PICK OF THE WEEK
“The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia”
(Rough Guides; $19.95)
As much as I admire travel guides that are packed with lots of slick color photos, I have to admit that the writing in many of them hardly lives up to the pictures. At the other end of the spectrum, this first edition from Rough Guides conjures the sort of imagery possible only when the words have room to tell their story. And “Southeast Asia” does so in 1,075 word-laden pages. It’s space like this–uninterrupted by photos except on chapter folios–where you’ll read the details that engage your imagination, rather than your gaze, and fuel your wanderlust. Here is the barbecued banana that can be bought and eaten in Manila’s Rizal Park; the mountain bike rental that can set you exploring the infamous island of Corregidor. Watch out for the slashing tail of the Komodo dragon, glimpsed as you hike its native island; study the difference between “jumbos” and “tuk-tuks” in Laos, where, by the way, it’s thought bad luck to neglect replacing the lid of your dish when you’ve finished your meal. These and a hundred-thousand other details about Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau are found in this book, along with easily deciphered maps placed where it makes sense to include them. Only Myanmar (Burma) remains a mystery: Rough Guide’s editors decided not to include it in this or any future edition until the military junta relinquishes control of the government, per the tourism boycott requested by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. (ISBN 1-85828-553-4)
“100 Best Spas of the World”
(Globe Pequot; $19.95)
But, like I was saying, I really do relish travel guides that include photos of beautiful places. Some subjects are best not left to the imagination. Spa vacations are an example. Once you determine how much you can afford to spend and what services you’ll want to receive, the strongest factor in deciding where to go may be what the spa looks like–and that calls for lots of pool shots. Here are pools surrounded by Grecian columns or dense jungle, ones so small only a single person could relax in their waters or others large enough to welcome the whole town. There’s even one in a cave. They really have combed the globe for this collection that includes the better-known American spas such as The Golden Door in California and Canyon Ranch in Massachusetts, and establishments in countries as different as Greece, Ireland, Sweden, India, Egypt, Japan, Jamaica and Brazil. (The spa in a cave, by the way, is in Italy.) Each of the 100 spas is accompanied by a description of the property; a list of its meals, facilities, treatment programs and packages; and contact information. Health tips are scattered liberally throughout its 228 pages. One page covers “How to Spa,” for those who’ve never tried this type of vacation. Another four pages are reserved for the ships that offer spas at sea. Much as I am drawn to the photos overall, I have to tell you that some of them are inappropriate. The picture of a woman floating in the clouds above a blooming desert may work great as a magazine ad–and many of the pictures here are one’s I’ve seen before in the spas’ own brochures–but it is off-base in a book intended to depict real (if idealized) places. And I certainly don’t like the subtle race and gender biases inherent in many of the “peopled” photos: Anglos accepting the ministrations of people of color; women posing poolside or getting massages; men using weight equipment. Still, it is the pool that is central to a spa vacation, and ultimately what beckons from the pages of this book. (ISBN 0-7627-0807-7)
“Bord Failte Ireland Guide”
(Thomas Dunne Books; $18.95)
Not long ago, The Chieftains played Chicago: first in a Feb. 27 concert, second when I opened the “Bord Failte Ireland Guide” a few days later. I hadn’t thumbed more than a half-dozen pages before the fiddle and drum started up, followed by a brogue of lyrics. Now, I’m not saying the Irish band’s second show was loud enough for anyone but me to hear; I think that’s because the spell is cast only over those who have the book. There’s magic in the words that spring sing-song from its pages: County Kerry, County Cork, River Shannon, Moghane Hill-Fort. Its 420 pages are heavy with color photos, detailed place descriptions, maps, and tips on must-see’s and how to spend rainy days. Special feature insets are scattered throughout and cover historical and cultural topics in bite-sized offerings: Vikings and Normans in one short piece, for instance; music, dance, poetry and mythology in some of the others. Though you may well find many an Ireland travel guide more objective, you’d be hard-pressed to find one more comprehensive; the reason behind both of those points being that this book is written and researched by Bord Failte, the Irish Tourist Board. Yet in spite of it official status, this book still manages to hit some sour notes: Some of the features are hard to read because the type is printed over the photographs; some pages are given over to advertising. That’s not enough to stop the music, though. To its credit–and the real advantage it has over other guidebooks–is that it remains true to its focus on IreLAND, not IreHOTELS or IreRESTAURANTS. (ISBN 0-312-27048-8)
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Toni Stroud can be reached at tstroud@tribune.com
