S.E. Asian travel survival kit

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 30

S.E. Asian travel survival kit

Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. A Travel Survival Kit. Lonely Planet Publications, 1988. 346 pp. Lonely Planet guidebooks are among the best available, and the third edition of “Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei” maintains the standard. The information is clear, concise, and often very detailed and practical. The publishers, and many of the books’ users, work hard to keep them up-to-date, whether the subject is the rigorousness of controls at particular border crossings or the size of the insects in some cheap accommodations.

The message in this new volume is that parts of South-east Asia have become remarkably civilised — and

expensive. But with this book’s help there are still cheap beds to be found in Singapore, or even in Bandar Seri Begawan, the gold-plated capital of Brunei. And there are still plenty of by-ways for those in search of new sensations, whether in the crowded streets of Kuala Lumpur or on the uncertain road and sea links between Brunei and its neighbouring chunks of Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak. Maps are clear, illustrations adequate, and the size and format make Lonely Planet guides suitable for quick reference and rough handling on the road.

(Lonely Planet’s address is P.O. Box 88, South Yarra, Victoria 3141, Australia).