LuckyStriker
Bachelor Dog
I enjoy guide books. As an avid backpacker during the nineties I went through quite a few of them, exchanging them with fellow travellers on ferries and trains and busses.
Some publications were better than others regarding relevant info and others were better written despite being nearly useless as a planning tool.
Here is a guide book that I happened across earlier in the year but forgot to mention it to you guys until today. Apologies.
Lesotho, Southbound Travel Guide - by David Fleminger
ISBN 978-1920143-26-8
Published in 2010
R174.95 (this is what I paid)
It is an extremely thorough guide to the country most Wild Dogs love to visit.
As someone who has never visited the highlands and only seen the lowlands as a child, I feel like something of an expert after reading this guide.
The book itself measures 200mm x 130mm which means it can be taken along on a bike. It has 334 pages bound in paperback format (soft cover). 16 pages are devoted to colour photographs while a few monochrome maps are dispersed throughout the book.
The first 40 pages deal with basics such as geographic and social data including thorough notes on climate, economy and culture.
The next 60 pages discuss the fascinating history of the country. I usually scan through these sections but the author has really poured his heart into this and it shows. The telling is poignant in parts, sometimes hilarious and most importantly, interesting. He starts with the dinosaurs (literally, since Lesotho has lots of fossils) and ends with the current King and general happenings in the Mountain Kingdom.
The second part of the book, Pages 118 to 304 deal with the different regions and villages. All the larger towns are discussed including some obscure dots on the map.
He gives frank warnings on where you can expect beggars and stone throwing kids. Together with these warnings he also gives information on activities such as pony treks, hiking trails, fishing spots (he seems to be quite the avid angler) skiing slopes and yes, even motorcycle routes.
There is a delightful history of the Roof of Africa with thrilling accounts of the first couple of races back in the day.
He offers his recommendations on which routes to do if you are in a hurry and which out-of-the-way jewels to visit if you plan to do an extensive tour.
What I found particularly thoughtful was that he not only gives the distances between sights and town but also the average travel times which, in some cases, I found to be quite a shocker. Who knew that 30km between some villages could take 10hours to drive. I can walk faster than that.
Of notable interest is also the obsessive information on where to find clean toilets and hot showers. The author seem to have certain issues that need resolving ;D
He frequently shares tales of his own misadventures which are usually laugh-out-loud funny.
Part three has general information such as border times, public holidays, locations for facilities such as phone booths, banks, fuel, medical services and police stations, etc.
The book concludes with references, further reading sources and an index.
Great book! I highly recommend this book to first time visitors to Lesotho or to returning visitors who feel that they missed out on a lot the first time they went. I can't wait to use it on my own vacation there soon.
Some negatives: I would have preferred it in hard cover rather than a damage prone paperback. But I realise that these days a hard cover is a rare thing, plus a guide book shouldn't last forever because the contents need to be update often anyway.
I am a map freak and would have loved more maps on the routes he describes. The info he gives is pretty clear but I'd love accompanying maps for every single route just the same.
Although he crams in a lot of pictures on the 16 colour pages, I could do with even more.
I would have been willing to pay more than the R174.95 if it addressed the above personal complaints.
You can order directly from the Publishing house: www.30degreessouth.co.za
or look for it at good book shops
Some publications were better than others regarding relevant info and others were better written despite being nearly useless as a planning tool.
Here is a guide book that I happened across earlier in the year but forgot to mention it to you guys until today. Apologies.
Lesotho, Southbound Travel Guide - by David Fleminger
ISBN 978-1920143-26-8
Published in 2010
R174.95 (this is what I paid)
It is an extremely thorough guide to the country most Wild Dogs love to visit.
As someone who has never visited the highlands and only seen the lowlands as a child, I feel like something of an expert after reading this guide.
The book itself measures 200mm x 130mm which means it can be taken along on a bike. It has 334 pages bound in paperback format (soft cover). 16 pages are devoted to colour photographs while a few monochrome maps are dispersed throughout the book.
The first 40 pages deal with basics such as geographic and social data including thorough notes on climate, economy and culture.
The next 60 pages discuss the fascinating history of the country. I usually scan through these sections but the author has really poured his heart into this and it shows. The telling is poignant in parts, sometimes hilarious and most importantly, interesting. He starts with the dinosaurs (literally, since Lesotho has lots of fossils) and ends with the current King and general happenings in the Mountain Kingdom.
The second part of the book, Pages 118 to 304 deal with the different regions and villages. All the larger towns are discussed including some obscure dots on the map.
He gives frank warnings on where you can expect beggars and stone throwing kids. Together with these warnings he also gives information on activities such as pony treks, hiking trails, fishing spots (he seems to be quite the avid angler) skiing slopes and yes, even motorcycle routes.
There is a delightful history of the Roof of Africa with thrilling accounts of the first couple of races back in the day.
He offers his recommendations on which routes to do if you are in a hurry and which out-of-the-way jewels to visit if you plan to do an extensive tour.
What I found particularly thoughtful was that he not only gives the distances between sights and town but also the average travel times which, in some cases, I found to be quite a shocker. Who knew that 30km between some villages could take 10hours to drive. I can walk faster than that.
Of notable interest is also the obsessive information on where to find clean toilets and hot showers. The author seem to have certain issues that need resolving ;D
He frequently shares tales of his own misadventures which are usually laugh-out-loud funny.
Part three has general information such as border times, public holidays, locations for facilities such as phone booths, banks, fuel, medical services and police stations, etc.
The book concludes with references, further reading sources and an index.
Great book! I highly recommend this book to first time visitors to Lesotho or to returning visitors who feel that they missed out on a lot the first time they went. I can't wait to use it on my own vacation there soon.
Some negatives: I would have preferred it in hard cover rather than a damage prone paperback. But I realise that these days a hard cover is a rare thing, plus a guide book shouldn't last forever because the contents need to be update often anyway.
I am a map freak and would have loved more maps on the routes he describes. The info he gives is pretty clear but I'd love accompanying maps for every single route just the same.
Although he crams in a lot of pictures on the 16 colour pages, I could do with even more.
I would have been willing to pay more than the R174.95 if it addressed the above personal complaints.
You can order directly from the Publishing house: www.30degreessouth.co.za
or look for it at good book shops
