Product Description

Imagine that on the eve of your upcoming trip to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, you are invited to a party. At this party are fifty guests, all of whom live in or have traveled extensively through these countries. Among this eclectic and well-versed group of connoisseurs are authors of acclaimed guidebooks, popular newspaper columnists and pioneering adventurers. As the evening passes, they tell you tales from their lives in these exotic places. They whisper the names of their favorite shops and restaurants; they divulge the secret hideaways where they sneak off to for an afternoon (or a weekend) to unwind. Some make you laugh out loud, and others mesmerize you with their poetry and lyricism. Some are intent on educating, while others just want to entertain. Their attitudes are as unique as their personalities, but they are united in one thing … their love of the region. If you can envision being welcomed at such a party, then you can envision the experience that this guidebook aspires to give you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #372640 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Review
"... a guide with depth and color that most of [its] competitors lack ..." -- Thai Day/International Herald Tribune, December 2005

"... breaks new ground in the travel writing field ..." -- Untamed Travel, November 2005

Most guidebooks are limited to only a couple or writers, and voices, but this one is a real choir...which really represents the polyglot traveller's world of today.

Having expats and travelers reveal their favorite getaways, festivals, shops and eating experiences makes this a unique entry in the library of travel lit. - Review by Blake Cheetah. --Farang Untamed Travel Magazine

This is what makes To Asia With Love stand out from the crowd: its emphasis on helping readers to better understand a destination - rather than merely get lots of information about it - through the experiences of the contributors. - Review by Greg Lowe. --International Herald Tribune/ThaiDay

About the Author
Seattle native Kim Fay fell in love with Southeast Asia when she traveled to Thailand in 1990. Journeys to Borneo, Singapore and Bali followed, and in 1995 she moved to Ho Chi Minh City, where she worked as an English teacher and travel writer until 1999. She now writes and edits for travel websites in L.A. She recently finished In Yellow Babylon, a novel about the looting of the Khmer temples, set in Indochina in 1925.

Julie FayÂ’s most recent trip to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam inspired her to return to school to study photography. Before pursuing this newfound passion, she majored in drama at university, worked for the Four Seasons Newport Beach and spent the last six years establishing a career in the film industry. She now resides in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

One of the most delightful travel guides I've come across
This guidebook makes an interesting proposition. Certainly I devoured all the information I could get before my trip to Southeast Asia, and the website associated with this publishing company (thingsasian.com) is one of them. This book presents itself as a series of anecdotes, sorted into topics that interest travellers. The food of Southeast Asia, the famous, infamous, and unknown sites, and the people and customers are all covered here in detail.

It is part of a new trend of guidebooks that, unlike the "yellow-pages" listings of a Let's Go or Lonely Planet, covers a few topics deeply. You may not be able to look up the closest place to buy stamps, but you will read this and become inspired about where you would like to go. And, unlike many other guidebooks, it's actually entertaining to read even if you are not visiting Southeast Asia. In fact, I read it a year after I returned from my trip. I enjoyed both reminiscing over my experiences and dreaming about future trips. Indeed, it was just like attending a party full of experienced travellers.

This is a beautiful book, with lush full-page pictures and textual illustrations. Although you cannot judge a book by its cover, I certainly enjoyed the aesthetics of this guide. Its small form factor also makes it a good candidate for travel. I would recommend it as a second book, as it doesn't cover every place in encyclopedic detail. Nor does it intend to. It's the kind of book you read as you plan your trip, or to while away a hot tropical day in a Southeast Asian hammock.

Each section includes stories, website links, tips, and references. Yes, there are restaurant recommendations here. I like the fact that each piece of information comes from a fellow traveller or expat, advice I can trust.

It also includes the essays of one of my favorite Internet writers, Andy Brouwer. I remember pouring over his website for hours. I'm glad that his writings will now be shared with the reading public. His essays are only some of the great writing in this book.

A must for Asia travelers who hate the tourist trail
This lovely little gem of a book will make me feel like a local on the next trip to Southeast Asia, I'm sure of it. With so many secrets revealed, and so many off-the-beaten path ideas for how to spend days and experience the authentic cultures of Laos Cambodia and Vietnam, I'll never again feel like I'm missing out on the side of Asia that the ex-patriots get to see. And it's the ex-pats that I'm always jealous of when I'm traveling. Bravo to this editor and her interesting emsemble of in-the-know writers and to the photographer, for lovely images of this mysterious land, which despite being discovered by backpackers in the '70s, '80s and '90s, still holds many secrets. I hope there's a second edition in the works. After a couple trips, I'll have the first book's ideas down.

Review: To Asia with Love
I would not dream of going to Asia without this wonderful, back-pack sized book, stuffed with insider tips on what and where to eat, go kayaking, get massages or meditate, bask in luxury, the sights to see and how to get there, and where to avoid land mines. I especially appreciate the section on how to give back and to whom, ranging from orphanages to AIDs groups, with addresses and web sites. The 50 contributers obviously love the countries where they lived, and enthusiastically share with those of us who dream of visiting too. This book is fabulous.