Sure I did the same thing last year, got on my motorbike and rode to Japan from London, took me half a year BUT
NOOO! DO NOT BRING THE LONELY PLANET the LP is a fucking abomiation!
The lonely planet is the fucking anthesis of independent back packing travel I travelled the world last year and didn't touch a single one.
The reasons are thus:
Every fucker has a LP book and you will only meet other people who have LP books, therefore you will NOT meet local people you will only meet facilities designed for LP people. Which are jacked up in price because they are in the LP book. Meeting other backpackers is not what travel is about it is about meeting local people, if you follow a LP book all you will do is meet other backpackers.
You only have to look at Beijing and Qianmen, every white person strolls around holding an LP and all they do is interact with other LP holders, the more you meet local real people the more you get out of your travels, following the LP minimises your chances of doing this.
Compare my trip to that of Russ another guy who did a big motorbike trip, he carried a LP for EACH country he travelled through, he made it to Australia, I met more real people in my 150 day trek than he did on his 1 year trip as all he did was turn to an LP and go to the top listed hostel and went to the top listed bar and met fellow LP travellers.
If you are Asian looking people will speak english to you and will tell you good places to stay good places to eat, and you will avoid the other backpacker types and get so much more out of your travels. Ask the locals, travel around look and don't just follow the fucking LP crowd.
Yes I have a hate of the LP I wrote an article and incorporated it into my book and won an award for the antilonely planetism I held. | |
