Lonely Planet: Best in Asia (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Travel	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	295:27 (Case: 299)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Various
Studio Distributor	Beach House Pictures Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Utt Fiona Xie Mohini Sule Oli Pettigrew
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Aaron D’Arcy Nicole Skeltys Byron Scullin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Lonely Planet website invited travellers to nominate their most exciting Asian travel experiences in 12 categories. The result is Lonely Planet Best in Asia. Hosted by Utt, three Lonely Planet reporters, Fiona Xie, Mohini Sule and Oli Pettigrew road test travellers’ suggestions in 12 episodes. In the 13th episode, they count down their best 5, culminating in the naming of their top travel experience in Asia. I must say that I like my travel reports humorous, informative and sensible. Unlike other Lonely Planet travel shows I have watched, this one at times is silly, with freeze frame and slow motion camera tricks, and some especially annoying antics from Utt and Fiona Xie. But that may just be me. Lonely Planet Best in Asia is a two disc set, with episodes 1-7 on disc 1 and the remainder on disc 2.

     The episodes are :

Disc 1

• Asian Adrenalin Rushes: Fiona goes sky diving in Perth, West Australia, Oli climbs a cliff in Halong Bay, Vietnam, while Mohini experiences white water rafting in Perak, Malaysia.
• Asian Food Safaris: Fiona indulges in Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong and doubles up on a wine and cheese tour of Margaret River, Western Australia, while Mohini gets involved in a Thai cooking course in Bangkok, Thailand.
• Asia With Kids: Oli checks out the water puppet theatre in Hanoi, Vietnam, Mohini visits an elephant sanctuary outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while Fiona gets involved in the mid-autumn festival in Hong Kong.
• Wild Asia: Mohini get up close and personal with tigers at the Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand and goes diving on the coral reefs off Bali, while Fiona plays with the dolphins at Monkey Mia, 800 km north of Perth.
• Asia’s Best Kept Secrets: Oli experiences a homestay on the Mekong River, Vietnam, Mohini explores the hidden khlongs of Bangkok, while Fiona explores the urban oases of Hong Kong, including Victoria Peak, and sea kayaks to nearby islands.
• Asia’s Ultimate Indulgences: Mohini travels on the opulent Eastern & Oriental Express between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and gets pampered by the spar experience in Ubud, Bali, while Fiona relaxes with a cocktail on board a luxurious handmade Chinese junk in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
• Asia on a Shoestring: Mohini samples the delights along Khao San Road, Bangkok, including a Thai boxing lesson, Oli ventures into the hutongs (alleyways) of the disappearing old Beijing, while Fiona volunteers on an organic farm in the Swan Valley, Western Australia through the WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farm) program.

Disc 2

• Asian Shopping Frenzy: Mohini goes hunting silk in Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, Oli visits the avant garde 798 Art Zone in Beijing, while Fiona gets indulgent with a personal shopper in Hong Kong.
• Asian Beach Escapes: Mohini snorkels and parasails off Sanur Beach, Bali and goes horse riding at Langkawi, Malaysia, while Fiona gets a surfing lesson at Margaret River, Western Australia.
• Asia’s Urban Playground: Oli has a day in a Beijing taxi visiting a flea market and cultural parks and then gets a handlebar look exploring Hanoi on the back of a Russian built motor bike, while Mohini checks out the night life in Bangkok.
• Creative Asia: Oli visits Siem Reap, Cambodia to experience Angkor Wat by helicopter and on the ground, Mohini checks out traditional Balinese dance in Ubud, Bali, while Fiona gets involved in street art and performance art in Hong Kong.
• Romantic Asia: Oli checks out modern Chinese dating rituals in Beijing, Mohini attends a traditional wedding on Bali, while Fiona meets a couple renewing their wedding vows in Margaret River, Western Australia.
• The Best of Best in Asia: The four presenters get together, laugh a lot and count down their top 5 travel adventures

     Lonely Planet Best in Asia promises that they scoured Asia for “its most exciting and inspiring travel adventures” and I guess the nature of this show, where travellers nominate their best holiday activities and destinations, is not going to get agreement from everyone as “the best in Asia”. Indeed, a lot of the adventures and destinations are quite predictable and repetitive. Of the 36 adventures in the series Bali is included 5 times, Western Australia 6 times, Hong Kong 6 times, Bangkok 5 times; thus 22 of the 36 adventures are in 5 places. Asia is a huge and diverse place, but in this “best of” Japan and the Indian subcontinent are not mentioned (Taj Mahal or the beaches of Sri Lanka or diving off the Maldives anyone?) while China apparently is only Beijing, which gets 4 adventures, the rest of China (which includes Xian and the Great Wall) ignored. Australian adventures seem to start and finish at the near the Margaret River in Western Australia, no Central Australia here.

     If Hong Kong, Bangkok, Bali or the Margaret River region hold your interest the series works, others looking for more off the beaten track stuff might look elsewhere. In addition some of the presentation of this series at times is annoyingly silly. There are some things of interest here but this is not the best, or most varied, Lonely Planet travel series I have seen. Best in Asia? I don’t think so.

     Note that there are outtakes at the end of each episode, some quite funny.

Video

     Lonely Planet Best in Asia is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which I suspect is the original ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     There are 13 episodes with different directors of photography. However, the footage is consistently good with only a little variation in sharpness, colour, contrast and brightness. Colours are generally natural, blacks good, skin tones accurate. Part of each episode is video footage sent in by travellers, which is of lesser quality. Other than slight ghosting with motion against some backgrounds, I did not see any obvious artefacts.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available in an easy to read white font that follows the narration almost word for word in the portion I sampled. When non-English is spoken, or the speaker has a heavy accent, English subtitles automatically translate the words.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded at 192 Kbps. It was perfectly adequate for a television series.

     The episodes are mostly voice over narration with a bit on extra dialogue. This narration was always clear and easy to understand, and when English was spoken by some non-native speakers the subtitles appeared. I noticed some music and effects in the rear speakers but no sub-woofer use. Not that the series needed either.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

    The music is credited to Aaron D’Arcy, Nicole Skeltys, Byron Scullin and Big Ears Audio. In truth, there is not a lot of music used in the series.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     There are no extras.

     I cannot find a release of Lonely Planet Best in Asia listed in other region.

     The Lonely Planet website invited travellers to nominate their most exciting Asian travel experiences in 12 categories. The result is Lonely Planet Best in Asia. A lot of the destinations and adventures are quite predictable and repetitive. While there are some things of interest, this is not the best, or most varied, Lonely Planet travel series I have watched.

     The video and audio are fine. There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall