The U.S. edition of the Southeast Asia guidebook parody Phaic Tan: Sunstroke on a Shoestring came out recently, and yesterday I got my hands on a copy. It’s hilarious all the way down to the blurbs about contributors ("Jenny Ronalds is a freelance travel writer with a special interest in Southeast Asia who, over the years, has contributed to Travel & Leisure, Globe Trotter and International Gourmet. None have ever been published and we kind of felt sorry for her."). It’s also so dead on in its aping of guidebook style and convention that I almost started believing Phaic Tan was a real place. It’s easy to do. How easy? Take our Vietnam vs. Phaic Tan quiz and find out. 

Below are eight pieces of information taken either from Phaic Tan or Lonely Planet’s Vietnam guide. Can you tell which bits describe which country? Ask yourself, is it Vietnam or Phaic Tan that:

1) Was named host country for the 2006 Southeast Asian Hackey-Sack Championships?

2) Requires all men to serve two years either in the army or as a monk?

3) Has a coastal strip with a patchwork of brilliant green rice paddies tended by women in conical hats?

4) Is home to a beach where, in the late 70s, David Bowie walked barefoot through the shallows and trod on a stonefish?

5) Has a transportation system whose ticket machines require you to haggle?

6) Celebrates Tiet Doan Ngo, an event involving the burning of human effigies to satisfy the need for souls to serve in the God of Death’s army?

7) Claims Prang Ho—the “Asian da Vinci”—as a native son?

8) Counts puppetry as a popular artistic form?

Answers below.

1) Phaic Tan
2) Phaic Tan
3) Vietnam
4) Phaic Tan
5) Phaic Tan
6) Vietnam
7) Phaic Tan
8) Vietnam