The latest list for 2010 travel trends put out by the Lonely Planet people says something we've been saying for ages: Malaysia is hot.

With budget long-haul carrier Air Asia X turning Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur into a hub that's easy and cheap to get to from pretty much everywhere, we knew it wouldn't be long before people woke up to all the great experiences they can find in Malaysia itself. ]]> amandak 2009-11-11T15:09:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/22/2950/3751

We don't mind pedaling around town or even between wineries, but there are crazier cyclists out there who want to ride the entire length of Africa. So many, in fact, that the annual Tour d’Afrique race is attracting more entrants every year, along with a bunch of riders who know they're not going to win but want to make the expedition at their own (slower) pace.

The 2009 race kicks off in Cairo on January 10 and the plan says cyclists should arrive in Cape Town--ten countries, 7,375 miles and four months later--on May 9. It includes sections along the Nile, crossing Ethiopia's Simian Mountains and skirting the Kalahari and Namib Deserts. Presumably there will be time for giraffe and zebra spotting.

This time around, the Lonely Planet publishers are entering a team which even includes one of its original founders, Tony Wheeler. We hope they're lugging a few of their increasingly-heavy guidebooks along to give them a thorough road test.

Related Stories:
· Tour d’Afrique [Official Site]
· Lonely Planet coverage [Jaunted]
· Africa Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: birzer]]]> amandak 2008-12-26T15:30:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/20/71432/394

Lonely Planet's Blue List for 2009--their now annual list of the must-visits in the travel world--is due for release on November 1, but is slowly being leaked around the world. But the number one pick is a tiny part of Australia that doesn't want to be famous.

This weekend the UK Times published the top ten destination list and Ko Tao in Thailand, the Basque country in France and Spain and the Big Island of Hawaii all feature. The Bay of Fires in north-eastern Tasmania is glad to be recognized as beautiful, but the local mayor says they don't need all the tourists.

With just a 10-room eco-lodge in the area, which is a national park, Blue List-level fame is really not what the Bay of Fires is ready for. Locals would prefer we check out everything else on this top ten list first and if we've still got time and money to spare, then the Bay of Fires might welcome us. Or not.

Related Stories:
· The 10 Best Destinations for 2009 [UK Times]
· Bay of Fires Doesn't Want To Be A Hot Destination [The Australian]
· Lonely Planet Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: seychelles88]
]]> amandak 2008-10-20T09:00:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/28/13710/8193

Maybe Lonely Planet has been feeling a little isolated lately. The travel guide publisher just launched its own video site, Lonelyplanet.tv, and is looking for your videos of excursions far and near.

Of course, to be featured on the Lonely Planet YouTube channel you'll have to compete with a bikini'd man swimming in Antarctica, a "Hills"-worthy tour of Paris and (above) a belly-dancing, ghost-riding cabdriver who confidently declares, "I am not normal."

One bit of advice: Videos of you guzzling cachaça and popping pills in a Brazilian hostel while on assignment, we'd imagine, won't earn you a five-star YouTube rating from LP.

Related Stories:
· Travel Videos coverage [Jaunted]]]> egw 2008-04-28T14:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/22/155242/310

After all the sniping, faux shock and criticism, Thomas Kohnstamm's book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? is out today. Instead of rehashing old interviews and getting up on our high horse about ethics, we decided to, you know, actually read it.

We didn't get very far before stumbling across something we wish were included in that now-notorious "embassy chick" interview that upset so many people:

Author's note: For better or for worse, this book recounts true experiences. In order to distill the chaos of life down to a clear narrative, it was necessary to omit certain events, rearrange and compress chronology and combine a few of the characters.

So, yes, what you're about to read is true. Sort of.]]> pbb 2008-04-22T16:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/15/104030/895

In the wake of Thomas Kohnstamm abusing them for publicity, Lonely Planet has decided to show how classy an outfit it is with... a recipe for world-class pub crawls?!

We know most of the people who are dumb enough to tote an LP guidebook--besides those nice new National Parks guides of course--will probably rate getting wasted in a foreign pub as the greatest thing ever. But do lager louts really deserve a play-by-play?

For a great pub crawl, you need a few ingredients:
· a city with pubs in profound proximity
· a forgiving transport environment (you don't want cars bearing down on you as you stumble towards your goal)
· good weather (try crawling on ice--not fun!)
· an established drinking culture (you don't want to be the boorish outsider who's annoying the locals)

There you have it, Lonely Planet-carrying tourists: No boorish outsiders, please!

Related Stories:
· World's Greatest Pub/Bar Crawls? [LP]
· One Travel Writer, at Least, Might Just Go to Hell [Jaunted]
· Lonely Planet coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Kirstysplodge]]]> pbb 2008-04-15T11:00:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/13/232713/908

Uh-oh. Guide book writers tell lies. Not a big surprise to us, but poor Lonely Planet must be decidedly unimpressed by what former author Thomas Kohnstamm has said in his soon-to-be-released book Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?

LP must surely be wishing that Kohnstamm would go to hell, because he's claiming, among other things, that he wrote a guide book to Colombia without ever setting foot in the country. He claims he wrote the guide in question from his base in San Francisco, getting info from a girl he was dating who happened to be interning at the Colombian consulate.

The story goes that Lonely Planet--and probably a whole heap of other guide book companies--don't pay their writers enough to actually research everything that needs to go into a book, and their policy is not to accept any freebies. Whether this news goes down as a "we can't trust Lonely Planet" or a "Kohnstamm's a big cheat with a newly released book to sell" story remains to be seen, but if you're heading to Colombia, perhaps some other guide book might be a better choice?

Related Stories:
· Lonely Planet Reeling After Author's Fraud [news.com.au]
· Lonely Planet Writer Doesn't Bother Going to Colombia [Lost Weekend]
· Lonely Planet Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Blacknell]]]> amandak 2008-04-14T08:47:24-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/