旅遊手冊帶不帶 (Travelling in South America without Lonely Planet)

2008年7月31日 星期四

俗話說「書到用時方恨少」，猶記得出發前，我們倆個充分發揮了女人斤打細算、錙銖必較的本領，最後猛下決定不帶任何一本旅遊書前進南美，到現在還是不明白我們當時是給鬼上了身嗎？

"When you need the knowledge, you regret that you are lacking it.. " Before we headed off, we haggled over every penny, and also decided not to bring any travel book for this trip. But until now, we don't understand what happened to us at that time.

我們：這次出國這麼久，要不要買本旅遊書呢？
We: Should we buy a travel book for this adventure?

魔鬼：想買哪一本？
Devil: Which one we need?

我們：目前去南美最夯的應該就是 Lonely Planet 啦！也有人說日本的地球步方(地球の歩き方)很適合台灣人的閱讀習慣。
We: The most popular one should be Lonely Planet. But some people also said 地球の歩き方is suitable for Taiwanese.


魔鬼：Lonely Planet 好大一本喔！South America 那版的又厚又重，若是單一國家又要買好幾國。地球步方那本是日文你看得懂嗎？
Devil: Lonely Planet? The S. America one is too heavy, or you need to have single-country one. That will be too many. 地球の歩き方?Can you read Japanese?

我們：聽說 South America 版的可以將要去的國家拆成一小本一小本裝訂起來，就方便攜帶了。而日文裡有很多漢字，應該可以猜得出大致在說什麼。
We: We can take South America one apart by each country and that will be lighter and handy. In addition, we can read Kanji, so it might be able for us to guess.

魔鬼：但好好的一本書拆得亂七八糟好嗎？日文畢竟不是自己的母語，而且旅遊書都不便宜喔！
Devil: But is it good to make a book higgledy-piggledy? Plus, after all, Japanese is not the mother language. Importantly, those books are very expensive.

我們：是啊，我們真的好窮喔！(兩人想起這陣子已花得錢)。
We: You're right. We are so poor!!!

魔鬼：也有人是自己編制旅遊手冊，然後邊玩邊丟，一點都不心疼、也不重，資料又是自己想看的，你們不是已經在網路上找了很多資料了嗎？相信要編出一本決非難事。出門在外能省則省、能減輕重量就減輕重量啊！
Devil: Some people also make their own travel book and just throw part away when they finish an itineray. I think you have got lots of informaiton. It won't be difficult to make a book for you two.

我們(兩人點頭如搗蒜)：說得真好，我們都聽你的！(平凡人的心總是很容易受到激勵與蒙蔽的...)
We (Nodding our heads vigorously) : Great idea! (You know, we are just common people who are inspired and hoodwinked easily)

故兩人天真且焚膏繼晷的編起旅遊小手冊，在這離出國前所剩不多的天數裡。
Then we really started making our travel manual in few days before setting out.

最後，這長達 79 頁的特製版旅遊書(一張兩頁正反印濃縮成約 20 張紙的小手冊)讓我們倆個之後在南美洲的旅行
In the end, this special-79-page travel manual was with us in South America.
時而滿心歡喜的讚賞自己之前所做足的功課 ;
We sometime were proud of what we researched before;
也時而充滿無奈只因為很多想了解的東西在上面都找不到；
sometime also felt painful because we couldn't find the information we wanted to learn more;
時時翻看哪裡有漏掉沒去到的地方
sometime we checked if we missed somewhere;
也時時奔走於 Tourist information center 詢問此地哪裡好玩；
and also rushed in Touist information center to ask about where we can go;
常常注意手冊上前人推薦的當地美食
sometime we enjoyed the local food followed by the manual;
卻也常常於飢腸轆轆時遊走在街頭不知餐廳身在何處；
but also couldn't find the restaurants while feeling hungry sometime;
總是在快走不動時慶幸沉重的背包裡少了一本厚厚的旅遊書
We were always happy not to have a heavy travel book when we almost couldn't walk
卻也總是在不知下一站夜宿何處時借拍他人的 lonely planet 推薦住處
But also borrowed other people's Lonely Planet to find next accommodation.

對這一切，我們只能心存感激
因為很多的"留白"讓我們此趟旅程充滿了探索的樂趣
因為多數背包客帶的旅遊書解救了我們未知的下一步
也多虧許多善心的當地人即時充當我們迷途時的指南
感謝老天，我們終於平安的回來了 ^__^

We feel appreciated for all of these.
Because of these blank spaces, our trip is full of the joy of exploration.
Because of those travel books, our next unknown steps were solved.
Moreover, we are grateful for many kind local people being our invisible travel books when we lost the way.
Thank God. We arrive home safely. ^__^

<自製南美旅遊小手冊封面與目錄縮小版>