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'Lonely Planet for the Indian Traveller' launches with 10 guides to different places around the world
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Foot Notes | Gopal Sathe
Lonely Planet books have long been the most popular travel guides for backpackers around the world, and they have recently started publishing from India as well. The Lonely Planet for the Indian Traveller series is written, as the name suggests, with Indian readers in mind, and has travel tips and advice from people living in the countries and cities being described.
There are 10 books in the series, covering Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Dubai, Italy, London, France and Great Britain. Not only are they written by local experts, with advice for planning trips, there are also special features such as money-saving tips and special mentions of Indian restaurants.
There are recommendations from locals so, for example, Mrigaa Sethi, features editor in charge of food and travel at the Bangkok Post, shares her five favourite restaurants, while Bangkok-based Shilpa Patil shares information on shopping in Chatuchak market.
The Indian edition of Lonely Planet’s London guide has many of the same features. There is a full page on vegetarian vs vegan foods, and how the UK definition of vegetarian doesn’t always match with the Indian one.
The new guide’s local focus comes through with a section titled “Home Away From Home", which recommends places where scenes from Hindi movies such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... were filmed. There are reviews for restaurants such as Veeraswamy, Mooli’s or Dishoom, the last of which apparently serves authentic Mumbai bhelpuri.
The guide has themed suggestions, such as a guide to designer shopping by local expert Sushmita Clays, a former fashion model and TV presenter from Chennai, who lists her three favourite stores for shoes and dresses.
The Bhutan guide is laid out in the same way, complete with a section on dos and don’ts that tells you not to smoke in public areas or wear shoes in temples. One piece of advice is to make sure you have good maps before leaving for Bhutan—these are hard to find there.
There’s a full section on trekking, which includes quick facts such as weather information and guides to routes, top tips on booking your trek, and a small know-how section with helpful advice for trekkers.
There is India-specific information, such as the fact that the Indian currency (up to ₹ 100 notes) is legal tender in Bhutan, and that Indian travellers don’t need a visa as long as they carry their passport, or at least a voter’s ID, based on which they can get travel permits.
Aniruddha Mookerjee, a wildlife conservationist, is one of the Indian experts who has contributed to this guide, and he talks about Bhutan’s biodiversity, in case you’re planning a mountain safari.
The books do have a lot of information which will be useful for first-time travellers, but there’s something a little generic about their advice, particularly in the Internet age, where crowdsourcing information through sites such as Quora or Ask a Nomad is easy and fast.
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