice for a certain sort of travel writer to go and reflect on the state of the world.
   
   Jeffrey Tayler ("Siberian Dawn," "Angry Wind"), a linguist who speaks Russian, Arabic, French, Greek and several other languages, writes about remote and difficult places - the Sahara, the Congo, Siberia. His previous trip to Siberia was in winter, when he traveled on the frozen Lena River by truck.
   
   This time he goes in summer by inflatable raft down the same river, retracing some 2,400 miles of Cossack exploration, from Lake Baikal to Tiksi on the Arctic Ocean, 450 miles above the Arctic Circle. Tiksi is the sort of place where the deluxe hotel suite does not come with hot water in the "warm" months, the months of "rain and snow, not just snow."
   
   The trip grew out of a desire to clear his head of city clamor and explore the lives of real Russians - the impoverished rural masses. Having lived in Russia for 11 years, made a life and married, Tayler, an American, finds himself despairing of the place. The collapse of communism seems only to have opened the doors to corruption and chaos. "I was seized by a desire to find out what had gone wrong? Had I really devoted my life to a doomed land?"
   
   His guide is the misanthropic Vadim, a Muscovite and Afghan War veteran who drives a truck and spends every summer in the North. He would prefer his beloved Siberia without people and his disdain for Tayler's insistence on stopping at each down-at-heels village to talk with the inhabitants only grows with time. His enthusiasm for the land is vocal and passionate and Tayler's restraint baffles him. Their personalities chafe, but Tayler grows to appreciate his expertise - from his boat handling skills to his precision in setting up the daily camp.
   
   The trip itself is as grim as it is adventurous. The indigenous Yakuts and Evenks, forced by the Soviets to abandon nomadic lives for villages, factories and government subsidies, now find themselves abandoned, the old ways forgotten. The Russians include descendants of prisoners - criminals, dissidents and intellectuals - as well as exiled Baptists and Germans. Others came for the high pay and benefits offered by the Soviet government to harvest the land's rich resources. And now the factories are closed and the benefits long gone.
   
   People, even descendants of those banished by Stalin, yearn for the security and order of a strong central authority. Tayler despairs at their nostalgia for Soviet rule and their support for Putin's strong-arm tactics. Alcohol is a ubiquitous plague.
   
   Even the weather seems to signal collapse. As the raft heads north storm follows storm, lashing the travelers with frigid rain and gale-force winds, when the season calls for balmy temperatures and alpine tundra blooms. Climate change, the inhabitants comment, has deprived them of summer.
   
   Tayler writes with an eye for detail and a certain reserve. Though open to everyone he meets, he is also wary and not easily bamboozled. While Vadim exults over the view at every bend in the river, Tayler's enthusiasm is tempered by the (literally) choking clouds of bugs and a certain impatience with Vadim's insular chauvinism. This is a thoughtful, sympathetic, often melancholy portrait of an extreme place with an extreme history and an uncertain future.
   
   -- Portsmouth Herald



2. Author Jeffrey Taylor used a custom-built boat to travel over two thousand miles to the Arctic Circle, recreating a journey first made by Cossacks over three hundred year ago, seeking a respite from the modern world. RIVER OF NO RETURN: DESCENDING SIBERIA'S WATERWAY OF EXILE, DEATH, AND DESTINY charts his journey, providing true life travel adventure at its best as Taylor comes to realize his guide is a bitter Soviet army veteran who hates all humanity - including Taylor. A vivid adventure comes to life in a compelling 'you are there' story.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. Most of us who have visited or lived in Russia since 1990 have spent out time in the major cities or around them. Jeffrey Tayler takes us to places in Russia that we will probably never have an opportunity to see. He does more than look and see. He experiences. If you are familiar with Russia or parts of it, the story makes sense and we can relate. Certainly what he experiences is far more extreme than what most of us know. And yet, it is still familiar. From his travel companion's contempt for all people who aren't "real" Russians, to the wish for and fear of contact with nonRussians that others exhibit, this is a story of Russian people. I learned, I was depressed, I laughed, and this book made me want to go back to Russia and experience it again and again.
   Walter Brooke



4. Very interesting. The author does an excellent job weaving in historical backgroung. He describes a very harsh environment inhabited mostly by drunks. Moves along quickly for a 2500 mile boat ride.



