Product Description

Discover the best kept secret in South America. Colombia is safer than ever, affordable and still blissfully uncrowded - an independent traveler's dream. Laze on palm-fringed Caribbean beaches. Canoe slient rivers through lush rainforest. Stroll Cartagena's colonial old town. Salsa all night in Cali. Packed with practical advice and valuable tips for trouble-free travel, our peerless guide enables you to explore with confidence.

The Basics - detailed maps, tailored itineraries and easy-to-use directory help make the most of your trip.

Adrenaline Rushes - the best spots for diving, rafting, hiking, rock-climbing and other thrills.

Straight Talk - honest advice on where to go - and still risky spots to avoid.

Discerning Reviews - opinionated authors give the lowdown on where to sleep, eat and pain the town.

Colombia 101 - in-depth background chapters provide insight into the country and its people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109927 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 276 pages

Review
“Lonely Planet guides are a must-pack” --Toronto Star, February 2006

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Customer Reviews

The Truth About the Book & the Author
"They [Lonely Planet] don't pay me enough to go to Columbia," said Thomas Kohnstamm. "I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating."

I'm not joking. The author admitted this book is a fake.

Plagiarism
Just as former LP "writer" Joe Cummings plagiarized Bradt's Guide to Burma, so another LP author openly admits to plagiarism. No surprise there, the only surprising thing is how long he took to come out of the closet.

Demand your money back
I earlier wrote a review of Lonely Planet's Guatemala where I reported indications the author had a conflict of interest. LP refused to answer any questions about this. The only thing they did was to prohibit my posting on their web site. Now the Daily Telegraph has published an article exposing further fraud. Kohnstamm, one of the authors of this guide said he never even went to Colombia. He said he wrote it in San Francisco with help from an intern at the Colombian embassy who he was dating. If Amazon wants to show any integrity in all this it should stop selling all known afflicted LP Guides until they can be vetted for accuracy by a reliable source. Obviously not an LP editor.