Camping - a considered view with the benefit of hindsight

Quiz question: When does camping become glamping? Is it: a. Once there are showers, a bar, and catering. b. Only if the arrangements include your own dedicated bathing facilities c. Never - the term is oxymoronic so long as you're in a field. I've been pondering the answer since our 6 nights under canvas in Mongolia - my first since schooldays. The camps were organised by Nomads - an experienced Mongolian holiday operator - who set up a communal mess and bar, showers with hot water and toilet tents. There was plenty of space to decide where to pitch your tent and allocated areas for cars needing repair.

I thought I'd analyse the pros and cons together with their mitigants in relation to my experience in this rally. Cons Putting up a tent at the end of a long day is extra effort. The instructions look simple and I'd practiced in England but setting a small tent well is a skill outside my natural compass. Mitigant: discovered after the first day the camp organisers, 'Nomads', would provide, set up and dismantle a good sized tent for $25 a night - bargain.

Shower and lavatory facilities are bound to be inadequate. Mitigant: they did their best.

Field catering is at best a compromise - you just don't get Masterchef from the Camp site - for good reason. They did their best.

No wi-fi and mostly no mobile signal - no mitigant. Sleep quality is diminished by closeness to the natural environment: true. But even more diminished by the din of generators for the mess tent and floodlighting; by the arrival of low loaders with broken down cars; by the clanging as mechanics tried to keep cars rolling; and, not least, by over enthusiastic participants starting up early. Pros It enabled us to reach remote parts of Mongolia with rutted tracks, rocky summits, sand drifts not otherwise accessible. Mitigant: how good was being there? - see separate discussion on desert and steppe off roading. I survived but was well pleased to throw away the tent in Russia. There was nothing glamorous about option a (but it could easily have been a lot worse). The extra discipline required for camping is organisation: the key item at the bottom of the rucksack is entirely out of reach. Absence of Internet access (and especially the ability to recharge my mobile) were irritants and created a sense of isolation emphasised by the distance from a cafe or shop. So the conclusion - nothing glamorous about a. and no encouragement to try b. which deals with only one of the cons - so it's c. for me - but I expect you guessed that already.