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south american travel reading suggestions please

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Hey there, i am heading to South America soon, and am looking for some South American based travel reading/road trip kind of book. a mixture between: The Beach / On the Road / Shantaram would be great. Any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks!
14 years ago, August 3rd 2009 No: 1 Msg: #81919  
Hey there, i am heading to South America soon, and am looking for some South American based travel reading/road trip kind of book.

a mixture between: The Beach / On the Road / Shantaram would be great.

Any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks! Reply to this

14 years ago, August 3rd 2009 No: 2 Msg: #81955  
B Posts: 105
I can recommend Marching Powder by Rusty Young which is a story about the very unusual San Pedro Prison in Bolivia - its really interesting and worth reading. The Road to Gobbler's Knob by Geoff Hill is a humourous account of a motorcycle journey from Chile to Alaska - which is pretty good too, and then there is the staple Inca Kola by Matthew Paris which every backpacker seems to be carrying around! Hope this helps! Reply to this

14 years ago, August 4th 2009 No: 3 Msg: #82042  
Read some South American classics - anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (e.g. Love in the Time of Cholera) and Isabel Allende for a start. Reply to this

14 years ago, August 4th 2009 No: 4 Msg: #82095  
B Posts: 171
not to forget "the motorcycle diaries", the story of che guevaras (life changing) motor cycle trip right up through south america in 1952 ... no fancy hostels in those days ! :-) Reply to this

14 years ago, August 5th 2009 No: 5 Msg: #82225  
motorcycle diaries is a must for traveling south america. im actually basing my trip, somewhat, around the book. Reply to this

14 years ago, August 6th 2009 No: 6 Msg: #82264  
B Posts: 21
Another vote for motorcycle diaries.

Marching Powder isn't a great travel book.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's books also have great descriptions of lifestyles in Sth America.

Read some John Perkins or Naomi Klein (websites as well) to get a feeling for the recent political history, particularly if you're an American, to understand some people's feelings. Reply to this

14 years ago, August 21st 2009 No: 7 Msg: #83805  
Venas abiertas de Latino América” de Eduardo Galeano

It is an excellent book. You can get it in English--"Open veins from Latin America". It is a book that tells you the history of all countries in Latin America and at the same time explains the reasons of why things are the way they are now. It is like a research book, Galeano cites all what he says.

Some critics said that it is a negative book, I do no think so. Things are/ were the way they are/were; the story has to be told as it was. This is one of the best book of its kind that I had read--and I read as much as I eat. Reply to this

13 years ago, May 17th 2010 No: 8 Msg: #111147  
The Gringo Trail is one which was recommended to me. It follows some backpackers through the typical south America route... it was alright. can't remember the author Reply to this

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