The Rough Guide to Laos, 1st Edition

The most comprehensive handbook to one of Southeast Asia's least-known destinations. Features include detailed coverage of all sights, up-to-the-minute listings of the best places to eat and stay, practical guidance on exploring the remote northern hill villages, full-colour photos and more than 30 detailed maps.

NO SELF-RESPECTING TRAVELLER CAN BE WITHOUT A COPY OF THE ROUGH GUIDE

The Guardian, London

When to go November to January are the most pleasant months to travel in lowland Laos, when daytime temperatures are agreeably warm and evenings are slightly chilly, necessitating a lightweight jacket. However, at higher elevations temperatures are significantly cooler, sometimes dropping to freezing point - a heavy coat is a must. In February, temperatures begin to climb, reaching a peak in April, when the lowlands are baking-hot and humid. During this time, the highlands are, for the most part, equally hot if a bit less humid than the lowlands, though there are places, such as Pakxong on the Bolaven Plateau, that have a temperate climate year round. Generally, the rains begin in May and last until September. This is important to keep in mind, as the rainy season affects the condition of Laos's network of unpaved roads, some of which become impassable after the rains begin. On the other hand, rivers which may be too low to navigate during the dry season become important transport routes after the rains have caused water levels to rise.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
great job with a tough subject
By A Customer
I never appreciated how difficult it must be to write a travel guide until I spent a week with the authors in southern Laos. Unlike the north, which has several bonafide tourist destinations, the south is still largely untraveled. A 50-mile trip between two provincial capitals took us more than four hours, packed into a "bus" (essentially a covered truck with wooden benches installed in the payload) in the dusty heat of the hot season. And at the end of the road, we found towns with no accommodation save the local government guest house, where the only "history" in evidence was the one stone wall remaining from the US bombing or the craters still lining the avenues.
But despite the hardships and the apparent lack of organized tourism, I would definitely go back again if I had the chance. Something unique about Laos - the scenery, the food, especially the people - gets under your skin.
This is where the authors achieve their greatest success, in their ability to communicate what is special about this amazing, but often overlooked, country. The Rough Guide's signature style, which tends to include social, cultural and historical information throughout (rather than just tucking a few pages into the introductory section) is of particular benefit here. The result is so much more than a bland recitation of towns, distances, modes of transport and places to stay.
This book definitely rekindled my desire to go back to Laos. And when I do, I know what I'll be using as my guide.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent guide book and an even better read
By A Customer
Unlike another reviewer, I did not have to benefit of travelling to Laos with the authors. But after reading this guide book, I felt as if I knew them, like they were old friends who were jotting down their travel notes to help me on my journey. By halfway through the book, i felt i could read between the lines to tell the good from the better, the bad from the horrible. As someone who generally hates guide books, I can honestly say, this one is all good. I only wish i could someday travel to Laos with Jeff Cranmer and Steven Martin. Such a fascinating read clearly could only come from fascinating people.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
This is where it's at, for Laos guidebooks
By Timothy J. Triche, Jr.
None of the guides to Laos are perfect. This one was at least helpful and the writing tolerable. That's all you can ask, apparently. It doesn't matter, though. If you make it to Luangphabang and stay for a while I don't think you'll care which guidebook was "best". You'll be too busy enjoying one of the most beautiful, romantic cities I've ever had the joy of setting foot in. If you're French visit the Dao Fe creperie, if you speak English, try to find the owner of the Duang Champa, and whatever you do, wherever you go, learn a little Lao so you can talk to people in their own language, like a proper human being. You can get away with speaking English in Vientiane and Luangphabang, but it's rude; in the villages they aren't going to be very interested in what you have to say if you can't at least speak a little Lao. So your choice of guidebook will quickly become an afterthought once the first few days have passed.

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The Rough Guide to Laos (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

The Rough Guide to Laos is like having a local friend plan your trip.

Jeff Cramer has spent most of the last decade travelling and working in Southeast Asia.Steven Martin lives and works in Bangkok.

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Rough Guide Laos 3 -- just a very rough guide
By Stuart McDonald
Four and a half years of change have washed through Laos since the excellent second edition of Rough Guide's Laos was published. If you expect the new edition, released in February 2007, to be in the same league, prepare to be disappointed. Where Laos 2 was easily the best on the market, Laos 3 falls into the "read before departure ... and leave at home" category.

That The Washington Post describes this title as "...the best guidebook available..." is more a reflection of a lack of other options back then. Now with the new Lonely Planet hot off the press, Rough Guide's Laos 3 is worth buying for its background section only as for facts on the ground it's just a well, very rough guide.

One of the highlights of Laos 2 was the detailed background information, and in the new edition this highlight remains, with some tweaking and expansion. A comprehensive history is accompanied by a catalogue of cultural habits, religious beliefs, environmental issues and a short but good reading list. A snappy language section brings up the rear.

At the other end of the book, the introductory section, covering everything from getting a flight to the difficulty of buying nappies is informative, well organised and easy to digest. There's even a very brief overview on the border crossings. Some sections get more than their fair share -- four and a half pages on getting to Laos seems excessive, as does almost an entire page on opening hours and public holidays -- lists anyone? Nevertheless, it's decent so far.

