Off the beaten track
'This stunning beach, with what is regarded as the whitest sand in the world, was formed last century by the rare combination of global warming and a huge spill from a tanker carrying laundry bleach,' says the latest in a continuing series of Jetlag Travel Guides for the Undiscerning Traveller. Phaic Tan: Sunstroke on a Shoestring describes its fictional yet familiar sounding title destination as a 'fascinating land of contrasts with one foot in the past and another striding determinedly forward; Phaic Tan truly is a nation going in circles'. A tonic for travellers jaded by the endlessly upbeat and self-important tone of most travel guidebooks, this follow-up to Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry is more a dig at the Lonely Planets and Rough Guides of this world than an ethnic satire, and as such its aim is cheeringly true. Written by Australians Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Stitch, the books cite fictional, notably unqualified, authors such as Trudi Dennes, who 'has lived and worked in Japan for over 10 years. Trudi has never visited Molvania and was assigned to this guide due to a staffing error.'
Joining these Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia lampoons will be Viva San Sombrero, a guide to a Central American island that has something for everyone, be they 'music-lover, eco-tourist, history buff or UN Human Rights Commissioner', and where the upbeat local music is said to be 'as infectious as many of the island's water-borne diseases'. You will have to wait until October to learn more about San Sombrero, but the guides to Phaic Tan and Molvania can be purchased locally from branches of Page One for $109 each.
Intensive Angkor
Chips off the old block