Maps vs GPS

I'm planning on cycling home to NZ from London some time next year and I want to know if there are suitable/detailed cycling maps available for India/South East Asia?

Are there people out there who have used a GPS for cycling parts of the world? Would you recommend them? If so, what sort? I take it these will not be suitable for the Asian countries?

I will generally be cycling the Mediterranean route, India, South East Asia, Australia, NZ.

Any advice will be appreciated.

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Ragini )

Well, assuming that France and Italy are among the parts you were thinking of, I guess I have. I used a Toshiba Pocket PC with a Pharos GPS Compact Flash card and TomTom GPS Citymaps software for a two-week trip this Fall. I adapted the car mount that came with the GPS card to mount the PocketPC on a set of Profile clip-on aero bars, so the computer screen was right in front of the handlebars, where I needed it.

For the rural areas and small towns, it worked very well. It was easy to see where I was on the route, and rather difficult to get lost (not that I didn't find a way of course). It also helped with route planning each night. In some places, it even helped predict the terrain (e.g. upcoming switchbacks = steep climb; road that follows a river = flat).

It was less helpful in congested areas like Sienna, where the software often didn't contain enough street names to find my way. (When every street is called "Un-named Road" and you're trying to get to a hotel address, you're in trouble).

I'd recommend it highly as a primary means of navigation, but I think I'd still stash some paper maps as a backup.

I use a Garmin Legend GPS and am very pleased with it as you can get street level maps (for europe at least) on it but even when using my older GPS I still found it useful , even when riding through the areas that did not have fine detail at least you knew you were going in the right direction. you can enter lat/long for your destinations and it will help keep you on track even in areas wher there is no detail at all.

The main issue I would have is powering it over long periods. My favoured option is a solar powered battery charger, I use this (http://www.isunpower.com/html) along with the batt pack. The battpack will charge up to 10 AA or AAA cells from mains, 12v or solar panel and can be used as a 12v supply for charging phones cameras etc. I've also considered powering the GPS directly from the solar panel/battpack using the 12v car adapter.

The chap on this trip (www.mark-ju.net) has some interesting ideas also look at http://www.digibattery.co.uk/astro/index.htm who have some interesting high capacity cells.

Good luck

Steve D

i have carried a GPS unit that i use for general navigation purposes (e.g., am i going towards the town i thought i was). but i also carry "atlas type" maps with lots of road detail. i also have a typed itinerary that shows what town and/or highway i should be crossing in X kilometers. i reduce my maps and laminate them.

my GPS unit (a garmin Emap) has memory limitations that have prevented me from loading via CD ROM (3) geographic zones at once time. i can usually fit only (2).

i like paper maps because they give me an idea of where i am, how much farther i have to go, and what roads or towns i need to be looking for to ensure i'm travelling in the correct direction.