Travel Books

I've personaly been to Mata Ortiz and everything the book contains is acurate! Go ahead and buy it, of course there is no substitute to actualy going there but this will give you a great idea of how things are.
Thanks!

We just visited Mata Ortiz, and it is great to be able to connect all the faces and stories with the beautiful objects these humble artists create.

This is a great book for all that are curious about Mata Ortiz pottery and the people who make it. If you want to start collecting, it's a great book to have for a reference source. All artists mentioned in this book are of high caliber, as good, some even better than the Native American potters of the Southwest. At this time, these wares are also less expensive and affordable to most people. Hopefully they will be a good investment for the future.

Susan Moesch

A wonderful collection of photographs combined with dialoge about this remote village in Mexico. It describes the journey to get there, then details the lives of the talented people who live there. The photogtaphy is outstanding. A must for any person collecting or thinking of collecting pottery from this village.

"The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz" is a treasure trove of information about the treasures that are the Mata Ortiz people and pottery. It is well laid-out, well written, and well...wonderful!! The only thing that would make my copy better are autographs by Juan Quezada himself and every other potter in the book.

Unfortunately for whatever reason, Juan's son Alvaro is not featured in the book. He is indeed an exceptional artist.

I was able to meet Alvaro and Juan Quezada in Nov 2006 in their family gallery in Mata Ortiz and found them and their entire family to be humble friendly and genuinely thrilled that people love their wonderful creations.

If you have not had the opportunity to visit Mata Ortiz, "The Many Faces of Mata Ortiz" will inspire you to go. If you have, it will make you pine for it and it's people.

My grandparents got this for me before I left to study abroad in Paris for a few months. It didn't take me long to realize how useful it is. I literally didn't leave home without it! It had everything I needed and was small enough to fit in a purse, but not so small that it was difficult to read. The metro map in particular was accessible and very, very helpful. Highly recommended to anyone going to Paris, whether it's for a few days or a few years.

This book (mine is spiral bound, but the one here does not look it) is very useful to the traveler. The maps are very clear, in full color, and easy to understand. My only complaint is that when you are looking at a page, if you want to view the continuation of that page, there is no reference to what page to view next. There is a small diagram showing what section the page highlights, but I do not find that quite as clear. But overall, a good, portable map of Paris for visitors.

I spent the fall semester of 2003 studying in Paris. I'm a type A so I was really prepared before leaving -- I'd done a ton of research and I couldn't imagine arriving in Paris without a map. So I headed down to my local bookstore to buy one. I happened to come accross this Michelin map and it was perfect!!

It has ring binding so it's really easy to keep open without creasing the pages. It's also broken down by arrondissement and in the back is a road index. All of the metro stops and even taxi stops (a God send at times) are marked down!! And in the inside cover you find a map of the Paris Metro system. It's also really really thin and can easily be taken wherever you go.

I really couldn't have down without this Paris Pocket Atlas!

My friends all purchased their maps in Paris (Paris Pratique). Trust me though this one is far better and more convenient!!!

I loved it!!

I bought this map for my trip to Paris. It is such a great map. Very readable and so well organized. Having a map in a booklet format like this is indispensable.

This pocket Atlas of Paris is a book/map that truly amazes me. I bought it based on the reviews here, and I am still awed by it. The navigation of the pages is well-done and user-friendly. You can quickly lookup and flip to the right neighborhood you need. The level of detail is amazing. Even pedestrian-only shopping arcades are there. The metro stations are easy to find and use. With this spiral atlas and a mini-compass velcro-strapped to your watchband, you will never be lost in the maze of Paris. Key sights and monuments are labeled and drawn in brown (with the correct building geometries!). Wanna change plans on the fly and zip from one neighborhood to another? no problem. You will spend less time looking for sights and more time touring. We even used the one-way street detail of the atlas to pre-plan our drive thru the hustle of Paris traffic; Zipping around the Place de Madeline and Champs Elysees was a real rush and treasured memory. The whizzing by of passing scooters made me feel like I was an X-wing in a Tie-fighter dogfight. I wish I could have a guide like this for every city we tour.

