I am planning a seven month around the world
journey, and I am wondering how easy it is to buy
guide books along the way rather than carry all of them
with you. I would like to pick up the latest lonely
planet guides (in english) for southeast asia in
India, especially since Lonely Planet
just came out with new guides for Vietnam and Laos.
Is it hard to find these latest editions in English
and what cities in India?
Where can you find new guides rather than older
used guides. Thank You
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It is no problem to get Lonely Planet books at big tourist
cities such as Varanasi, and Delhi - I know of at least two
book stores that carry them. However if I may be so bold,
they are still expensive in these places - as much as in the
west. What you may want to do is simply borrow them from
your local library before you go, read them as much as you
like, photo copy the bits you think you may need, pack the
photocopies with you and while on the road, simply borrow
from other travellers their LP book if you need to, or if
you really feel stuck, then you can always buy one. Don't
be too dependent on them - once you get out there you will
realize that you don't really need LP to have a fun and
interesting trip, and sometimes those books can just be a
drag.
with #1. I've found the LP the be a good base to work from
every country I've been in and, when I didn't buy it,
regretted it because I paid more for accommodation than I
need to have. I'm from Australia and the LP perspective
suits my style. Guide books are readily available in
street stalls in Bombay - new about $28 as against $35 in
Australia. This last trip, I had mine broken into three
sections and hardcover bound and it was really great. The
YWCA reception arranged it and it only cost about $6A and
took less than a day to have done. I wish I had put a map
of India and a large regional map in each section though
but that could be glued inside the front cover. The
index wasn't a problem as it is generally only needed when
planning the trip.
I've found the TTK maps (between 30/ to 40/-) pretty
accurate for navigating in a city and for travelling. They
have maps for most all cities + various state (road,
tourism) maps. You can get them at any book shop. Dunno if
you get them in the small cities - Major cities yes.
I think you will be all right.
In Delhi there's a good bookshop called The Bookworm, they
have loads of LP guidebooks, and I think they are the
current ones. The shop is on the north side of inner
circle of Connaught Place (i.e. easy to find). For
directions, ask anyone on C.P.
I'm sure you can buy LP in other places/shops as well.
if you stop in Kathmandu you will find guidebooks
everywhere, particularly the secondhand shops!