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A traveller I met at the Thai/Laotian border gave me his Lonely Planet and since that day the book hasn't left me.
The main attractions such as Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars are well covered and described, however, if you want to go off the beaten track better rely on other sources. ... Read review
Discover Laos Weave your own path through the temple-lined streets of World ... more
Heritage-listed Luang Prabang. Find out why Katang villagers sleep with their heads pointed towards an outside wall. Explore the ancient Khmer's 'imitation of heaven' at mystical Wat Phu Champasak. Join locals for a riverside Beerlao as the sun sets over the Mekong in Vientiane. In This Guide: Three authors 1472 hours of on-the-road research 61 maps Our guide is dedicated to providing travelers with environmentally and culturally aware travel advice Visit "lonelyplanet.com" for up-to-the-minute reviews updates and traveler insights
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Advantages: good overview over the main attractions Disadvantages: bus times and prices inaccurate
...Thai/Laotian border gave me his Lonely Planet and since that day the book hasn't left me.
The main attractions such as Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars are well covered and described, however, if you want to go off the beaten track better rely on other sources. But I'll come to this negative points later. -----------------------
Chapters
- Quick reference with Laos fact file, exchange rates and important ... ...BeerLao!
The Lonely Planet Laos is divided into the following chapters organised by geographical area. The chapters are easy to understand and but not well structured as they try to cover too big areas. They all share the same with practical and historical information at the beginning as well as the highlights of the region. This is followed by Accommodation, City and surroundings and how to get there and how to get away. The only ... more
-------------------- I'm using the 6th edition, published in August 2007. --------------------
Laos is definitely my favourite country, travelling or living there. My initial plan was to spend there one week, basically just a quick stop on my way to Vietnam but in the end I stayed for over 3 months and I'll return to Laos soon - just cannot get enough of it.
A traveller I met at the Thai/Laotian border gave me his Lonely Planet and since that day the book hasn't left me.
The main attractions such as Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars are well covered and described, however, if you want to go off the beaten track better rely on other sources. But I'll come to this negative points later. -----------------------
Chapters
- Quick reference with Laos fact file, exchange rates and important phone numbers. In this book they use a scale to describe the price of the accommodation: up to 15$ is 'budget', between 16$ and 7550$ is 'mid range' and over is 'top end'. They do not however mention that prices very extremely between dry and rainy season; I paid for a double with bathroom 3 Pound and for the same room in dry season 9 Pound!
- Coloured map over two pages, highlights are marked and described.
- Destination Laos - this is my favourite as it contains photos to places that are described later in the book. It's great to see photos of places you want to visit and can offer you alternatives you never thought about before - of course it's also nice to look at them after your trip and enjoy your memories of these great places. The photos are not divided into sections as it is in other LP Guidebooks but all under the topic 'Highlights'. Having spend quite a lot of time there I have to say that the highlights are chosen very well, but BeerLao should be on number 1 if you ask me.
- Suggested itineraries - epic fail. The bus times are completely random and it seems that the authors haven't done these trips, if they'd done them they'd know that half of the attractions are missing and that you need at least one week longer than suggested. I liked none of the Itineraries as only small parts of the country were covered and they didn't give you a good overview of the country at all.
- History - well written history section from the early ages to recent political events. A timeline for a quick overview is given on the bottom on every page. This is one of my favourite sections but can be quite hard to understand when you are not familiar with the Vietnam war and the geography of the area.
- The sections is dedicated to the 'national psyche', important and helpful information if you really want to understand the local lifestyle and the social Dos & Don'ts. The most important tip is 'never to lose face'. This actually goes for most Asian countries and is a really big part of everyday culture. The diverse ethnic groups are described and you can really feel these differences when travelling through Laos, people in Luang Prabang are so different from people that live close to the Chinese border which are again different from the people influenced from Vietnam.
- Environment - the diverse landscape is described from the limestone mountains in Vang Vieng to the green Mekong valleys around Luang Prabamg and the dry and cold areas close to the Vietnamese border. All unique, all stunning.
- Food - this section is really good with useful descriptions of the local varieties and a food guide with Laotian script. The best food is found in Luang Prabang - don't miss the laap with sticky rice and BeerLao!
