Product Description

Trek deep into the jungles of Borneo or laze on stunning Bali beaches. Eat your way through Singapore or dance all night in buzzing Bangkok clubs. Discover ancient Angkor temples or go grass roots and volunteer in Hanoi. Whatever you seek, Lonely Planet's yellow bible has it covered. With more than 33 years of experience, and a team of backpacking authors, our guide helps you dig deeper, stay longer, and spend less. Get ready - your Southeast Asian adventure starts here.

Get The Lowdown on the environment, history, culture and current events in our Snapshots chapter

Eat Cheap and Sleep Easy with our fully updated coverage of the best street stalls, budget digs and places to party

Blaze Your Own Trail using our full-color regional map and detailed local maps

Talk The Talk with help from our Language chapter

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21669 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 988 pages

Review
Lonely Planet, like your passport, should always be kept close.' --Denver Post, January 2008

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

What We Do
* We offer travelers 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.
*We update our guidebooks by visiting thousands of places in person to get the details right and tell it as it is.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; 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.

Excerpted from Lonely Planet South East Asia on a Shoestring (Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides) by Kristin Kimball, China Williams, Marie Cambon, Mat Oakley. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Destination Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is a spectacular assault on the senses. The smell of rice cooking in the morning, the burning spirals of incense in shadow-riddled temples, yellow pom-pom garlands dangling from the rear-view mirrors of rattletrap buses, tropical fruits the shape of porcupines and the flavor of ambrosia. Colors, smells and oppressive heat engage and repulse like a coy lover. Behind the appearance of chaos is an order exercised in resolute calm - as in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where the roads host a ceaseless stream of motorcycles, which pedestrians ford by setting a deliberate course for the opposite side. Here, screaming vehicles react with one collective mind, like a school of fish, miraculously clearing a path.

New ideas, immigrants and foreign commodities cautiously entering the furious Southeast Asian stream of life have been quickly adopted and adapted. From the east, through the ancient trade routes, came the outside religions. These were recrafted to fit in with the existing spirits and guardians who control the life-giving monsoons, protect the soaring-eaved bamboo huts and silence the belching volcanoes. From the west came the skypiercing towers - erected in the blink of an eye - transforming Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Singapore into roaring economic dragons.

Southeast Asia has more than just souvenirs to collect. It is more than just a photo opportunity. And having visited, Southeast Asia will give you far more than just a bragging point. With a compassionate heart, you'll take with you many lessons - of a spirituality that transcends dogma; of well-woven communities; and of a graceful approach to prosperity and poverty. So don't shy away from the crowded markets, rickety buses, or dusty towns with no Internet cafes. This is where your best adventures lie in wait.

Customer Reviews

Perfect for budget travelers
I travel on a very tight budget and this book totally helped me out with hostels,restaurants, transportation to surrounding countries. Asia has to be one of the cheapest places to travel.

Sleep for $[...] a night in Southeast Asia?
This is another one of the awesome books by Lonely Planet. Easy to navigate by the various countries. And it has allowed me to calculate what an average evening in Indonesia can cost $[...] USDS. Can it get better than that?

My husband and I leave on 09-30-08 to backpack various countries and explore the world. We plan on spending lots of time in Southeast Asia, especially since this book has proved how affordable it will be.

We can't wait! Feel free to follow us around the world, we will even review various hotels and places to eat in Southeast Asia, as we travel and read the book. www.nomadbackpackers.com

VERY concise backpacker's guide

4.0 out of 5 stars VERY concise backpacker's guide, August 10, 2008

I used Lonely Planet's "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring" guide exclusively on my last trip to SE Asia. I visited Singapore and parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. Just like every other Lonely Planet Shoestring Guide, it was pretty amazing. However, this guide was much more concise than other shoestring guides I've used, probably because of how many places are being crammed into one book. Yes, it does a great job of covering a wide range of places in Southeast Asia. It just sacrifices detailed info and maps of many of those places to do so. This book generally sticks to times, costs, and locations, plus a very brief description of many of the places it covers. If you think you'll want more than that, you might consider the individual country guides instead. All that being said, the book does a great job of living up to it's motto: "Big Trips on Small Budgets." The info it provides was all very accurate and very useful. Recommended.