As a resident of Bali year-round, the number one complaint by almost every lonely planet carrying visitor is how inaccurate and outdated the lonely planet guides are. Whether it is Thailand or Indonesia, information that is needed on a daily basis is history by the time the lonely books reach the traveling consumer. Bookstores throughout Asia are piled high with lonely planets discarded by weary travelers eager to lessen their load. Lonely planet books do offer historical perspectives that can also be found on the internet, but the insider's information the first time traveler needs to save money and sanity their first days in Asia is sorely lacking. Updated info on how to avoid being ripped off from lodging to transportation to moneychanging is of primary concern to almost all visitors to Bali that we meet. Books as heavy as bricks with pretty pics are nice but hardly handy when you are in need of fast, accurate information. Try "The Beginners Guide to Bali" on cd-rom- it has weekly updated info and prepares the first time traveler to Bali for the unexpected.

I found this book quite informative and useful in its information about many different aspects of visiting Bali. The book provides wonderful cultural insights, historical background and detailed information.

The only major discrepancy we came across, for instance, was that the book said that Kuta has problems with tourists being hassled by street vendors, but when we went in April, we found that the main street in Kuta (where the Matahari Department Store is) quite the opposite. It turned out that the officials had just recently come down on the street vendors and put a stop to harassing tourists there. Instead, when we went to the center of town in Ubud, we were hassled a great deal by taxi/moped drivers to get us to hire them; this caught us off guard.

In response to concerns that the book isn't current on it's information, I feel that you shouldn't rely on a guidebook for prices, and that as a whole Lonely Planet Bali & Lombok gives the information that you need to know. It tells you in great detail about what there is to see and do, and where things are and how things work. I mean afterall, by the time any book reaches publication, isn't a lot of the information out-of-date? Otherwise, a book would never get published; it would be a newsletter.

I gave this a rating of 4 stars only because when we went to Bali, we didn't travel enough of the country (and we didn't get to Lombok) to give the book 5 stars.

We have just returned from Bali (October 2000) and strongly recommend taking this LP with you. I have been a bit skeptical about the info of some LP's (Mexico-we hardly used it!) but in Bali whoever put this one together knew their stuff. FORGET THE PRICES MENTIONED, they've at least doubled for meals accomodation etc , but then so has the amount of rupee you'll get!! One interesting note. We took a taxi to the Temple of Gudang Kawi, an 11th century temple. LP justifibly raves about it. The only other tourists there we saw were holding a LP. Local tour operaters didn't seem to think tourists would be interested in it and must take them to more boring temples!(and believe you me, they get boring!)

I was traveling in Corsica summer 2001. I had bought this guide and the Insight guide about Corsica. Together they was a very good match.

LP's book have a good diving and walking section. The walking section covers the famous GR20 route in particular. The diving section contains a lot about the diving possibilities and where the best dives are.

There are a lot of small villages in Corsica. Many of them is not mentioned in LP. So don't forget to explore.

To dub me green when it comes to the travel-writing genre - not to mention trekking beyond the borders of the United States - admittedly qualifies as an understatement. Especially when jaded notions of exploring the world around me are relegated to the obligatory business trip every other week compounded with the daily bump and grind of inching through St. Louis traffic. Indeed, the time is opportune for escape. And it was with "Lonely Planet . . . On the Edge" that I initiated a fresh journey into unexplored literary terrain.

Critically, I possess no frame of reference to compare the contributions to this anthology with those writings outside it - after all, what is good travel writing and what is poor travel writing to someone who has never read travel writing? That being said, I was pleased to discover "On the Edge" provided a fantastic release from the tedium of the mundane, whether or not my body eventually traverses these same grounds as my mind so vividly did with this collection.

With 33 respected and well-seasoned authors jam-packed into a book numbering less than 230 pages, the entries are bound to be compact and succinct, a fitting vehicle for the essential lunchtime retreat or the bedtime ritual of winding down. Not to mention the benefits it provides the "toilet traveler," usurping bathroom breaks to sneak in 10-minute peeks into the perceived eccentricities of our global neighbors, near and far.

"Lonely Planet . . . On the Edge" whisked me around the world and to the moon and back again. And, if I understand travel writing in general and this book in particular, isn't that the point?

This book is ok for snorkeling advice. Mostly geared to diving. A lot of the descriptions of the locations for snorkeling where not accurate. I would recommend since you really do not have a choice.

