Customer Rating:  
Summary: Mediocre guide from a writer who never visited Colombia
Comment: This travel guide was dated and not useful for hotels or dining, however it did provide a fair list of attractions in Cartagena. I would skip over Barranquilla completely, there is little in the centro and it is historically barren. Focus on Bogota, Medellin and Cali. I had an amazing Colombia trip, there was a lot to do and I felt safer than in Rome or most S. American capitals. As for this tour guide, it is mediocre at best and hopelessly brief, especially when considering the increasing popularity of Americans and Europeans visiting Colombia. There are very few updated alternatives.
The Drudge Report recently featured an article on a Lonely Planet writer that falsified information eight Lonely Planet Travel Guides, including this one. Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism is the tell-all memoir of Thomas Khonstamm, who now claims he never visited Colombia. He claims to have gotten all the information from a colleague in a Colombian Consulate in San Francisco. It sounds to me like an excuse for poor writing, but it is certainly a hit to the Lonely Planet brand that they could not control for this type of fraud.
Customer Rating:
Summary: quality product, great service and price
Comment: product like new; fast service with notification and tracking number when mailed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lacking information on many major cities.
Comment: This guide has interesting information however it lacks many facts and information on a number of cities, particularly Barranquilla. Many facts are outdated and some of the safety points are incorrect. However an interesting read for those wishing to visit Colombia. I am currently writing a Colombian travel guide and would appreciate comments and suggestions from other readers on information they would like to see in a guide book on Colombia. [...]
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very lacking, but few alternatives
Comment: This book is not a very good travel book as far as they go. First, the book doesn't help very much in introducing a reader to the culture in Colombia (which by the way, is very rich and interesting). A lot could be written about the food, for example. Second, the recommendations are quite inadequate, and I think lead people in the wrong direction. For example: the section on Cali, a major city of over 2 million people, is tiny. A reader is directed to the lower class discos on calle sexta, but has absolutely no mention of the better clubs and bars, which are all in the northern part of town. Considering that Cali is the party capital of Colombia, this is a glaring omission. There is no mention of Casa de Cerveza, Kukaramakara, Guitarra y Rumba, The Pub, Desvan, Forum, Mr Mojito, etc etc...
Because tourism is undeveloped in Colombia, there aren't very many options for guidebooks. Perhaps the future traveler should try Footprint (I don't know if it's better), or wait for Rough Guides to come out with a Colombia book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A little outdated but excellent
Comment: This small compact book carries a gigantic wallop. It is filled with information from cover to cover and is by far the best travel book on Colombia I have ever come across. Moreover, the introduction and historical narrative is simply outstanding. This book is a great travel companion and if used properly will unlock the beauty and treasures that Colombia has to offer. Author Krzysztof Dydynski was born in Poland but lived in Colombia for four years and manages to capture the best and brightest features of the nation. The author is comprehensive and includes sketches, photos, maps and a first class index. The only downside of this valuable book is that it is a little outdated. The 1995 publication must be updated to warn of the many dangers of travel in Colombia today and to include new places of interest throughout the country. "Lonely Planet travel survival kit; Colombia," is worth every penny. It covers all the bases for any budget. I love this book. Bert Ruiz
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