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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
not like the others..., 12 Aug 2003
By A Customer
It's very difficult to find a guide book for Colombia, probably because everyone's so terrified of it because of its reputation. I'm usually a die-hard Rough Guides fan, but I'm really impressed by this book. It takes a real no-nonsense approach to evaluating the country, and offers huge amounts of valuable advice. There is a fascinating summary of Colombia's history, as well as all the other pieces of information you'd expect to find in a guide book. The difference between this and other travel guides, is that it goes out of its way to advise you on precautions to take and ways to avoid getting yourself into a dangerous situation. It is realistic without being discouraging. The balance is quite surprising - usually in guide books there is a heavy bias towards describing the cities, and the introductory section is comparatively short. However, in this book the author has really gone out of his way to provide exhaustive information about the country which makes you feel much better-informed and more reassured. Because of this, the book makes a really interesting read to someone who just wants to find out more about the country, and doesn't necessarily have any plans to go there. My partner is Colombian, and is better qualified than me to comment, but he was also impressed with this guide. The suggested itineraries (he says) are excellent, and there is a really diverse selection of things to do, places to see etc... In general, I am still impressed by it, and I think it's no bad thing that it's virtually the only guide around to Colombia at the moment! If you can't go there with a real-life Colombian to show you the ropes, then this book is the next best thing.
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