The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.

I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.

These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.

I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.

Taking guidance from Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," Alain de Botton, Paul
Bowles and Saint Exupery, the author drives from Amsterdam to Burkina Faso in his Mercedes 190;
his intent to sell the car in Africa. Along the way, he captured the essence of West Africa, its used car trade, rampant bribery and an engrossing wanderlust. A quick, fun read for the transcontinental plane ride.

I find that travel writing is one of the best ways to attune to one's inner gonzo. Perhaps it's best explained by the saying truth is stranger than fiction. Indeed, the mere experience of finding yourself in sand-swept Nouakchott, Mauritania, just after leaving a comfy flat in Amsterdam can hammer home said reality is a fine feeling to savor.

Especially from the comfort of a good book, which is what My Mercedes is Not for Sale: From Amsterdam to Ouagadougou...an Auto Mis-adventure across the Sahara delivers. Jeroen van Bergeijk tells the story of his seemingly innocuous quest to deliver his car, a Mercedes-Benz 190 D through Saharan Africa in a grand quest to...wait for it...sell it.

But it is so much more than that. After a brief introduction to the culture of Mercedes-Benz as well as his own car, he immediately takes the reader to the dust, deception, poverty, corruption and overall culture of Western Africa and its obsession with the automotive throwaways of Europe. Peppered with the historical outlook of various historical/literary visitors such as James Riley, Mungo Park, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the culture becomes more engrossing. It's a comedic, frightening, even meaningful romp through countries like Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso in search of some adventure as well as a quick sale.

The great thing about this book is that it's not geared toward the hardcore car enthusiast, but rather the culture of someplace deemed exotic or authentic; the car is merely the vehicle, ahem, of such authenticity. Which is, he states, in the spirit of Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (to which he often refers), the act of trying to grasp the essence of a place. As the book progresses, he seems to get a whole lot of it, perhaps more than he bargains for.

Africa's authentic essence is timelessness. "Things in Africa come in two forms," he states, "broken and not broken". With the insistence that life is thus lived according to the phrase "god willing" or "inshallah", time really has no place here. He states that for these people, there is no future; everything, every decision is done for the moment for survival.

This sentiment is evident through all characters encountered along the way, from the ever-predictable corrupt border officials (regardless of country), to roving bands of car thieves and drug traffickers, desert guides, car merchants/repairmen, to everyday citizens looking to employ the fine art of finagling or chep-chep, just to make their daily ends meet.

But aside from the corruption, poverty and lawlessness, van Bergeijk also finds a sense of serenity and exquisite freedom in his journey. Meeting colorful tourists and expats along the way he realizes how Africa is a destination for people running away from something, that it has comfort to offer.

In the end, this is an extremely fast and engaging read about an often overlooked area of the world in which is found an essence that's worth deeper examination. It truly is an authentic work, well worth reading.

A road trip across the Sahara in a battered 17-year-old Mercedes with 136,000 (at least) miles on it doesn't seem like the kind of trip to undertake alone. Particularly if you don't know the first thing about car repair.

Nevertheless, Dutch journalist Bergeijk can't get the idea out of his head after attending a friend's wedding in Ougadougou in West Africa. Falling into the back of a clapped-out wreck of a Mercedes, held together with rust and baling wire, he discovers the car was originally from Holland.

He's always wanted to drive a Mercedes, so why not across the desert? Determined to have an adventure and make a profit - determined being the operative word - Bergeik sets out with copies of "Sahara Overland," a "Lonely Planet" guide and a Mercedes repair manual that might as well be in Greek.

He encounters lost souls, con men, thieves, low lifes, cut throats and tourists. Little is as he expects it to be. "Or, to put it another way, wherever you go in the world, sooner or later you run into other people and then the party's over."

Entering the desert, he refuses a guide. Within minutes, of course, he's lost and bogged in sand to the axles in a minefield. Yes, a literal mine field. After being rescued, he gets a plate fixed to the bottom of his car to keep sand out of delicate parts and hires a guide.