5. Tayler wanders off a bit in trying to make his language too flowery and poetic, but I guess it comes from living in Russia maybe where poetry is still respected. That or he is just trying to add a little more flavor to this rather depressing tale. There was one reviewer who gave this book only 2 stars because there was not more pictures and he thought the cover photo didn't look like the guy on the back flap. All I can say is try a trip like this yourself and see what you look like in two months. If you need more pictures, stick to the children's section. Having live in Russia for 4 years now I found it very believable. Vadim the guide is exactly as I could imagine having know a few Russians much like him.
   What bothered me the most is that Tayler never mentions contacting his wife even once on the whole trip. I'm sure he must have, but didn't think it worth mentioning. All-in-all, a good adventure, and a good read.

5 comments about The Rough Guide to The Baltic States - 2nd Edition.

1. Number of Estonians is 68 percent, not 65 percent. Go pick up a Lonely Planet book instead!



2. The product was in excellent shape when I received it. The book looked as if it were new and bought right off the book store shelf.



3. This book provides some interesting background information about the countries, but was not organized very well to serve as a reference on-the-fly. While you may be interested in reading about Latvian daina song-poems from your living room before leaving on your trip, you'll find yourself cursing all that information when you're just trying to find some specific tip on bus routes to the ethnographic museum. If your itinerary is going to focus mainly on the capital cities, as mine did, I would highly recommend the book Bradt Baltic Capitals. It was infinitely more useful than the Rough Guide, cheaper, and half the size and weight.



4. Any author of a travel guide to the Baltic States is left with a formidable task: Words and still photographs don't do justice to these truly exceptional destinations. Add to that the daunting task of trying to keep listings current for three of the most dynamic and popular tourist destinations on earth. In particular, the capital cities are booming with prosperity, largely based on the tourist trade, and institutional details change constantly. Faced with these difficulties, this guide is still the best of the bunch. Bradt does a nice guide to the capital cities, but that doesn't help much for people interested in such lovely places as Kaunas and Tartu, or the idyllic rural settings outside the cities. This book crams an enormous amount of material into a dense, compact package. Despite one reviewer's claim to the contrary, Rough Guides are smaller and lighter than the Bradt guides. You'll need to buy three of those to gather the equivalent content offered in this book.
   
   Tallinn, Riga and (especially) Vilnius are so startling upon first sight, no amount of historic or cultural context is going to give you the blast of adrenaline you'll feel as your taxi scoots you through the town square on the way to your hotel. You simply have to see and feel these places directly. That said, Rough Guide has made (in this updated edition) a dedicated effort to improve the quality of the pragmatic material in the book. You're still not going to find the details of bus routes and timetables, but the hotel and restaurant listings are up-to-date and accurate. True to Rough Guide form, however, the author reveals his love of all things historic and cultural, which fits nicely with the book's standard format.
   
   A few words of caution: Remember, these three small countries are shaking off the communist experiment, and that takes some time. While the old town centers are generally restored, there's still a palpable grit to the Baltic States. Don't expect Vilnius to look like Vienna, or Tallinn to look like Prague, or Riga to look like Stockholm. These towns are far smaller than their central European and Scandinavian sisters, and they're ringed by nasty industrial suburbs that can (but shouldn't) put you off. I mention this because the guide doesn't make this observation. Also, don't buy this book if you're looking for a photo essay. Rough Guides are all about words and simple maps. Go to Flickr if you want a nice preview in pictures.
   
   From the medieval Protestant alleys of Tallinn to the baroque splendor of Catholic Vilnius, this guide's got your back. But as another reviewer noted, these destinations are among the most popular in the world (the wonderful combination of beauty and affordability), so sit down with this book and do your homework BEFORE you get on the plane.



5. I had used the first edition to help plan our 3 plus week trip to the Baltic states during May, 2008. But since it was published several years ago, I decided to buy the the 2nd edition (early 2008) which came out a few weeks prior to our leaving for our trip. How frustrating and what a waste of money. Much of the information had not been updated, many places had been closed for over 2 years. There are mention of new things coming in 2006!!! So what happened??? - needed serious editing by folks that "had boots on the ground" - not just using the internet for some updates. Thankfully, I had the Bradt guide and, best of all, were the up to date "In Your Pocket" guides which you can download free or buy light small magazine style when you arrive (check out online for cities and countries) for about 2-3 dollars and have the most relevant info, including up to date cultural & entertainment info. No more Rough Guides for me, if I can avoid it.

