Guide books
 

Ok, my Christmas book tokens are burning a hole in my pocket.

Sooo...Which (if any) guide books would be best for helping us plan our tour of South America later this year?

Definitely going to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina & Chile, maybe Columbia, Equador too.

I know they have a bit of a gap year backpacker stigma but they can be useful.

Need to get something soon before I spend it all on bike magazines..!

Hi Crusty, IMO Footprint guide to South America is top of the tree and hopefully they will have a new edition out by now. Amazon seems to be the best deal and my advice for a trip to South America is to take it as slowly as you can. I should be back in St Andrews by the start of July this year so if you want to come to the sea side for a chat before you go PM me. Ride safe.

Rutas Por Colombia
 

I like this:

intro and it includes a map of the country and Bogotá. The book, (504 pages), is a lot better than the website.

It's in Spanish of course, only available in Colombia, but I could post one to you when I return to the UK in March. Cost: £7 - I'll accept book tokens. I like books ;-)

Crusty,

next to the travel guides IMO the travelogue of Bruce Chatwin "Patagonia" is BIG fun to read. Don't miss that!

Hans

Cheers guys,

I'm off to the bookshop tomorrow.

Don't you just love buying books..?

maja, we're aiming to take around a year to travel round, hope that's long enough to go slow enough, so to speak. Shame it's going to be on four wheels rather than two but hey, I'm not complaining..! Coincidentally, we've been up to St Andrews a few times for a w/end ride, beautiful place. Thanks for the offer, be great to have a chat. We won't be leaving until the end of the year so a ride up in the glorious July sunshine:rain: sounds good..!

Strecher Monkey, that would be great, cheers. My Spanish is as basic as it gets so should be entertaining..! Just PM me with the details when you can.

Vaufi, "In Patagonia" has been referenced in just about every book I've read on SA so it's on the list too. Thanks for the tip.