American travel writer Thomas Kohnstamm’s soon-to-be-published exposé has ruffled feathers not just over at guidebook company Lonely Planet, but with travel writers and readers around the world.

Kohnstamm’s book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? chronicles his time spent as a guidebook writer for Lonely Planet, whom he rails against for its unrealistic deadlines, lack of money and lack of support to authors while on the road.

His sometimes saucy and brazen confessions have been a particular blow to Lonely Planet, whose guidebooks plainly state that their writers “do not accept payments, discounts or freebies in exchange for positive coverage of any sort”.

It is claims such as these that have given many guidebooks a near biblical status among travellers all over the world.

This is the argument that Kohnstamm is trying to make: that the reality of work and life on the road is quite out of step with LP’s image of itself and the image that it promotes to readers.

Full story here. The Transit Café points out the Lonely Planet has defended itself against Kohnstamm’s remarks. find out what Lonely Planet has to say here.

A cold reception for China in the land of Shakespeare

The Chinese ambassador to London, Fu Ying, says Western media has demonised China and accused the British of “lacking respect” following the protests that dogged the Olympic Torch’s procession through London.

He writes in the Telegraph Online about the disappointment of a day which started out with so much hope and ended with young Chinese asking the question, “Why is this happening”.

Here’s part of Fu Ying’s article:

In the morning of April 6, looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window, I could not but wonder what the torch relay would be like.

About eight hours later, when the torch finally struggled through the route, Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes ran up to light the Olympic cauldron at the O2 dome, and 4,000 spectators cheered, obviously with a sense of relief.

This day will be remembered, as Beijing met London with splashes and sparkles. It was an encounter between China, the first developing country to host the Olympics, and Britain, the first western country to greet the 2008 torch.

On the bus to the airport, I was with some young girls from the Beijing team, including an Olympic gold medallist, Miss Qiao.

They were convinced that the people here were against them. One girl remarked she couldn't believe this land nourished Shakespeare and Dickens.

Another asked: where is the "gentlemenship"? I used all my knowledge to argue for London, and looking into their watery eyes, I knew I was not succeeding. I can't blame them.

They were running between vehicles for the whole day, noses red and hands cold, trying to service the torchbearers.

They had only about three hours of sleep the previous night and some were having lunch sandwiches just now.

Worse still, they had to endure repeated violent attacks on the torch throughout the relay. I was fortunate to sit at the rear of the bus and saw smiling faces of Londoners who came out in the tens of thousands, old people waving and young performers dancing, braving the cold weather.

In the darkness of a London night, waving the chartered plane goodbye, I had a feeling the plane was heavier than when it landed. The torch will carry on, and the journey will educate the more than a billion Chinese people about the world, and the world about China.

Full story here.

Rites and wrongs in Rajasthan

London’s Telegraph Online has a disturbing story about the plight of young girls, 30 miles west of the Taj Mahal, on the road to the pink city of Jaipur, where tourists on buses pass a sight that the guidebooks rarely mention.

A mile beyond the town of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, in a cluster of makeshift shelters girls, several under 18 and at least two younger than 15, can be seen strolling or sitting, in view of the dusty carriageway.

Tonight, one girl in particular is attracting attention as she sits on a stool by a fire so that she can be seen by passing vehicles.

Her heavily made-up, striking face and beautiful pink sari make her look as if she were on her way to a party. But the truth is different. Suli, 14, is a virgin and a bidding war is being held for the right to be the first to sleep with her.

The collection of shelters where she lives houses 59 families, all members of the Bedia tribe, which has a long tradition of caste-based prostitution. Girls born here become prostitutes in a rite of passage into "adulthood" as routine as marriage is to the rest of Indian society.

The "first time" is a valued commodity for which the middle-class businessmen who pass this way are prepared to pay a premium.

Once a girl has lost her virginity she cannot marry. The choice has been made and the community celebrates it - this is her non-wedding night.

The prevalence of caste-based prostitution in certain tribes in the region - the Bawaria, Nuts, Bedias, Kanjars and Sansis - came to light after a raid on a brothel in Delhi. Now an attempt is being made to break the cycle by which the girls of each generation enter the trade.

Dr KK Mukerjee, a social work professor at the University of Delhi, who was commissioned by the government to research the scope of prostitution, has founded a group, known as GNK. Supported by Plan International, a child-centred community development agency, the organisation has set up a hostel to look after prostitutes' children.

Full story here.