Bolivia

Over the last two years I have traveled Bolivia four times. Among the score of Bolivian guides that I have reviewed, two stand out: "Pocket Adventures Bolivia" and "Footprint Bolivia". Both are solid guides, yet, both have their flaws. "Pocket Adventures Bolivia" has great recommendations for both accommodations and restaurants. It has maps for all the major cities and each maps list the locations of the recommended eateries and lodgings. The `Introduction' section is brief, but informative (history, culture, ecology, etc.). Each city (or location) is well laid out and out of all of the guides that I have reviewed, none is better than "Pocket Adventures Bolivia" in listing the best tour operators for each city or area. The shortcomings of the guide can be irritating, but none of them are crippling. Though this guide claims a 2006 publication date, the research and writing is 2004/2005. The airlines `LAB' (mentioned throughout the guide) is in bankruptcy, VERY unreliable and will probably go belly-up this year. Over the two years prices have changed and some of the recommended hotels/hostels/restaurants are no longer in business. Also, there are a few new ones that have sprung up and are not mentioned in the guide. IE. Sucre has an excellent new hotel (Colonia Real - Calle Aniceto #280) for $15 a night! The maps, though helpful, are small and not as detailed as in Footprint. The writing could be more inspirational and the guide uses the cumbersome dollar sign code to tell you what restaurants and accommodations cost ($=10to20,$$=21to$50, etc.) In would be far easier just to tell the reader what the room prices are.. Finally, and the most serious shortcoming, there is a near total absence of webpage and email addresses for hotels/hostels. In Bolivia 90% of all hotels and the majority of hostel have webpages with photos. Sadly, only 10% of the recommendations have webpage addresses. Though these shortcoming are a hassle the strength of this guide overcomes them and this is a "Strongly Recommended" guide. Happy wanderings.