Trekking is one of the best reasons to visit S Am. If you don´t, you are really missing out. OTH, tents and bag can be rented at any of the popular trekking destinations or you can join an organized trek.

That said, if you are planning on going up high in the Andes even w/o camping. I would bring a lightweight down summer bag. Many of the hostels up high can be freezing at night and even if they give you an extra blanket you can still be in for a cold and miserable night. Add an inexpensive space blanket (2 x 4 inches) and you could survive a night stuck w/o shelter on the Altiplano.

A compact tarp is also nice, if only for a ground sheet when making repairs in a dirty or sandy area.

As for meeting people, I have found that locals will often stop and visit you when camped. Yet may be more distant when you are in a hostel in a small town.

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India Himal, 3mo,2x; Kazak/Krygyz/Tajik, 3 mo; Kashi-Lhasa, China 219! 6 wk; Nepal, 4 days/trekked 55; Santiago-Ushuia-Cusco, 7 mo; Peru, 3 mo; Chile-Medellin 3 mo; Medillin-Arica, 3 mo

right, we have only used our tent about a dozen times in a total of about ten weeks in bolivia and peru. but the times we have, it has been like taking our adventure back and has been brilliant. lots of fun getting out there or sussing out where to camp even in more populated places.

you can't sleep in a hostel, be lulled to sleep by the sound of a mountain stream or waves lapping at the beach, then be woken by the sun.

in town, you are more likely to crash out under the pong of stale cigarettes, be lulled into insomnia by running toilets and woken by sirens or garbos.

oh, and there's nothing like a good bog in the bush, IMO. no doin that in town. take your tent. so what if you carry it for a month without using it?

cheers,
andy.

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www.outforaspin.blogspot.com

I give up !! I guess it is "each to his/her own". Each rider goes RTW for their own purposes, sometimes that includes other people, sometimes not. For me, people are the most important. Truely, they are the only thing that is going to "outlast" this world of ours, so doesn't that make them essential to our "journey of life"

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http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

OK mollydog, you've redeemed yourself. I'll even let you buy me a drink whenever I return to the Bay Area. ;-)

And yes, it's my 'job', but that's why I chose this life/work, cause it's my life's work!

Someone just sent me a copy of Rosetta Stone, so I'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I stumble around and seem to do better at understanding people (sometimes), than others who are fluent.

Now I'm waaaay off thread.

I'm camping on Rio Desequedero, outside of Oruru, Bolivia. Watched the new moon set over the water, and listened to the flamingo's, Ibis and zillions of other bird flap around, while the sky, was amazing. Can't do that sleeping in hotels in my budget...

Lorraine

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Rallying for A Wild Life — THE FILM!
http://igg.me/at/AWildLife

www.LorraineChittock.com
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Exactly. People often give me the shits. They're around you all the time like you just escaped the zoo, so it's nice to have moments in the day where you get something to yourself. There are plenty of good moments with people, mostly everytime you stop somewhere for whatever reason. You're found quick enough. I've been backpacking and hitchhiking for years, so I like the oppurtunity that having you own transport gives you for escaping all that. I don't travel on a motorbike to meet people. Could go to the pub for that, or would go backpacking for that. Adventure riding overseas to me is all about escaping the overpopulated overdeveloped landscape/ prison the west has created and going back to simplicity. I love the feeling of having all you need with you, and as long as you have fuel, water and food (and money) you can do whatever you want and wherever you want. Away from all the timetables, check out times and retrictions, etc. That's whay I bring camping gear and use it rather than going to hotels. We're even thinking of just asking hotels for a shower rather than use the room. I was heavily inspired by Mundo Enduro which is the reason I started looking for that. But I never managed to realise that without having my own transport because of bulk size constraints (and I looked at all the outdoor gear I could find), hence my move into bike travel at the greater financial cost.

But I agree totally, each their own. I do feel that on this forum there is a bit of an undertone that travel SHOULD be all about people. It comes up a lot. I reckon that going backpacking/ hitchhiking is much more suitable for that than adventure riding overseas so the LP forum would be a better place.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I want to thank you all for helping me decide this issue. When I read the posts here and elsewhere on the Hubb it reminds me of a famous actor and a great quote. Perhaps this quote will enhance your travels. Just replace the word voyage with motorcycle trek.