The Lonely Planet Laos is divided into the following chapters organised by geographical area. The chapters are easy to understand and but not well structured as they try to cover too big areas. They all share the same with practical and historical information at the beginning as well as the highlights of the region. This is followed by Accommodation, City and surroundings and how to get there and how to get away. The only exception of this is Vientiane, they don't bother mentioning that it's next to impossible finding a cheap GH during high season (which is rather unique in Laos)
- Vientiane & Around - Northern Laos - Central Laos - Southern Laos
- Directory with useful A-Z guide from accommodation over scams to women travellers.
- a short language section which can be essential when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and nobody understands English. As most people in remote areas cannot read the Laotian script it is better to get a travel-image book and just to point at what you want instead of showing them the script. Also, in border regions Laotian is not always widely understood. Say if you go to Phongsali Chinese will be a lot handier than Laotian. -----------------------
Photos
I really enjoy looking at photos of places I want to travel to, they just put some meat on the bone. The Lonely Planet has lots of high quality colour photos in the first section of the book including the stunning view on the limestone mountains, the wonderful Nightmarket in Luang Prabang and the traditional food stalls you'll see on every corner.
----------------------- The Shoestring books
Lonely Planet publishes a variety of books aimed to help budget travellers - they include Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. I don't like them and would rather buy the books separately. I bought the Southeast Asia Lonely Planet and was really disappointed. They are just not detailed enough and unpractical to use due to their enormous size; Laos was only mentioned in a tiny section describing only Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Vamg Vieng. To be fair, it gave me an overview - but it was definitely not detailed enough to justify the price. -----------------------
Downside(s)
- I've been criticising this in quite a few guidebooks but the Laos edition is really the worst. The bus journeys are normally 2 hours longer than predicted. They don't differentiate between the seasons which makes a huge difference in Laos, especially in the north a bus journey in September can be twice as long as in April or sometimes not even possible.
- The Guidebook stays too much on the beaten track , there's much more to do in Laos than using it just as a stopover from Thailand to Vietnam.
- Prices are really inaccurate, sometimes written in kip, sometimes $. Kip is not a stable currency but some of these prices are so far away from reality that something has to be wrong.
- The focus is on temples, temples and nothing else. But there's so much more to see in Laos, stunning landscapes, beautiful boat tours and wild coffee plantations. -----------------------
Rating
It certainly is a great guide book and covers all of the usual attractions. Don't expect too much help outside Vientiane, LP and Vang Vieng. Maps are often inaccurate and the city tours are focused on temples and nothing else.
There are some Lonely Planet guides that were so inaccurate that I doubt the authors could find the country in question on the map, sadly the Laos Guide is one of them. The times for bus journeys are so incredibly inaccurate and the differences between rainy/dry season are not really mentioned.
In combination with the Lonely Planet website and the forum it's good to plan your trip but don't rely on it if you want to see and feel the real Laos. If you only stay for 1 week anyway it's sufficient.
The price is with 12.99 Pound quite cheap for a LP Guide.
An overall rating of 06 out of 10 -----------------------
Advantages: Deciding where to go Disadvantages: Decing what to do when you get to these places
I used the Laos Lonely Planet and found my way around the country and had a fab time (see my review on Laos). As any guide book, you can only use them as a guide. I know this may sound obvious, but what I mean is that you cannot follow them religously like I see many travellers doing.
I used the Laos Lonely Planet to decide the towns and cities to visit, and the basic attractions and activities in each place. From then on I spoke with other poeple, ... ...saying do not use the Lonely Planet, I found it very helpful in deciding where to go, just not what to do when there. The maps of the cities and towns are prity good and the information regarding the country is interesting and worth a read.
Use it as a guide and I'd say get a copy, just do not rely on it or blaim it if things don't turn out as you expected. ...
bmassen 24.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Lonely Planet Laos - Lonely Planet
Advantages: Fantastic information about accomodation, Maps Disadvantages: Can get too caught up with recommendations
Another great book for the Lonely Planet series. The book provides you with plenty of maps and hotel information to enable you not to get lost in a new town or hustled by any of the local touts. Although the people of Laos are generally very friendly, relaxed and genuine.
The prices are accurate and up to date.
The what to do and see is very useful and interesting. Although as has been said before. Don't follow the book religiously. Things can ... ...book. As with most Lonely Planets it is more intended for backpackers or gap year students than family holidayers.
The transport information again is indispensible. When you don't know where to turn the lonely planet provides you with accurate timetables of local transport for a cheap holiday.
Importantly the book also includes plenty of warnings of how to keep yourself safe and out of the way of the many criminals around. ...
Naturalsponge 19.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Lonely Planet Laos - Lonely Planet