The guide is a supercilious, chain-smoking, 20-something rap fan. And the road turns to smooth, impeccable asphalt - the new Trans-Sahara Highway. Which is being swallowed by sand almost as quickly as it can be built. "The problem, of course, is maintenance - like everywhere in Africa."

Bergeijk punctuates his narrative with riffs on life in Africa - his take on the African attitude toward the future, poverty, the wealth of the West. The mechanic who installs the plate on the bottom of his car owns only a rickety, inadequate jack. Bergeijk has a good one, which he offers to trade for the work. "No deal. Amadou preferred money." Rather than invest in equipment for his business tomorrow, he needed to pay bills today.

"Now that was one thing. I could follow his reasoning. But then he asked: Can't you give me that jack? Here was someone who could take care of himself, who had mastered a trade, had his own business, and who shamelessly asked: Won't you give it to me? Like a little kid." Annoyed, Bergeijk threw the jack back in his trunk and went on his way.

The narrative makes side trips onto the history of travel in the Sahara, from the horrific experience of shipwrecked merchants in the early 19th century (retraced in Dean King's excellent "Skeletons on the Zahara") to the first motorized Saharan crossing in 1922. He also explores the history of his own vehicle, tracing and interviewing its previous owners, even visiting the factory where it was made.

Funny, sharp and reckless (though he probably wouldn't describe himself that way), Bergeijk has no patience for boors or whiners. His descriptions of the sand-blasted African towns along his route are unlikely to increase tourism while his encounters with people - many of them adventurers like himself - are hilarious, eccentric and occasionally terrifying. The map at the front of the book is useful for following along.

Eye-opening and entertaining, Bergeijk's debut will have readers hoping he travels again.

Dutch journalist Jeroen van Bergeijk drove through Europe and Morocco, and into Burkina Faso. He had bought a 1988 Mercedes 190D in the Netherlands for the equivalent of $1,200, hoping to sell it for a profit. He describes his objective:

"There are ads like this on the Dutch Internet auction site marktplaats.nl all the time: 'For sale: 1988 Mercedes 190 D Price: $1,400 136,400 miles. Alarm. Black 4-door. Excellent condition. Recent checkup, oil change, safety and emissions inspection.' This one gets my attention because everything about it seems right: the kind of Mercedes I'm looking for, a reasonable asking price, not too many miles, and a recent inspection. 'My phone hasn't stopped ringing,' the owner says when I call his cell phone number on a Saturday morning. 'You can have a look, but the first good offer gets it.' I drive immediately to one of the new suburbs just outside The Hague. The owner's name is Ronald. He works for the police. And so, the implication is, can be trusted. Ronald is a well-built man with close-cropped hair, about what you'd expect for a police officer.T aciturn, a bit stern, but not unfriendly. We stroll to his Mercedes, which seems rather out of place among the brand-new gleaming mid-class cars parked on Ronald's tidy little street. The finish is dull. There's a crack in the bumper. The sunroof doesn't open anymore. The driver's seat sags, and the doors don't lock."

"I couldn't get that cab in Ouagadougou out of my mind. On the plane home to Amsterdam, I'd obsessed about how that car had wound up there. I imagined a Dutch aid worker who'd gotten the Mercedes from his uncle and imported it through the port in neighboring Benin. Maybe an African immigrant to the Netherlands had bought the car and sent it to his family in Burkina Faso. Or some adventurous Dutchman had driven that Mercedes 190 straight through the Sahara to Ouagadougou to sell it there to the highest bidder. But what really happened? How did a Dutch car end up in Africa?"

van Bergeijk has written an interesting account of his journey, alluding often to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. He's practical -- he took an off-road driving course before leaving home -- but not that practical; he knows nothing about repairing the car.

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg takes him to task on that discrepancy in an interview in "The Wall Street Journal."

"WSJ: Throughout this book you refer to Robert M. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Yet you didn't do your own repairs, and appeared completely reliant on others. What happened?

"Mr. Van Bergeijk: I'm not a very good mechanic. He describes the tension between the hippy, groovy thing, and the square, do-your-own-repair sensibility. He sees that division everywhere in America. It's the same division between Eastern and Western philosophies. I have similar tensions. I'd like to repair my car myself, but I can't be bothered."