An excellent guide with supurb photos, invaluable to anyone planning to dive these islands. The layout is intelligent and very easy to follow, and the practical advice is well up to the standards I expect of LP.

Buy it well before you go to plan out that dream vacation

This met my expectations quite well. A good overview of the area, followed by a review of the key dive spots in French Polynesia. Excellent phtography, including a good critter guide at the end.

The only downside I can find is that there's no real overview of good snorkeling sites . . . they're lumped in with diving sites.

Overall, I'd recommend . . . I know it will be useful for my trip!

I was expecting more from lonely planet but aside from the maps, the book is obsolete. It also reads like a text book, no passion, no flavor, very boring. The sections on each area are not very big at all. ...

This book did a wonderful job of not only preparing us for the journey, but help us get around. We have now been there three times to three difference islands, and each time it preformed well. Although with all travel books they get out to date in a year or two, you should always call a head to verify critical information.

This book is very comprehensive. It will help you find all of the places you want to go, and will give you an overview of what to expect. Some of the items could have been a little more detailed though. Directions were OK. Luckily the islands are easy to get around. We found the combination of this book, Jan Prince's book, and the Moon book to be the perfect combination for our trip in November of 1998. Read more about our trip and how we used these books at DiveAtlas.com.

This review replaces the out of date one that already exists.

Having recently returned from the Cook Islands, I cannot highly recommend this book. While the history and culture sections are interesting, the lodging and shopping/restaurants sections leave a lot to be desired. Most of the businesses mentioned have either gone out of business or changed hands. This is especially true on Aitutaki, where only one of the businesses recommended was still in its present form! As another reader recommended, the book does not sufficiently cover home rentals which are a great way to stay on these islands for a reasonable amount (and most can be viewed and reserved on the internet!). David Stanley's Moon Handbooks South Pacific guide is a much better choice--it is more up to date and covers all the major South Pacific islands for almost the same amount of money.

For the first timer, this guide is a great introduction to the Rarotonga and the Cook Islands. It is very thorough and has details about shopping, places to visit, popular tours, places to stay, and eat. Not only does the guide provide information about the main island of Rarotonga, but also include bits on the outer islands, which are very popular to visit. I really enjoyed reading up on Rarotonga and felt this book provided a good orientation of Rarotonga and things to see and do. However, some of the information is outdated. It was published in 1996. Because Rarotonga is such a popular tourists destination things are constantly changing, for example taking the boat (ferry) to Aitutaki was quoted as an inexpensive way to visit this tourist hot spot. However, this service is no longer provided. Many of the shops noted in the book, were no longer open or a detailed description of how to find them was not provided. Locals were very helpful in providing the most recent information. There was not a lot of detail about accomodations in summer homes. This proved to be a very economic way of staying inthe Cooks. it could be improved with more thorough contact information. Overall for the first time visitor,this guide was very useful as far as getting an overall "feeling" or what Rarotonga is like.

I became interested in the Cook Islands after recently readingTom Neale's book: An Island to Myself (also published as An Island to Oneself), in which he describes his solitary life on the tiny island of Suvarov (Suwarrow) in the South Pacific Cook Islands. More inspiritation came from Florence Frisbie's book, Miss Ulysses of Puka Puka, written about 1947 about her life in these islands. These books enchanted me and made me start considering a possible trip to the Cook Islands, so I picked up "Rarotonga & the Cook Islands". It's a very slender book, but has all the information I was looking for, in particular regarding lodging. Maps and descriptions of the different areas of Rarotonga are helpful in deciding what side of the island appeals to one's taste in beaches, privacy, and comfort. Rarotonga is the most featured island, with the most facilities for tourists. The other islands are more difficult to reach, but the book explains ways to get to the other islands, if so desired.

There doesn't seem to be a lot to do on these small islands other than biking, swimming, hiking, and eating, and this may be exactly what appeals to some. I wasn't convinced to go though, because I can do these same things more cheaply in lovely parts of Mexico; yet I would go if I could, if only to meet Florence (Johnnie) Frisbie, who I understand still lives there.

I spent a few weeks this summer in Cambodia and relied heavily on this book. While this may be the definitive Cambodian guidebook, it is dangerously outdated. So much has changed in Cambodia since the second edition was published in November 1996. Much of the basic information and maps are helpful but I would not rely on any of the places to stay reviews, prices, or schedules. The Cambodia section of the Lonely Planet SE Asia on a Shoestring has a more recent review and was much more helpful. Hopefully an update is in the works.

