I'm glad Colombia is not well-know around the world because it would damage it's magic. I have visited Colombia 3 times and I really want to go back. The people, the culture, the landscapes, everything is beautiful. I hope it never becomes as tourist asThailand o Peru. Colombia is the hidden pearl.

Nicolas Castellanos, Hyderabad, India

I agree with Richard. Given that the widespread (false) perception of Colombia is that it's too dangerous to visit, the LP clearly don't think there's much point is spending a lot of time and money on a guide for it.

South America is now flooded with English gap year tourists looking for kicks, but most have no interest in going to Colombia, so LP are simply following the market.

Although as a fellow lover of Colombia, I'm extremely glad that this is the case. Most of South America and Thailand have been ruined by English travellers trampling the culture and I'm glad that Colombia is currently avoiding the same damage.

Adam, Leeds,

it's all about cost cutting, Matthew. Even LP guides which were once well-written and informative - like the France or Provence books - are having the guts filleted out of them in order to make them cheaper to update (ie pay the writers even less) and cheaper to produce.

Richard Walker, London,

you were perplexed because of the guerrilla, thieves, kidnappers, or something similar?

Lucia Lopez, West palm Beach, USA/ FL

It would appear, also, that the writers of Lonely Planet, Sicily, have never visited the island. And if they have, it was ten years ago and they never left Catania.

Nor do they appear to have performed even the most rudimentary online fact checking regarding places to stay and places to eat, getting there, getting around, etc. And the 'cultural' blurbs are a very painful read.

I guess it IS a Lonely Planet when all you do is sit around cobbling together guides to places you have never visited...

zecchinetta, nyc, ny