That answer didn't satisfy me, frankly; Van Bergeijk's book lacked the tension I was entranced with in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Van Bergeijk has written a journal of a sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant learning experience. In particular he was struck by the grimness of the countries he visited, but was surprised to find "upbeat people" everywhere he went.

The photographs are extraordinary -- gigantic loads of materials and people on trucks for example. A very good sampling appears on Van Bergeijk's excellent website which is devoted in large measure to his journey. His writing is clear and generally insightful. I had stopped by a Manhattan bookstore for his book signing, but in the event spent a very pleasant two hours with his book instead at a nearby Starbucks. Somehow reading about the journey seemed more satisfying than waiting in line and then briefly talking with the author. And so it proved to be.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Jeroen Van Bergeijk's adventure across Western Africa in an old 1988 Mercedes 190 D is both thoroughly entertaining, as well as educational, and as an added bonus, throws in a bit of ethical debate along the way. The author is a brilliant commentator, who writes very well. This adventure was in fact two road trips with two 190's as you find out if you read the acknowledgement pages after the tale, but the story is written so well that you just can't tell it's not one adventure. Basic goal of Bergeijk's adventure was to buy an old car in Holland and drive it through the Sahara Desert and the African countries along the way, and sell it for a nice profit to an African who would greatly benefit from owning a Mercedes in the coastal city of Ouagadougou. Don't know where that is, doesn't matter, Bergeijk provides a map! He also provides a few photographs in the middle of the book as well. Along Bergeijk's journey he experiences the best and worst that Western African countries have to offer. From having to outrun car loads of robbers in Morocco, dealing with corrupt border guards demanding their 'gifts' at each country's border, corrupt police, eccentric travellers, putting a loud rude American in his place for complaining about having to pay $10 because he forgot to get a visa by pointing out no one from that African country could turn up at American immigration without a visa, produce $10 and be waved in, and of course there's a nice twist to that story, to breaking down in the middle of the Sahara, Bergeijk had one big road trip!

Along the way the reader will also learn a fair bit out the Mercedes company, African history and the tales of the misfortunes of those who, shipwrecked, explored it or were sent by European government's to plan Railways between their colonies.

My Mercedes is Not For Sale is a very interesting read. Bergeijk's a journalist and not a comedian so it doesn't have the humour of writers like Dave Gorman or Danny Wallace, but it does share the same trait of travelling for a unique and bizarre reason that their book's do.

Check this book out!

I think Myanmar is a beautiful country. The Lonely Planet series is great. However, by going to Myanmar you are supporting an oppressive government that kills innocent people for purely sadistic reasons. I hope you will not visit the country nor buy this book until a democratic regime is installed there.

This is about the best book available on Myanmar that I know of. I used it extensively.

Problems include the hotels in Yangon that are listed. There are several that are very nice and about $30. US that are not listed.

There's a brand new airport in Yangon and new capitol city. Both are missing as far as I can tell.

Like all travel books, it's outdated when it comes off the press. It is quite good overall however.

An excellent book and take the advice. Myanmar is a cash-only society. You cannot use credit cards anywhere and there are not any ATM's anywhere in the country. Also, your currency must be new and without folds or marks.
The book's advice on Yangon was wonderful!

We recently visited Myanmar, and used the Lonely Planet guide extensively to research our trip, and while there to help us get around. It is by far the best English language guide for Burma we could find, and was extremely detailed and helpful. Using Lonely Planet certainly enhanced this travel experience.

There is no other guide which comes close to being as useful for visiting Burma, either as a first-time tourist or an veteran traveller. Its overall descriptions, information on transport, reviews of hotels etc are all generally reliable and up-to-date. The accounts of restarants in Rangoon however is probably somewhat dated, as the restaurant scene in Rangoon changes quickly and there are many new restaurants today (more than a year and half since publication) which are not mentioned.

I would recommend reading The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint-U for an excellent and entertaining history of the country, either before going or during your trip. The LP Myanmar and The River of Lost Footsteps are the only two books you'll need.

