If you bought a Rough Guide for your trip, return it. If you can't return it... burn it.

Ah, guidebooks. Lonely Planet pioneered the guidebook industry, especially for budget/backpacker travel, and they're the biggest name. As such, they take a lot of flak. A lot of people try to do something different, say the Let's Go or the Rough Guide.

Before meeting up with Claudia, instead of snagging LP's Thailand book, I picked up the Rough Guide for Thailand.

Big mistake.

We've been beyond unhappy with it. In India we used both an older LP India and the 2003 Let's Go India and Nepal, and were really pleased. Good maps, good organization, comprehensive info. RG? None of the above. Info is breezy; LP's SEA on a Shoestring has more intro info on Thailand than the RG does — the LP covers every country in Southeast Asia! The maps are decent, I'll give the RG that. But the info is incomplete or not detailed enough. It seems more like a book you'd carry if you were on a package trip, and needed to supplement the itinerary.

Before leaving Sukhothai today, we ditched the RG Thailand, and got an LP Southeast Asia on a Shoestring and an LP Thailand instead. Already, we're much happier — and we can actually figure out where to go and where to find things. It's nice.

I love branching out and trying the other books. But the best is the best, and LP still rules.