5 comments about Among the Russians.

1. As an interested reader of the Soviet Union and Russian culture, I picked this book up two years after I read In Siberia. I was amazed at the amount of detail the author poured into his journeys across the Soviet Union. He was able to visit the Russian citizens, homesteads of famous icons of years back (Tolstoy among them) and see cathedrals we can only see in pictures. His writing style and demeanor may strike readers as distant and unattached but he went over there to observe and he did not observe this place through rose-colored lenses-he showed us what Russia was really like in 1980. If you strictly want to read about Russia, you may be disappointed when you read the material towards the end which is about Georgia and Armenia, but my ignorance of those former republics were replaced with notions that they might be more beautiful and more interesting than all of Western Russia. The whole way through you will be captivated, appalled and intrigued with his journey. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Russian culture.



2. This is a good account of traveling through Russia in recent times. For a similar travel narrative try Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival - minus 120 years and a vehicle, but with the engaging addition of battling against the brutality of the Siberian climate.



3. Colin Thubron's _Among the Russians_ (1983) offers a compelling picture of the Soviet Union in 1980, at the moment of its serious, irrevocable decline. Thubron examines day-to-day life in Western Russia, Estonia, Belarus ("White Russia"), Ukraine, and Georgia, near the end of Leonid Brezhnev's premiership. He finds despair and cynicism, as well as an unshakeable sense of humor about life under communist rule.
   
   Thubron's work is a travel narrative, an account of a car trip that he took alone in 1980 that was planned and approved by the Intotourist, the Soviet tourism board. Traveling as a "building company director," Thubron meets many people along the way. He talks with Russian and eastern bloc tourists at the campsites where he spends the night, locals in cities and towns, and dissidents whose addresses he has received from associates in Great Britain. Thubron also describes run-ins with police officials who are shocked to see a foreigner traveling alone by car in a British car. The first question he is asked while registering for his first overnight campsite stay is "Are you a group?," which Thubron describes as a "quintessential Russian question."
   
   Intermingled with his descriptions of the landscape and important historical sites, Thubron recounts various escapades, stories of people offering to buy his clothes (especially his jeans), of the advances lonely women who see him as a way to escape to the West (or to have an escape for a day), of many vodka guzzling evenings, of officious Intourist tourist guides, and of the talk of dissidents who seem unconcerned that their homes are bugged. Thubron offers his own insights about lesser known sites, like the Josef Stalin museum in Gori, Georgia, Stalin's hometown. In an exciting passage near the end of the work, Thubron describes how security personel in two white Volgas tail him all the way to the Romanian border.
   
   Throughout, Thubron expresses a Western sensibility and skepticism about the Soviet Union. His narrative mixes a blend of awe for the accomplishments of the Russian people and horror for what the Russians have endured and suffered. In fact, the book begins with an admission of his long-held fears about Russia, dating back to grade school when he first viewed in awe maps of the Soviet Union stretching across the globe.
   
   Thubron's prose style is both poetic and urbane (with an impressive vocabulary); he recounts many unforgettable episodes. The book ends where it begins with Thubron marveling at the vastness of Russia, an impression that the reader will remember, too.



4. I wondered, when ordering "Among the Russians", whether the fact that it had been written a quarter of a century ago, about a world that had apparently disappeared, would detract from the impact of the journey. I need not have worried as it has the immediacy of a trip completed yesterday.
   The book perhaps - and understandably so - does not quite have the fine polish of the recent "Shadow of the Silk Road", my first experience of Thubron, but is none the less beautifully written and absolutely fascinating. The combination of the unorthodox travel arrangements for the time (a car), the poetic and precise (I checked Google Images while reading "Shadow of the Silk Road"!) descriptions of places, the intimate and thoughtful portraits of people and, particularly impressive, the provision of a detailed historical context, make for a compelling read. Extra thrills, including a dramatic conclusion to the book, were thoughtfully provided by the KGB.
   With all this it might seem unnecessarily querulous to ask for more. But in both these books we are left with a feeling that the author has, perhaps unconsciously, fenced off a part of his personality and his activities. In this age of "letting it all hang out" we are sometimes left with unanswered questions, sometimes on simple practical matters.
   On the one hand, a voyage, especially a solitary one, involves constant and often stressful interaction between the traveler and his surroundings. We do see a lot of this but are often left trying to imagine details. On the other, it is often marked by long periods of silence when the traveler, a long way from home, will reflect on his life, loves, beliefs and hopes. Aside from a few memorable incidents, we do not see very much of this.
   A writer is fully entitled to reveal, or to hide, as much as himself as he chooses. But a bit more of Colin Thubron, the man, would give his travel books an additional vital dimension. Perhaps - after reading "In Siberia" - I should try his novels!