I used the first edition. It had so much important and interesting information. I wore its maps out, the finest maps available. There was no other source for the information. People living there didn't know what bank could get wire transfers. I left the book with NGOs in country for their use as a valuable resource. If you are contemplating any independant exploration your biggest help will be this book. How did they get so much information. They must have gone everywhere and did everything. Small country, small book I'ld have missed much without. WOW!!

We recently traveled through Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia and found this guidebook practically useless and certainly frustrating--definitely not worth its weight. We have used other LPs in the past and found them to be at least adequate but this one doesn't even rate that well. It lacked many important details--such as the time/distances between many points, availability of various transportation options and routes, decent maps--the list goes on and on. Even though prices change often and currencies fluctuate, even a vague idea of prices (is it $10 or $100??) would have been quite useful to help us plan better. Although we ran into many people all 'armed' with the LP, they all had the same complaints.

This book is an adequate guide but it needs improvement in several areas. I used this book during Janurary and February of 2000 when I traveled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Last year I used the Lonley Planet-India and found it was much better than Southeast Asia. Here are the weaknesses. 1. The numbers of the locations on the maps should be used in the text describing the location. This would grealy improve you ability to plan your day or route. 2. Maps should be improved. I would be willing to spend a few dollars more for better maps. 3. Hotel, restaurant, etc. names are not printed in bold type. This makes it more difficult to use. 4. It would be very helpful to grade the sites with a priority to reduce the time one spends reading fine print and get on with seeing the country. When I return to this part of the world next winter I will try to find additional books to correct these weaknesses.

I travelled through Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong using this book. I initially bought this book with weight in mind. I did not want to carry three more LPs along with the other country books (LP Taiwan, Japan). Although much of the information needed to survive was written in the book, it certainly did lack the detailed maps and background information needed to have a care-free journey. SOmetime it certainly was a struggle , especially in Thailand. The Thailand Section prices were extremely outdated. Even in the height on the "asian economic flu", I had to triple the prices listed. The Hong Kong section was adequate, but HK is an efficient and easily travelled city. Of the three, I found the Philippine section the best, but some of the hotel quality ratings are out dated. Please do not stay at the Hotel Mercedes in Cebu!

This guide provided fairly reliable, basic information when I was trekking through Southeast Asia for seven months. When I landed by bus, taxi, motorcycle, truck, boat, trishaw, foot, or (sometimes) horse in a strange town at night where I didn't speak the language, it kept me alive. With its help I could always find the town center, the police station, and a bus stop.

Just don't expect it to enhance your experience, or even guide you safely. It's written in a rather smug, perfunctory style, and despite its budget approach seems aimed at very conventional travelers. There are none of the colorful, devil-may-care suggestions one finds in other guides, and it brings to mind the dour, conscientious tourists one meets on the road who are very nice but could backpack through Borneo without bringing back a single interesting story. This book has no spirit.

Maybe the reason it seems a bit inflexible and "un-hip" is because the editors are not responsive to the feedback of readers. I was very badly robbed a couple of times while using services recommended highly by this guide (for instance by the owners of the "Good Luck" Guest House in Bangkok), and after writing Lonely Planet with a polite request that they caution future travelers, I received no acknowledgment of my letters, and in fact the services in question are still touted by their guide.

This sort of apathy illustrates to me why their latest editions often seem years out of date, and why hotels and restaurants highly praised by them turn out to have closed down years ago. I understand that they have a limited number of researchers, but if they ignore input from readers who actively explore these regions, their book is naturally going to be out-of-touch, behind the times, and useless.

My advice is to buy the book if nothing else is available, because it does provide detailed factual information like phone numbers, addresses, etc. Just don't assume that it tells you all the interesting places and activities in a given city, because that's a laugh!! And don't ever take its advice on quality or safety.

A very useful and reliable, concise guide on South East Asia. Very good information on different highlights in each of the countries, good info on getting there and travelling around. Good to know where and when to go, as every other Lonely Planet guide featuring multiple countries.

Goodness knows why you would ever want to purchase this travel guide, now that it's several years out of date and probably extremely tough to get a hold of. If, however, you do buy this guide, you should be aware that the country has simmered down greatly since it was written and researched. While there is still some banditry, by and large the country is a pleasant and tame area in which to travel. This guide, however, will forever be a period piece of Cambodia's tragic years.