Jeanette does a masterful job of weaving history, politics, intrigue, and love. Her detail to the landscape will positively transport you to another time and dimension. The characters are so realistic and raw you will miss them terribly the minute you finish the last page. Don't miss Frankie and Jillian's story. This is art. I would read absolutely anything this gifted woman writes!

It's been a looooong time since I've gotten so pulled into a book that I've abandoned EVERYTHING in order to park myself on the couch and read the bulk of it in one sitting. NELL absolutely blew me away, put me through an emotional wringer the likes of which I haven't been through in years. Jeanette Baker writes with a clear, deft, evocative hand, bringing her characters to brilliant life. And she brings the reader right into that life with them. I've no doubt at all that these characters--and this book--will stay with me for some time to come.

This book started out slow - but reels you in quickly and efficently. After the first few chapters, this book is hard to put down. The story is fantastic and the characters are so believable. This novel is very well written and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys diving into a great story.

This book was breathtaking! I loved it from the beginning, and it only got better with each page I read. Even now, months after I finished it, I still find myself thinking about Frankie and Jillian. And I would have enjoyed it just as much if the time travel aspect was omitted because I was so completely enthralled with the contemporary part of the story. The characters really jump off the pages. Ms. Baker is a wonderful writer, and it's obvious that she knows Ireland well.

that needed a little more time before it was opened. It was full-bodied, great legs, beautiful nose but sounded some sour notes on the finish. This writer is truly without equal with regard to her exhaustive research into contemporary and medieval Ireland, and she loads her prose with such exquisite details. Her characters, from the contemporary lovestory of Jillian and Frankie to the medieval romance of Nell and Donal, are each sound and three-dimensional. But the story takes a wrong turn with the light treatment of the demise of a minor character, in the wake of which I felt the main characters should certainly have behaved with more decorum. Three-quarters of the way through, the author falls back on tired devices, like the confession that keeps getting interrupted until it's too late, etc., and at any rate, I lost much of my empathy for Jillian by the end of the book. Frankie, as the hero, stopped making interesting choices and was just not compelling romantically. The love scenes just left me cold.

The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.

I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.

These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.

I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.

The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.

I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.

These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.

I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.

I'm Salvadoran and I'm married to a Jewish-American woman. She bought this book for us to take a tour in El Salvador. Let me tell you, this is the best guide book I've ever read. It's so easy to use and it has ALL the information about this little beautiful country that you need. I even used some of the information on my website, of course with the permission from the authors. Thank you Jeff, Julian and Veronica for making this possible.

For years I looked for a book that would cover travel to El Salvador. I have been married to a Salvadorena for 16 years and have made five trips to the country since 1991. I love El Salvador, its beauty and its wonderful people. You can't travel there without this book! Buy it today!

I found this book quite helpful. I'm a native from El Salvador who had been out of the country for 20 years. I found it a good supplement to other sources of information (e.g., local phone books in El Salvador, people and friends). Although some of the directory information may be dated, most of the facts and directions still hold. It's best to cross-reference the book with a local phone book for more accuracy. Yet, the book is a great trip planning tool. It allows you to pick and chose places and things to do at a pace that not even locals can keep up. It's clear that a lot of good work went into making the book. The level of detail is beyond what any local can know all by himself (e.g., bus routes, mores, festivals, local rituals, etc.). I found the hand-drawn maps most helpful and the history/background informaiton information least helpful. Advisories should apply to all locations outside the central city or popular foreign tourist attractions. Also, the book does not address which locations are most ideal to visit depending on the small universe weather conditions, e.g., heavy rains or dry, hot to extremely hot temperatures. I recommend this book. I've found no other books as helpful as this one but feel that the book and its contents could be much improved, e.g., day-trips, sports events, local festivity schedules, shopping information, entertainment options, ground and non-ground recreational activities, specific coverage and related-activities regarding aviation, boatin, sailing, surfing, fishing, golf, lakes, rivers and bodies of water, etc. (perhaps on future editions, beyond the 2nd). I currently own both of the first two editions. They're both pretty much worn out and it's because they go with me and take me places each time I visit there. I just wish the book were more expansive and provide material for all the other sites that one encounters while going from place to place, yet this would make it too thick and heavy. Also, if you ever go to El Teleferico, please say Hi to Mr. Moon (a local cartoonist) there for me!

