I drove between London and Capetown using nothing more than a sun compass and an anemometer made out of two egg cups and sucker sticks.
It took me ages just to get out of the UK, always raining.

When I came back north I rode backwards so I could recognise where I'd been to re-trace my route.

Always surprised by people who ride a Goldwing...............

I don't see the need to criticize the use of a guidebook...its their holiday/adventure/money so let them enjoy it however they please.

I personally did not use one during my trip for the same reasons as HenryUk...

BUT the most important takeway from this thread ought to be the following:

Take whatever you need to get yourself on the road and opportunities will present themselves when you put yourself out there

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

Well said Moto! I really don't think it's very important weather you use a guide book or not, and if you do, it really doesn't put you into a certain class of traveller, does it? Remember, these backpackers are usually kids! Thrown into a new world with a small allowance and absolutely no experience... they need guideance! Myself, on my first trip i used a LP, and was happy to have it. As i travelled more, i would take one, but found that i used it less and less. Now, i like to have one for some of the really useful information they do have, like maps, bus stations, times and aproximate fares, etc....I rarely use it for hotels and resturaunts, but it's not unusual to arrive in a city really late and tired and would like to know where the nearest hostel is for the first night. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Am i still an "Adventure Traveller"? Do i still qualify, or should i just start shaving my armpits now?

No need to go to those lengths and such difficult riding tricks: just cut a slot in the back of your helmet, as I intend to do, so that the eyes in the back of my head can take in the salient POIs (Places of Interest I think that TLA means!) .

(Apologies to anyone who is still interested in discussing LP)

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Dave

I enjoy travelling with a back pack from time to time, I very much enjoy travelling by motorcycle and in some places you can't beat the train. Why make any judgement that one is better than another or that adventure motorcyclists are anything better than any other tourists?

Some seem to take a view that the way they do it is the best way to do it. The grief that Ewan and Charley have received seems quite irrational. They do say that ignorance is bliss and perhaps this is a reason for not reading about where you want to go. There's a good argument for that sometimes but just imagine not visiting the Taj Mahal if you're in Agra or the Colosseum in Rome because you've not looked at a book.

I quite like the LP - it has on the whole some useful maps and a fairly comprehensive coverage. What I don't care for is the descriptions for the places to stay and eat etc - a list with details, price etc would be enough. Each to their own of course and it varies from place to place and from author to author. It's the author that really matters, get a good one and you get a good guide book. Read the bit about the author in the front cover and you get a quick idea whether you will get on with it. What about Lonely Planet Morocco by Austin Vince? Would that work? At first thought yes but probably the poncho basher might feature too regularly in the "places to stay section".

In the case of this particular clown I can't help but feel he's a self publicist who has over egged the whole game. Of course there is artistic license in writing guides but I won't be buying his book on the back of his claims. As for the Colombian guide he never needed to visit to write the intro but I wonder why the actual guide writer could not manage this. That particular guide was not so great IMO - a bit thin but probably a consequence of the security situation in the country.

Did anyone ever try the Trailblazer Asia Overland? What a fantastic book with hand drawn maps and a real comedy element to it ("map not to scale following a few s" for example). Not sure if this guide is still in print but it's well worth a read whether you love or loathe guide books.

Maybe I could just turn my helmet round then cut a slot in the front.
Ooops, off topic again, must have more discipline.

use it as a basic info book when needed.. nice to have when u are 500 miles away at night in the middle of nowhere and was wondering (in general) what resources u have access to at "somepoint" down the road.. not the only place to look - but a place to start to look at "unitil" u get where u are going.. and if times against u - well u have some info right at your hand.. etc etc..

plus if u don't speak the local lang.. can't find english print material... it can save your asssssssssssssss! not just LP but any paperback info book..

that said - I am buying footprint and rough guide books as backup now.. new to motorcycle travel.. but old caver/long dist packpacker/bicyclist.. LP saved my ass coming out of the wild in the 70's after a 4 months hike!! a lot of info in one place!

I left my LP of Argentina in a hotel, and went back to what I did before someone gave me them. (Ecudor/Peru/Bolivia/Chile/Argentina) that is ride up and down the main drag checking out the hotels and if there are none pay a local taxi to take me to one. In Argentina/Chile/Uruguay most towns have budget hotels. As long as the bike is safe I can take the bed bugs and cold water pipe sticking out of a crumbling wall in the corner of a room.

With Smellybikers map in my Garmin now I can find petrol (most important thing)and hotels in many, but not all, countries now. (How times change, I once posted that Satnav was an idle luxury!!)

With the wealth of knowledge we have on the HUBB we should be able to put together our own M/C versions. Did I see a post somewhere requesting this info?

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Happy Trails

Stagbeetle

It is not the Journey nor yet the Destination, that is the Prize; it is the people you meet on the way.

Blog on http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fairless/

Hi D!

Keep on riding Stagb.........bloody brilliant! Your recent hammock photo says it all!

Good roads!

Yes there is a move here to have a GPS tracks (andPOI)? thingy .. The issue though is that maps are brand specific so HU may not produce maps as they don't cover everyones gps .. just tracks and waypoints that can be translated between brands by GPSBabble.. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/routes/

But I think you'll find most of the Wanderlust Map users are bikers .. and as such are adding data of intreset to other bike riders ... I know I am. If 'we' keep geting updates each year (or near year) the map will be just so good ... !!! Version 2 - due out soonish .. with topo info... This will I think be the world map of choice for bike riders .. I'm adding petrol station where they matter ie where it is over say 100 kms from one to another.. in Australia.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

You too, everyone is doing that these days.

When I came back north I rode backwards so I could recognise where I'd been to re-trace my route.[/quote]

(Markus, I cracked up when I read that one.)


Is LP fine as a guide book? Sure, a lot more mainstream orientated than they used to be but still adequate.

Is using a guide book cheating? Not at all, if it was then we are all cheating in one way or another. IMHO that a guide book just shortens the time you spend screwing around.

As an example, I rode into Allepo, Syria at night sans guidebook or city map. Managed to make into the town center, easy enough but from there it's asking a lot of people who direct you a little bit until you get lost again and have ask for directions.

These aren't modern cities on a grid, they are ancient towns that are spread out higgledy piggedly. Still, kind of fun. After a while I make my way to the hotel part of town - every town has one. From there, I fumble around from ramshackle hotel to ramshackle hotel and find one that has a room and not too many rats. It's a "locals" hotel and I negotiate the room price with the basic Russian I learned from a couple of weeks in Russia (ie not much). This whole exercise takes about two hours.

My neighbor in the hotel is a trucker from Iraq and with the clerk translating, he tells me that I am an American pig. I counter that I am Canadian - like he gives a shit about the subleties of North America vs. America. Still, all good fun and no one gets beaten up in the middle of the night.

Mildly proud of the adventure I am experiencing, in the morning I walk across the street to make sure my bike hasn't been stolen and there are three other bikes parked there. Hmm, what a miracle that they also found this lost world of culture! When we met up later, I asked them where are they staying and how in the world did they get to this area? Easy, they are staying in a hostel a block away and with the little city map in the guidebook it only took them about a half an hour to ride straight there.

So in short they we sitting on a terrace drinking while I was fumbling around like a tourist. We all like adventure, but the guidebooks allow you to eliminate some very time consuming "housekeeping" items of travel so you can put your time to better use and more "true" adventures. I, for one, would prefer to be drinking the cold as you always get more than enough opportunities to get lost