5. 
   If this gives any indication of enjoying a book :
   
   I read it in two gulps / just could not put it down !
   
   This writer is just captivating .
   
   I ESPECIALLY was charmed by the poignant descriptions of peoples' faces ..
   
   A MUST READ especially , if you are curious to understand the puzzling dichotomy of repression
   
   and, too authentic warmth and hunger for beauty that comprises this fascinating country, Russia..
   
   Spaceba!

3 comments about Russia, Belarus & Ukraine (Insight Guides).

1. Insight Guide Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine covers a goegraphically vast expanse of the three countries. It offers a comprehensive history of the regions, and an overview guide to slavic and eurasian culture; including music, art, theater, literature, and food. The large section dedicated to cities and towns of the three countries is excellent for a tourist who wants a brief overview of the architectural and cultural highlights of each location. The street, country, and metro maps are excellent. The small list of lodging and restaurants in each city is adequate, but not spectacular, and most listings are on the pricey side. This book did have one deficiency; while it listed the locations of each city and landmark on maps, the writers did provided limited insight as to how to reach these locations from a central point such as the larger cities in each region. There is no mention of specific bus or train routes connecting the cities, and little information about reaching outlying monasteries and resorts, other than a goegraphical direction. I recommend this book as an aid to a tourist on a an organized trip of Russia. It is also an excellent source for the independent traveller who speaks Russian well enough to arrange their own travel between cities by inquiring at train stations or tourist centers. Other useful tools are the language guide, tips on local customs, and the communication information pages, which offer telephone, mail, internet, and wiring information.



2. As usual for the Insight series, this book provides a great deal of practical information on the history, cultures, life, and tourism, especially for the visitor to the great cities of the Russian Federation, along many spectacular photographs. However, I thought the chapter on Lake Baikal was disproportionately long at the expense of other parts of rural Russia. Perhaps the book's greatest deficiency is the skimpy treatment of Ukraine (and Belarus, for that matter), which should now appear in their own full guides. Less than 60 pages of photos and text just doesn't cut it for these two countries combined. A charming photograph of a bunch of Ukrainian schoolkids posing for the camera more or less seems to ask the reader, "What about us?" Simply put, they should have an Insight Guide book of their own next time around.



3. This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting Russia.

5 comments about St. Petersburg (Lonely Planet City Guides).

1. As the founder of a company devoted to enriching cultural and business travel to Russia, we are always looking for a good, general guidebook for clients. "Lonely Planet St. Petersburg " details several sights and museums not covered in many other guidebooks, such as the GUVD Museum and a guide to the little-visited southern St. Petersburg (which was to have been the new city center after the Siege of Leningrad). The history and art sections are also strong for a guide book. The entertainment, bar, restaurant and hotel suggestions are comprehensive (as far as quantity, quality and general pricing range, although the pricing itself is not accurate).
   
   One annoyance is that there are no Cyrillic displays of a sight's name (or even transliterations into Latin script), which means that you are likely to miss a sign right in front of you for, for instance, the Toy Museum.
   
   Note, however, that we always tell clients and other visitors to Russia that you should get the most current guidebook, as attractions, hotels, restaurants and transportation options do often change--AND THEN VERIFY THE INFORMATION! All in all, we recommend "Lonely Planet St. Petersburg " as a good guidebook to bring if you are staying more than a few days, or if you want comprehensive entertainment and restaurant listings before departing for your journey of Discovering Russia's second city, St. Petersburg.
   
   Marc David Miller, Discovering Russia, New York



2. I just returned from St. Petersburg. The Lonley Planet guide was amazingly helpful. This little pocket sized book contains virtually everything one needs to navigate the city, find hotels, restaurants, visit the important and novel sites, and gain a perspective on the city's history.

