This is a pretty good reference for travel in the region, and certainly the best that I've found. One important note, though: the travel segments were entirely or almost entirely written by men who had done the traveling. The experiences women travelers might face are mentioned briefly at the end of chapters, and amount to warning women away from certain bars. Women tourists are treated differently and experience tourism in the region differently than men, and I'd love to see a travel guide acknowledge this and include information in a non-gender neutral way, as the places readers will travel aren't gender neutral. ( )

Armchair travel for me at the moment, though my sister usd this book this year when she travelled overland from Beijing to Istanbul. She found it useful and informative.