Now and then I think of something which I think I should pass on as a tip to future travellers so I´m going to collect them all in this blog. (I´ve also just added some more to yesterday´s Mylodon blog - have some time to pass here till the trekking talk and like to give my pesos to the place which saved my camera for me.)
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1) If in a room with bunk beds try to get a top corner bunk. It means you have a wall to lean your stuff against, and don´t have people on both sides. And on the bottom bunk it´s too dark to read and you bang your head on the top bunk all the time. And most people seem to prefer the lower bunks so if the room isn´t full you have the ´top floor´ to yourself. It´s clearly nearing the end of the season here as there´s plenty of room everywhere.
2) Check out all available toilets/shower rooms. Some are much better than others. And there are often shampoo bottles left behind you can refill your tiny 100ml plastic bottle with. (Anyone who carries more is just daft! You don´t get 7kilo handbaggage by carting family size bottles of shampoo about.)
3) Make friends with whoever looks like they know how things function. Makes it easier to borrow scissors/a reading lamp/whatever else you feel you need to improve a night´s stay.
4) Refill your water bottle at every opportunity. You might think it´s got enough but when you´ve just cycled to the top of a hill through a lot of dust you´ll be glad of the extra 200ml.
5) Carry a small can of spray deodorant in your inside jacket pocket. Apart from the obvious use to freshen up after sweaty climbs it can also be used to deter dogs who get too close. Haven´t actually tried this in practise yet but I remember reading somewhere in a dogtraining book that the hissing noise scares them off. I was seriously thinking of investing in a pepper-spray after the biting incident in Ushuaia but thought that was a bit extreme (I wouldn´t like to think of even a nasty biting dog trying to paw pepper spray out of it´s eyes...) decided this would probably be a suitable alternative.
6) Sew large book-size pockets into the inside of your (over)jacket. I am sO glad of the waistcoat I wear over my other jacket as it just swallows up all of the maps and folders I aquire along the way.
7) Adjust the pouch bag you keep your valuables in so that the underside of your rucksack can just rest on top of it when walking. This takes just that bit of extra weight off the shoulders which makes walking more comfortable. Preferably it´s worn at the back, under a top jacket.
8)And to finish with - today´s topical tip: Check all around and under the table of the internet booth you´re using before leaving!!! It´s so easy to leave stuff behind, like cameras for instance... (see last blog).
9) Have just thought of another one I read in a trekking advice poster this morning. Don´t carry more than 20% of your body weight. Well, personally I wouldn´t want to even do that but I suppose if you have a tent it could get to be this much so it´s a good guideline for people who have to divide up kit between them.
10) Use flat contactlens containers for small amounts of suncream/vaseline. The round plastic containers which camera films (remember them?) come in are also handy if you have any left anywhere.
11) Get a microtowel. I've seen people with enormous bathtowels (rolled up they take up more room than my entire sleeping bag!) when all you really need is a tiny microfibre towel which absorbs easily and dries quickly. So ok, it doesn't feel as nice as a big fluffy towel but it does the job.
12) Dental floss. Can be used for all sorts of things and takes up practically no room. Washing lines, repairing buckles, emergency shoe laces.
13) Have a large cotton or silk scarf. Can double as light cover, sarong, pillowcase. Can be used to fix your bag to the handlebars of a bike. And for a really poetic travelling look, if you lose your rucksack you could always wrap all your remaining belongings in it, tie it to the end of a stick, put it over your shoulder and there you go, Dick Whittington on his way to London.