Listings
For many, accommodation is the prime purpose of a guidebook, yet Laos 3 sometimes fails to deliver. Don Dhet and Don Khon form the highlight of southern Laos for many, and there's in excess of 40 places to choose from across the two islands -- ranging from $1 a night shacks to tasteful $30 a night retreats. Laos 3 sums it up in two paragraphs and suggests just six places. Vang Vieng boasts more than 80 guesthouses and hotels to choose from but Laos 3 rustles up just 15. Admittedly in both places some offerings are similar, but one can't help but think the authors just thought "Ah, they're all the same -- I just couldn't be bothered to look at any more". I guess you'll have to check Travelfish.org to find the rest.

Then there's what they missed altogether. In Savannakhet, "the Mekong Hotel is the only place that views the river". Actually, it's not -- the Nong Soda, a couple of hundred metres up the road, does as well. And it's a great place to stay. There's also no mention of any of the trekking opportunities from Savannakhet. Heading north, there's no mention of the Gibbon Experience. Head north again, trekking out of Phongsali gets short shift for anything more than a stroll to outlying villages (5+ day treks are available).

It's not all bad though. The guide is strong for the key drawcards. Luang Prabang is well covered, as is Vientiane. Activities around Tha Khaek and Vang Vieng are treated pretty well. Further south, Champasak, Wat Phu and especially Don Khong are covered comprehensively.

Transport
Rough Guides have an odd way of handling transport -- rather than it being listed with each town, it's listed in a summary format at the end of each region -- but there's no prices! Sometimes cost is listed in the body of the text, but not often enough. Matters are confused further by shaded boxes that list transport information. These sometimes include price, sometimes don't, sometimes list destinations covered in the summary section, sometimes don't. Not all destinations have these shaded boxes, and not all destinations are covered in the summary. The result is a confusing, hodgepodge mess.

Confusing again are border crossings. Some, such as Boten to China and Chong Mek to Thailand, are covered in the shaded boxes, but the Nam Phao / Cau Treo crossing (with opening hours) is in the body text -- as is the Dansavanh / Lao Bao crossing (without opening hours). Veun Kham to Cambodia gets neither -- just a footnote to the Don Dhet and Don Khon practicalities section. For the Na Maew / Nam Xoi border crossing into Vietnam, you have to make do with "It's not usually hard to find transport up to the border at least but you'll need to have a Vietnamese visa in advance to use the crossing." -- Transport details? Opening hours? Onwards travel? Lao visa on arrival? The Nam Can / Nam Khan crossing is similarly vague. A vital portion of the book reads like an afterthought.

Text and design
Rough Guide designers know what white space is and they make liberal use of it. This makes the title's single-column, well-spaced layout far easier on the eyes than the dense-as-sardines Lonely Planet.

Organisation is a little unfortunate. Sections within some regions are ordered in the reverse of how many would actually use it. The Far North commences with Udomxai (the first sizeable town you'd hit if coming from Luang Prabang) while I'd expect most would arrive in the Far North from Huay Xai (which is covered in the middle of the section).

Maps
I like Rough Guide maps -- they're not glamorous but are easy to use. The maps in Laos 3 are no exception. They eschew the hi-tech approach witnessed in the latest Lonely Planets (which has delivered near unusable maps). They're clean, with easy lines and shading, and are straightforward to follow. I did find the revised numbering confusing though -- legends are listed alphabetically, but keyed according to where they appear on the map. Some of the regional maps mark roads where nothing more than glorified goat tracks lie -- perhaps one of their mappers should go and try Route 18 on something bigger than a goat.

Photos
Compared to other guides, the Rough Guide is light on colour pics, though there are some very catching grey scale shots. Colour is restricted to the introduction, and two inserts -- one for festivals, the other on hill tribes. The pics are good -- not fabulous.

Conclusion
While Laos 2 was oh so good, Rough Guide's Laos 3 is oh so ordinary. If you're planning on a bit of straightforward touristing, taking in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng, you'll find it adequate -- and it does get a lot of brownie points for its background section. But if you're planning on extensive off-the-very-beaten track travel, you'd be well advised to look for an alternative -- the new Lonely Planet is excellent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Use the Internet and Forget This Book
By K. Richards
One of the few travel guides for Laos so that's why I guess it sells. Many of the recommended business no longer exist and practical advice for travel within the country is nearly non-existent. Maps are poorly drawn and often incorrect. Hotel prices quoted in the book were nearly always incorrect.

Among the worst travel books I have ever owned. Wait till you get to Laos to get one. There are plenty of copies of this book laying abandoned in cafes and hostels.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Good resource
By Paul S
I read this guide before and during a recent trip to Lao. You don't see it widely carried about in Lao. I found it very dense and it contained some material not contained in the Footprint guide (and vice-versa). If I had to choose one, I'd go with the Footprint guide for it's maps and what it includes, though it's a less dense guide. Ideally, bring both if you can.
Paul

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