Travel advice should always be taken with a grain of salt

Why does the Lonely Planet think that every traveler is a budding archeologist?  While I definitely agree history is interesting and good to learn about in the place you are traveling, a bunch of bricks isn’t usually a good enough reason to go hours out of your way.  Sometimes I think this popular travel guide book goes overboard in recommending visiting ruins everywhere despite their current upkeep or aesthetics.  The Lonely Planet for Indonesia fairly describes this city I am living in by saying, “Jambi is not an easy place to reach…Jambi is not known as a tourist destination, but [some] have found that nowhere can be more fun than somewhere.”  So far I appreciate this off the beaten path, just an average Indonesian city kind of atmosphere and am happy to go without “tourist sites.”  Still, many Indonesians I have met who want to promote the city’s image have suggested I go visit the ancient Buddhist/Hindu Muaro Jambi temples.  

I had already read about this place from the Lonely Planet’s recommendation and last weekend I was finally privileged to make the trip there myself.  I now believe there should really be a disclaimer that it is not worth coming to Jambi just because there is an ancient site of archaeological interest; I was really much more impressed with the scenery on the drive there than the actual site.  Let me point out it took an hour each way to reach this destination and that is a far distance bouncing on the back of a motorbike.  Visitors coming from a different major Sumatran city first have to suffer 10 hours on a cramped bus just to get to Jambi.  During the drive home, our afternoon then took a turn for the worse when our back tire went flat after when we went over one too many potholes.  Thus began two hours of waiting on the side of the road with the mosquitoes for it to get fixed.  I am content to say that there really are no sites of special interest for tourists here and am now looking forward to more aimless weekend journeys.