Viva Travel Guide to Peru: Exploring Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Inca Trail, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Lima and beyond by Ricardo Segreda, Crit Minster
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Book Reviews of Viva Travel Guide to Peru: Exploring Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Inca Trail, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Lima and beyond
Book Review: Has potential, needs work
Summary: 3 Stars
Viva Travel Guides is the newest entrant in the crowded field of travel guidebooks. As can be said of many youngsters, it has potential but needs discipline and polish. Much of the writing is pedestrian, repetitive, and sloppy; the book is full of typos and bad grammar; and it contains some whoppers of misinformation and tortured geography.
I lived in Cusco for a year a few years ago and know Southern Peru well. I bought this book to see how it measures up to the more established guides. While it is certainly serviceable, and will get you around the country without major mishap, it desperately needs a sharp-eyed editor to tighten and focus the writing, and correct the inaccuracies. The book is published using print-on-demand technology; the text and cover look fine, but the maps are low-resolution and at times indecipherable.
One fault is its repetitiveness. Each section opens with an introduction, then a "Highlights" section, then more specific city listings. This results in needless repetition. For example, in the Arequipa section, the fact that Arequipa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is mentioned three times in five pages.
Another fault is sloppy writing. The sheer number of nonexistent words shows they didn't run it through a spell checker before going to press. And if you don't know the difference between "its" and "it's," or "lie" and "lay," hire someone who does to edit your manuscript.
More damning---or amusing, depending on your point of view---is the inaccuracies. The book states that the road from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado goes "over the peak of Ausungate." Fortunately, the engineers left the 6,400m (21,000 ft.) peak to the glaciers and ran the road far below. In the Amazon section, the book says, "Most of the hotels and lodges in the Peruvian Amazon are in the cities of Iquitos, Manu and Tambopata." Sorry, but Manu and Tambopata aren't cities. Also in the Amazon, it describes a flight to Boca Manu leading to a stay in a Machiguenga lodge at Pongo de Mainique. In two sentences we are whisked from the Manu River to the Urubamba River, far to the west.
All guidebooks contain errors, but the Viva book is especially egregious. Given the higher-quality alternatives on the market, give this one a pass until they hire copy and content editors to whip it into shape.
Book Review: Christmas Gift
Summary: 5 Stars
My mom got me the Viva Peru guide for Christmas because she knew I was heading to Machu Picchu, Cuzco and the Nazca Lines with my fiancee over New Year's. The guide was extraordinarily helpful, clear, well-written and current. The book is now travel-worn from constantly being in my hand, and from our one and only night in Lima when we got caught in a downpour outside our hotel. I loaned the guide to my friend who is heading to Peru this spring. Buy this book. You won't be sorry. Book Review: Better than LP
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually take along the Lonely Planet when I travel, a friend recommended I use this Peru guide and I'm glad I did. All the information was really accurate and the guide helped me get around easily, picking great hotels and restaurants along the way. The tear-out contact list in the back was really useful when I needed to go to the doctor in Cusco.Book Review: wonderful resource!
Summary: 5 Stars
Peru is one of the most interesting, culturally and historically-rich countries in South America, and the Viva guide did a great job of capturing all that this magical place has to offer, from detailed information about Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Nazca, and even lesser known, but beautiful spots in the north. Book Review: great guide
Summary: 5 Stars
This Peru guide is great. I recently went on vacation to Peru and took the guide along. It was especially helpful in the Pisco and Paracas area, where so much has changed since the earthquake. I also thought that the hotel and restaurant listings for Cuzco were abundant and accurate, I tried out a different great restaurant every night! Will be using V!VA's guides next time I go on vacation.