Laos Handbook

Its the best book out there on Laos. The information seems to be correct and comprehensive. It is easy to follow and extremly helpful. I like that it always says good things about every hotel and restaurant. I doesnt critizise or generalize which is good!You pretty much now where you want to go, how to get there and enjoying it with the help of this book!I stayed in Laos for 2 months and this book made my stay there a whole lot easier! In the end of my stay I had very little money and the "catalogizied" sections of "cheap places to stay or eat" really helped me to work out my economy. There is also sections for medium or pricy places too.This book has it all!Buy this book, you will be happy you did!!!

It is refreshing that a travel book plunges you into the details of getting you around and through country before providing the background information that may be on interest to the reader while en route. The authors have provided detailed maps of the major cities (four for Vientienne of different focus of detail), a suggested walking tour of Louang Prabang (along with illustrations of the types of house design to find there) and the names and addresses of many guest houses - especially important for Louang Prabang as the more modestly priced places tend to fill up quickly. The authors present a knowledgeable level of detail which makes the reader think that they have actually been to the places they describe. I have compared their maps of some of the smaller northern cities (such as Muang Sing) to those prepared by locals and there appears to be no major discrepancies. They are not totally comprehensive - they give no mention to the boat route to Louang Namtha from Huay Xai and short shrift to the boat route to Xieng Khok from Huay Xai - which is disappointing as Huay Xai is one of the major entry points to Laos. The map at the end is not particularly detailed and is missing some small but interesting towns. The strengths of this book far outweigh these minor flaws and I look forward to the next edition.