   There is also a section on language and phrases as well as easy to follow maps of the subway. If you go, I also recommend a companion purchase, Lonley Planet's map of St. Petersburg. It is laminated and fits easily into one's coat pocket.




3. This is the guide to use for Moscow. The beautifully illustrated contents include self guided tours that are so easy to follow you will feel like you were born there. BUY IT!!



4. the book is really informative.
   the only downfall is the russian pronunciation. as i am a russian language major, i can personally say there is definitely a better way to write out a lot of the words.



5. Lonely Planet does a good job but this is the 2002 edition. go for the new edition

1 comments about Berlitz Moscow and St. Petersburg Pocket Guide (Berlitz Pocket Guides S.).

1. So our first day in Moscow we lost our dictionary and our big travel guide and had to resort to this little thing I had picked up. It was full of everything we needed and got us through 2 weeks of trolling around Moscow and St. Pete on student budgets.
   
   The train maps were extremely useful. I was constantly pulling this thing out of my back pocket to find out what exit we needed to take. The city maps are pretty good too.
   
   All the suggestions were great and pretty easy to find. Thanks to this book, I was finally able to see a Russian circus with dancing bears and bears driving motorcycles with dogs on the back, which is really the only thing anybody ever wants to do over there.
   
   The vocabulary section is kinda useful, but you may have to resort to just showing them the words. If you're ordering food, I reccommend the shotgun approach we took: just point to stuff on the menu. It'll all work out in the end.
   
   I wouldn't say that this should be your only resource for preparing your trip, but it's definitely the only thing you'll need on you while you're actually walking around the country. That and your passport. Those Russian cops are crooks.

No comments about Russia - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette (Culture Smart!).

1 comments about Moscow, St. Petersburg & The Golden Ring, Third Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide).

1. Russia, despite its many recent upheavals continues to be an intriguing country. Masha Nordbye's just published "Moscow St Petersburg & The Golden Ring" is the perfect travel guide for those planning to visit Russia, or for those interested in Russia's rich culture and history. The book, beside being an incomparable travel guide, is also embellished with many relevant cultural and historic quotes that together with beautiful photographs and maps, make it an intellectually appealing volume.
   An added bonus to the book is the addition of detailed information about the now popular region around the Volga basin--the area called "The Golden Ring" where many of Russia's well preserved old churches and monasteries are located and where most other travel guides to Russia seem to ignore.
   Finally, a kudos to ODYSSEY BOOKS & GUIDES for publishing what appear to be the best travel guides in the market.

5 comments about Jonas Bendiksen: Satellites.

1. That Bendiksen's space shot metaphor for the rise and fall of the outskirts or the former Soviet Union is particularly apt is made clear by the images in the book. It begins with the industrial black market wasteland of Transdniester, and finishes on the debris strewn plains of Kasakstan waiting for space junk to fall so that it can be scavenged for precious metals. None of now independent places that he traveled to in creating this collection of images have prospered in the wake of the fall of the USSR, and the overwhelming picture is of people living in the concrete ruins of the soviet state. Images of ruins and people that are beset by the ravages of time, weather and war, but refuse to collapse completely into rubble.



2. Everithing makes you think you'll find a lot of photographs of satellites inside this book: the title, the cover and the description... but there are only 3 nice photos at all.



3. I've never written an Amazon review, but after finding this book, I want to say how much I loved it! Jonas Bendiksen takes a remarkable concept: the former Soviet Republics as "orbiting satellites held together by the gravity of Moscow" and through his photographs exposes the complexities of obscure regions in which he spent years traveling. It is beautifully documented with a lyrical eye. It is also a book that deserves many visits because the images evoke layers of emotions. The photographer is obviously passionate about revealing a collective truth that lies among the ruins of the former Soviet Union.



4. This book gives a very illustrated insight into the fringe of the former USSR. Extremely interesting to read and the photographs are amazing, very atmospheric.
   The images of the crash zone for the Russian space program are my favorite, they're like weird movie-sets.
   
   Michiel



5. As the title for this review states, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The quality of photography is outstanding and the black border presentation is quite effective. I also found the commentary illuminating, albeit a bit on the short side. But I must say that the subject matter is just fascinating. I have always been fascinated by the USSR/former USSR and Bendiksen's photographs do an outstanding job of conveying the quality of life that exists in those countries. That region has undergone some huge and traumatic changes in a very short period of time and this book captures the raw essence of those changes.