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. I’ve always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can’t afford it.” What these men can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?”

- Sterling Hayden

Len

COULDN'T AGREE MORE !!

Trouble is convincing the wife that we should "Throw all securuity to the wind..." But then, the last one is almost out of the house... And I met this wife of mine in the Amazon, so I just have to revive her adventurous spirit....

This saying is going on my wall to SLAP me out of my perceived stability as often as possible.

Thanx,

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http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

"
oh, and there's nothing like a good bog in the bush, IMO. no doin that in town. take your tent. so what if you carry it for a month without using it?

cheers,
andy.[/QUOTE]"

So it was you who visited that wild campsite north of Genoa before I got there ? I enjoy a great sunset as much as anybody, and am always happy to hear the burst of bird song and insect chirpings which come to a crescendo at sunset.But if I or you can reach such areas with a bike then it is a certainty that others have been there before. That little lump under your tent on the " pristene, untouched" beach or jungle floor may well be the cat -hole with contents from a preceding tourist.Be careful where you set the tent!
Sunsets /rises are nice but oh so transitory, even though they do go on 24/7 . No argument with camping out to catch one, but one can also view them from some good vantage point and then return to a hotel room for the remaining 10 hours of tropical darkness, and not give a hoot about the other hotel guests.

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Inspirational quote from a fascinating man. Hayden's autobiography 'Wanderer' is well worth a read, and 'The Asphalt Jungle' is almost perfect film noir (and showcases what's arguably Marilyn's finest performance). And this is a perfect HUBB thread - meandering easily from tent-pegged prosaic practicality to 'life is elsewhere' poetry...

Suerte, Dan

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Que el cielo exista, aunque mi lugar sea el infierno...

Yup, now you got the hang of it. Everyone is different due to having had different experiences and thought processes. Go your own way. Just pick over peoples opinions as possibilities to consider. This applies to everything from 'which bike' to what brand of coffee.

Carrying a tent and sleeping bag on your travels is no different than buying medical insurance before you leave. You most likely won't need it, but you sure are happy to have it when that time comes! I had a stuck float-bowl in the mountains of Ecuador and ran out of gas far from civilization. It was a very cold, wet night and i can't imagine what might of happened to me if i was wasn't prepared. If you plan on leaving the highway, be prepared to take responsability for your actions!
Personally, i really enjoy camping, alone or with a companoin. I pack a small kitchen with everything i need, a small gasoline stove, a small coffee maker, an expensive Bibler tent, which has been worth every penny BTW, and a very good -6C down sleeping bag which packs to nearly nothing and a Thermarest sleeping pad. My gear is all the best i could find and all well worth it! The tent has kept me dry in the most severe downpours and has never failed me. The thermarest has only been patched once in four years, and the sleeping bag is always warm, cosy and extremely light and compact. My kitchen provides me with everything i need to cook a gourmet meal in a bag the size of my overnight bag. I use the MSR teflon pots and pan set, and my Primus stove fits nicely inside. All this gear takes up about 2/3 of one pannier. I can't imagine travelling without all my gear, for the little bit of extra weight, my panniers would be half empty without it!

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In contrast to this self flagellating and pompous piece above, Ted Simon, in "Dreaming of Jupiter" writes that...

"people who do gamble [with life] can't really be very lucky. All that frenzy of "fun" and throwing caution to the winds, to my eyes, is a thin disguise for a kind of despair, for lives out of control, for people desperate to change their lives."

I think you've deliberately missed the point of both quotes, Walking One. And I've definitely missed yours - I haven't got a clue what you're trying to say here - or why.

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Que el cielo exista, aunque mi lugar sea el infierno...

With all the light and small camping and cooking gear I cant see not taking some.

As far as getting to know people and being with them its up to you not what you take or dont. Some of loneliest people I have seen have been in cities.

Riding to unstable areas on a bike solo seems like a gamble to most people.

How did this thread which was filled with inspiration and good sound advice get to"In contrast to this self flagellating and pompous piece above". In reference to the Sterling Hayden quote.

Some people have to piss on everything.

Len