This is really the only comprehensive guidebook to El Salvador that is widely available. The Lonely Planet and Let's Go and other books have chapters on El Sal in their books on Central America, but none of them go into real detail. In fact, I've noticed that most of the guidebooks don't recommend going to El Salvador, or skipping it if you're short on time.

Well, you should go. There is a lot to see and do but it's important to realize that it's different from the other Latin American countries. It's maybe a little less pretty and the people are a bit more hardened from the long guerra civil. This book does a good job providing sociopolitical background and anecdotes from important periods in history. Other than that, it's your basic guidebook, going region by region in the country, detailing sights, hotels, transportation, all that stuff. There are also several pages of decent color photos.

The one problem is that the book is now nearly ten years old. While most of the things are still accurate, a lot has changed. Things like prices and bus routes especially. There are also many different sights, museums, roads and enormous Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises that did not exist when the book was published. Likewise, some things no longer exist. The only way to find out, unfortunately, is to go and discover these things for yourself.

El Sal is not the most tourist-friendly nation in the sense that the infrastructure is not really there to support a heavy flow of tourists. The people are _wonderful_, don't get me wrong (don't think for a second that it's the people's fault), but to give one example, some of the bus routes to tourist sites make absolutely no sense and can be very frustrating to navigate. This is the fault of the government. Likewise, the El Sal government tourism agency could do themselves a big favor by publishing or funding an up-to-date guide.

But this book is as good as it gets.

If you are going to spend any time in the country and want to tool around, you'd be a fool not to get a copy of this book for your backpack. I just got home and gave my friend a hug for grabbing this book out the the bargain bin at Borders for me. In several cities I was able to pick it up and quickly flip through to find a map and make my way through the town. Or simply discover something interesting within or nearby my location. It's an absolute must for anybody going into the country. Well put together and concise - 5 stars for sure!

My friends, if you plan on hiking Half Dome, this is your bible! It goes into every single little detail you can think of regarding this hike. It's well-written, well organized and extremely informative/helpful.

Half Dome is a hike that needs to be taken seriously and this book will walk through it with you. Be sure to read this well before your trip so you can prepare mentally and physically (especially if you have never been). Following Rick Deutsch's advice will make your hike a wonderful and pleasant experience! Going to Half Dome unprepared will most likely lead to misery.

I just wanted to thank Rick for a WONDERFUL guide. A couple of high school buddies and I (we graduated 30 years ago!) completed our hike on September 28th, 2007. The book prepared me for the arduous task of completing the most exhilarating hike of my life! He included references to many things that we would not have known about had I not read the book. FANTASTIC!!

This book is required reading for anyone attempting to hike Half Dome. The key to this hike is preparation - practical, mental and physical, and Mr. Deutsch does an excellent job of addressing all 3 of these parameters. By breaking the hike down he also allows one to "visualize" the hike before setting out, and provides useful benchmarks by which to pace onesself on hike day. His advice is circumspect and focused on safety at all times - there are many potential dangers up there, and without being alarmist, he shares his accumulated wisdom as well as regulations put forth by the NPS to educate hikers about what awaits them. An added bonus is that this book becomes a "keepsake" of sorts - his exquisite detailing of the hike itself allowed me to "relive" this wonderful day and recall details that would otherwise be forgotten. I purchased copies for everyone in my hiking group - and look forward to taking this book to the summit many many more times.

This is a great dvd collection if you are considering the half dome hike. It takes you step by step all the way to the top from a hiker's position. Great footage, even if you just want to have a souvenir from your own hike up the dome.

My brother and I had a perfect experience on our first hike to the top of Half Dome due largely to the advice and information in this book. It allowed us to psychologically and physically prepare as best as possible. Much thanks to Rick Deutsch for sharing his vast knowledge and experience.