Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tahiti Handbook including Easter Island and the Cooks., 5 Jul 2000
By A Customer
As with all the Moon Publications, there's no mincing of words here; no honeyed tones to impress advertisers, resort owners or the local chief. Yet David Stanley still manages to present these lovely islands in a predominately positive light - even such tourist ghettoes as Bora Bora have some good things to recommend them. What really impressed me was the factual information, which seems much more accurate and detailed than in most guidebooks. Even if you have no plans to visit the Pacific, you could use this book to impress your friends, or increase your chances in a game of "Trivial Pursuit". If you are going to the Pacific (you lucky thing) you'll learn all sorts of useful information, such as why it pays to disguise your windsurf board as a surfboard, and how to interpret a Tahitian hula dance. Every book has a weak point, and in this one it's the history of Easter Island, which is not so much inaccurate as inadequate. On the other hand, the current affairs and general information sections on Easter Island, and throughout the whole book, are full of up-to-date, fascinating facts which I'd never read anywhere else. David Stanley has his ear firmly tuned in to the "coconut wireless".
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tahiti Handbook Review by Garry Hawkins, 9 Aug 1999
By A Customer
This, the latest edition of David Stanley's Tahiti Handbook is a comprehensive update of the previous Tahiti-Polynesia volume, with new chapters on Easter Island and the Cook Islands, which many travellers will reach from Tahiti. If you thought that Tahiti, The Cook Islands or Easter Island were beyond your reach or beyond your budget, this book will prove you wrong. Packed full of useful background information on the politics, history, geography and culture of this fascinating and diverse area of the South Pacific.Recommended to anybody lucky enough to be travellingto Tahiti, Cook Islands or Easter Island.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
SOUTH SEAS EXPERTISE, 31 Dec 2003
This is a superb guidebook. It is replete with basic information, of course; the best ways to get there and where to stay & to eat when you arrive, plus excellent maps. But, more importantly, in my opinion, it facilitates and encourages culturally sensitive tourism. In our world travels to over 150 countries in the past 40 years, we have become acutely aware of the fact that not all of the local people benefit from tourism. Some are displaced by it or even demeaned by it. Read the section on Easter Island to see how David Stanley treats this important topic. A closely related subject is historical perspective. David gives you a concise but comprehensive history on each of the destinations covered in the book. You can't fully appreciate a place without knowing a bit of its history. Whether you're cruising, traveling on a package tour, or traveling independently, this handbook is indispensible for visiting the South Pacific.
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