Phaic Tan (Jetlag Travel Guide)

This and the other two books in the series are three of the funniest books I have read. During the summer, I read the THREE of them - cover to cover - as I didn't want to miss any of the humor. The authors have painstakingly put together all sections of the book. Read the small print. Read the maps. Read the footnotes. All of them are hilariously funny. I strongly recommend ALL THREE books in the series.

I didn't like this one quite as much as Molvania, but it's still good humor. It may just be that some of the quirks discussed in this book are not as familiar to me as the post-Communist land of Molvania...

Fans of the previous fake country guide 'Molvania' (ISBN 1585676195) will enjoy this new 'phaic' guide to a sun-drenched nation nestling somewhere in Asia. This knockout new edition is produced by the same Australian folk who discovered Molvania. I loved the first book mainly because it looked so convincing but wait till you see 'Phaic Tan', this is satire of the first order. For a start it is printed on glossy paper and in color throughout with excellent photo selection, maps and graphics, the design is first class, too. The first chapter, Getting Started, in eighty-eight pages gives you a complete run-down on Phaic Tan including a page schedule of what you'll see on PT/TV, one of the country's three TV stations, a spread of food photos 'A Taste of Phaic Tan', has a reference to snake wine which is often served with its own tourniquet. The countries four main regions get a chapter each and there is an index in the back. Like real guide books I don't think it's necessary to read this one cover to cover but rather to dip into the pages now and again, after all not much is going to happen in Phaic Tan over the next few years so this guide book will always be up to date. Oh yes, do try and avoid the south of Pattaponga, the city map on page 154 clearly shows a gas refinery next to the Syon Yup fireworks factory and remember there is only one hospital, world-class apparently!

"For too long now Phaic Tan has been closed off from the outside world, a country visited each year by just a handful of hardy travelers, aid agency workers and hostage negotiators. But now, thanks to this fully up-dated Jetlag guide, everything you need to know about planning a trip to Phaic Tan, birthplace of the trouser press and irritable bowel syndrome, is here." This is the introduction to a country formed by mixing equal parts of Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Cambodia, stirring for a few minutes and served over ice. I was excited to see and read the sequel to Molvania. Molvania I read overnight; I could not put down the book. It was almost impossible to take a break from the poignant descriptions of Eastern Europe. Having finished the book, I chuckled for days just by thinking about it. And for Christmas, I gave all my friends a copy. As all sequels, this book falls short from the first version. If Molvania is "Police Academy I" then Phaic Tan is "Police Academy II". (OK, I just carbon-dated myself.) I read it over a few days, this was a book I could easily put down. Certainly, the jokes are there, the non sequiturs are abound, but few are as entertaining, poignant, bizarre, and funny as in Molvania. While Molvania came through as a much more homogeneous Eastern European backwater with all its pollution, rudeness and post-socialist agony, Phaic Tan is more a mosaic of the beaches of Vietnam, trekking in Thailand, discovering remote islands in Indonesia, getting lost in China, shopping in India, and being ripped off a few times anywhere in the world. This does not mean that the book is not funny or entertaining or that it is not worth reading; simply Phaic Tan is not as hilarious as Molvania. Phaic Tan continues making fun of travel books of the Lonely Planet ilk, the obsessive middle-aged backpackers, and the all-too-snobbish middle school teachers. It is a good read; no doubt, you will enjoy it.

If you are planning a trip to Phaic Tan, you won't find a better reference guide than this one. While looking for ideas for travel for our 75th wedding anniversary, we stumbled on this book full of gems. What better get away than a visit to the Pha Phlung province? Surprisingly comprehensive, we've shared the joys of Phaic Tan with many of our friends via this book. The one minor quibble I have with this book is that I would have liked to see more coverage of the northern neighbor, Phic Shun. Tour books of these countries are like the countries themselves, hard to find. Check out the publisher's website for more details...