WHAT ON EARTH IS ALL THIS?
Call this a guide book?
Well, sort of. More like a set of set of treasure maps.
This book aims unashamedly at the budget traveller who is relatively self confident and doesn't need to be cosseted at every turn. These days it's remarkably easy to travel on a whim in South-East Asia. Traveller cafés and backpacker ghettos are worth finding if only to collect up-to-date information and then escape. There are also useful tourist offices with plenty of colourful brochures offering details on all the local monuments, sites and cultural events. Your challenge is to work out which places are worth the bother, find transport to get you there, and locate the tourist office and/or a cheap hotel on arrival. This book does that for you at a glance with its plethora of schematic maps.
Using a standard guide book, travellers busy themselves reading between the lines to pick destinations that sound interesting. Then, fumbling with pen and paper they work out from a series of different 'getting there' chapters, whether there's time to visit anyway. After all the effort they find they've often chosen exactly the route that all the others chose using the same method! This book takes a different approach. It uses mostly maps, not talk - a great way to cram in much more information. The planning chapter gives general tactical help on where to cross borders, get visas and other such dull yet crucial issues. Then each country in mainland South-East Asia is divided into bite-sized chunks on schematic maps. Possible routes are shown with travel details (time taken, frequency, mode of transport etc); even the departure/arrival bus stations are indicated where confusion is possible. These may look confusing at first glance. But don't be put off! Like learning a new video game, you'll have to play a few times to get the hang of the style. It shouldn't take long - and once you've got a feel for the short-hand and general miniaturization you'll find that each page contains as much condensed practical information as 10-20 pages of a standard guide book. And that means less weight in your backpack.
Note that I don't generally explain at length why to go somewhere. Instead there are very brief notes and 'site icons' designed to whet your appetite in a rather subjective way. The 'atmospheric' icon (a square box with a cross inside) is generally a good sign that I liked a place and a star or two means it's something you really ought to see while you're in the area. For the full history, you'll usually find that the free or cheap pamphlets available locally are better than any commercial guide book (which probably took its information from that source anyway!). The hope is that you'll actually communicate with people en route rather than keeping your nose in a book. And that should make the trip more enjoyable in the long run.
NB This book focuses on 'mainland' South-East Asia ie Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and peninsular Malaysia plus Yunnan (south-western China). It also gives a basic overview of Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor and the Philippines.
Using this book
At first glance, much of this book may seem to be just a morass of squiggly lines and microscopic scrawl. Get your specs and I'll explain some key features.
THE MAPS
Schematic route planner maps (see sample map opposite)
The first few are route and strategy planners. These are a handy way to get an overview of the region before you choose your route.
• Schematic maps present the main regional transport possibilities to get you to and between places where you'l find information or something of interest, and preferably a bed for a few pennies.
• If a town/place is double underlined on 'real' or schematic maps, a basic plan of that town will appear somewhere in the book - usually within a page or two (if you can't find it, check the index and look for an underlined page number).
• Several towns appear not as a simple dot but as a box filled with curious, numbered circles. These represent the town's various bus stations, stops and pick-up points so you can see at a glance which departure point to use for which route. When numbered these correspond to similarly numbered points on the relevant town plan.
NB Schematic maps are not all to scale - spatial arrangements are merely suggested, but the idea is to show transport connections and key points.
Town maps (see sample map p15)
The information given is designed to:
i) be enough to get you between the train/bus station/port(s);
ii) get you to a bearable budget hotel - ideally with a traveller ambience. That's not because we consider it a great idea to stick with other foreigners - au contraire. However, because such places can often give you the best tips and inside information, they can actually be the best launch pads from which to get the local and cultural tips you need to escape the 'circuit' - as long as you ask!!!
iii) show, if available, somewhere you can get a good (preferably free) city map;
iv) especially if neither ii) or iii) is available, show you how to reach the key attractions.
NB As with the schematic maps, I give somewhat disproportionate space to towns that I found relatively challenging, or those that don't appear in existing guide books. However, when English is widely spoken and/or information is easy to come by, I may leave you to get on with it, aided perhaps with cursory tips and suggestions for a guesthouse to aim for in case you don't find somewhere en route.
Again, icons and abbreviations are important. See key pp10-11.
Bus routes
Tourists prepared to pay $20+ a night can probably afford the taxi to get to their hotel. But for budget travellers it's very galling to pay $2 to get to a $1 crash pad. So in bigger places we'll show you the bus routes/metro stops to get you near enough to walk to key sights, accommodation and transport hubs (ports, stations etc).
MY CHOICES
Places to stay
Most accommodation suggested in this book is the cheapest available OK/backpacker-orientated place (or [just plain cheap] when in square brackets).
In some towns I simply mark the main traveller area where there are loads of similarly-priced hostels. In such zones I assume that you'l be able to find somewhere that suits you, but if you want more guidance you'll usually find a very comprehensive review of budget options on the relevant branch of the www.pass planet.com website.
Where a more expensive hotel has particular charm, historical relevance etc I'll point it out too - you can often soak up the atmosphere by splurging a dollar or two at the bar without shelling out hundreds of dollars for a bed! The use of US dollars in the text isn't meant to suggest any sort of American imperialist ploy. It's just that dollars are the de facto reference currency in the region.
Places to eat
Unlike many guide books I make little or no attempt to suggest places to eat except where a café is either a landmark, a source of information, or is outstanding for atmosphere, view etc. In places where there seems to be a relative lack of eating possibilities, I sometimes mark local restaurants with an 'x' - for convenience more than for quality food. However, in most of the region, you'll always find cheap food in markets or at stalls nearby. Tips on local culinary specialties are baked into the text.
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