‘Rickshaws’ Carries You To Another World

The same day that news arrived of Ford’s next-generation SUV - the 3.5-ton Excursion - I stumbled upon a charming new travel book devoted to rickshaws.

The coincidence was a dramatic reminder of how much lifestyles, if not priorities, vary around the world.

Here it’s not uncommon to see an 18-foot Chevrolet Suburban pull alongside a curb to fetch a single fifth-grader from school. In India, as many as 12 classmates climb aboard a pedal-powered rickshaw without a second thought.

Lonely Planet Publications co-founder Tony Wheeler gained an appreciation of rickshaws during 25 years of Asian travel. Realizing these pedicabs’ days are numbered, he set out with photographer Richard I’Anson to document this 20th century phenomenon.

The result is “Chasing Rickshaws” (Lonely Planet, $34.95), a thorough examination of these efficient vehicles and the people (almost exclusively men) who operate them.

You’re probably familiar with rickshaws from films such as “The Year of Living Dangerously” and “City of Joy.” You may even have ridden a tourist version in Victoria, B.C.

But “Chasing Rickshaws” offers fascinating insights into the culture, the practicality and the politics of pedicabs. And it does so with engaging photographs that may make you lament their impending extinction.

True, rickshaws don’t come equipped with air bags and a Global Positioning System, like the Ford Excursion. But then, they don’t cost 50 grand or get 12 miles per gallon of gas, either.

Other new titles worth perusing at area book stores:

“A Waterfall Lover’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest, Third Edition” by Gregory Plumb (Mountaineers, $14.95), a celebration and indispensable catalog of more than 530 waterfalls accessible by car, boat or foot in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. Besides maps and photos, the guide offers a five-star rating system (from “uninspiring” to “exceptional”) to help you decide whether a 30-mile detour is justified. This area’s five-star attractions include Palouse Falls near Washtucna, Wash., and Moyie Falls near Moyie Springs, Idaho.

When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark searched for a Northwest passage, they relied heavily on Sacajawea. When Stephen Ambrose, author of “Undaunted Courage,” retraced the explorers’ steps almost two centuries later, he relied heavily on another woman - Julie Fanselow, author of “Traveling the Lewis & Clark Trail” (Falcon, $14.95.) “She did such a fine job of surveying the trail,” Ambrose wrote, “that my copy is worn out and needs to be replaced.” Lucky for Ambrose (and the rest of us), a revised, paperback edition is now available.

The latest edition of Lonely Planet’s “Pacific Northwest” guide ($24.95) just arrived, with a new section devoted to Vancouver and Vancouver Island (but still no mention of Idaho, which is lumped together with Montana, Wyoming and Colorado in Lonely Planet’s new “Rocky Mountains” edition, also $24.95). This 900-page treasure chest is packed with useful information, along with entertaining anecdotes and historical asides. More compact and comprehensive than the popular “Northwest Best Places’ (Sasquatch, $19.95), Lonely Planet’s “Pacific Northwest” is my first choice for single-volume coverage of the region.

If you’re heading to the Emerald City and traveling light, consider the handy new “Let’s Go Seattle Map Guide” ($8.95). Its durable cover unfolds front and back to reveal easy-to-read street maps. And inside are 28 pages of listings, including restaurants, hotels, parks, museums and the like.

On the other hand, if you’re heading in the opposite direction and your traveling party includes young’uns, check out “Family Fun in Montana” (Falcon, $16.95). Besides suggesting hundreds of destinations - from the Egg Mountain Dinosaur Tour near Choteau to Bozeman’s American Computer Museum - the guide offers checklists, car games and other survival tips.

Feeling really adventurous? Then track down a copy of “The Nunavut Handbook” (Nortext, $21.50) and start planning an expedition to the huge expanse of Canadian Arctic that, after April 1, will be known as Nunavut (pronounced “noo-na-voot”). Or just use the handbook to learn more about this million-square-mile territory inhabited by 25,000 hardy souls.