middle east |
Aftersleep Books
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Lonely Planet TurkeyThe following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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Aftersleep Books - 2005-06-20 07:00:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.aftersleep.com () | sitemap | top |
This book, and most LPs, are good at doing one thing: orienting you. That means giving you the basic facts to get to a country, get situated (sleep and eat safely), and figure out where to travel (itinerary planning, and their maps are the best). The rest is up to the traveler. As such, I take LP's cultural experiences and observations with several grains of salt. In other words, I use it as a 'guide', not as a mandate.
My wife and I just got back from 3 weeks in Turkey, and had a fantastic time. LP helped us plot our course before the trip and figure out places to stay along the way. Once in Turkey, we relied more on a friend of ours who owns a travel agency in Istanbul, but LP helped with some hotel recommendations and restaurants when we were too lazy to explore or had limited time in a place.
In terms of social mores, we used our own judgement, with a little help from LP, and never had a single problem anywhere in the country. Yes, she covered up when we went to mosques (out of respect); on Istiklal Caddessi in Istanbul we could dress more Western and get away with it. These kinds of things are best learned from experience and from the people, not from a book. Put another way, the book can tell you absolutely what *not* to do; as for what to do...that's the fun of traveling, isn't it?
All in all, even if we had had a horrendous experience in Turkey (not possible, in my opinion -- I am a Turkophile through and through), I wouldn't presume to blame LP. I have used them for India, all the countries in Europe, Morocco, and South Africa, and they have never steered me wrong -- they're great at helping you with your first steps in a new country; after that, the journey is up to you.