We are making a trip to South America and would like your input.
I have a proposed route at Wheel Challenge.
Please take a look at it and let me know if it makes sense!

Thanks

Hi there

I am not Chilean but I have been living in Chile for 5 years so I am going to give you a few tips.

For me the great surprise when I moved to Chile was that I was told not to put up my tent to sleep when I traveled. The reason was that you might get robbed or worse during night. In Chile you should suspect anything from anyone.

So I don´t know how you are going to travel but when I travel by motorcycle in Chile now I do things like drive far off into the desert until I cannot see or hear the highway anymore and there I make my tent for the night. Because if I can be seen from the highway or from local houses then I have no place safe to sleep.

The second thing I want to advice you about is to take care of your girlfriend. She runs a serious risk of getting assaulted if she walks alone after dark. Unshamed stares at close distance, shoutings and whistling she will just have to live with. For some strange reason Chilean men are crazy about white women. Why I do not know as white women deviate from their own race.

Now for your map. You have marked off Valparaiso. My suggestion would be to take extra care there because Valparaiso has very ugly crime where you can get physically hurt if you walk out in the streets at night as foreigners. I would suggest don´t walk out at night in the streets there. Viña del Mar is safer. You could sleep there and just visit Valparaiso at day.

I see you plan to travel south in Chile also. I take it you will pass through Temuco also then. In that case I can suggest a place to rent a cabin for some days and in the same time learn to tame horses.
Domaracional.cl

And here just in case you would like to print out road maps of Chile.
Mapas Ruteros de Chile

Good luck!

Hi Anne

Thanks so much for the tips. I wouldn't have thought that it could be that rough. I had an alternative route south through route 40 in Argentina. I hear is very isolated which I don't like that much. I saw more cities and towns going down through Chile. But if it is that bad, I'd probably just visit Santiago and go back the same way.

Sebastian

Well, my name is not Anne. It is René. I am a man.

From what I understand Chile is the same as other Latin American countries. The same risks, the same mentality in people. You will meet the same in the other countries you wish to travel to.

If one wants to one can argue which Latin American country is worse/better or has a slight difference in something, but if you come from America or North West Europe then it becomes kind of an obsolete discussion because you are going to have to pay attention to some particular things here anyway.

I say go to Chile. Just take some care.

WOW!
WHAT DID I MISS?
In a 60000 K ride from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and back up to New York I never felt at risk, never encountered a crooked cop, encountered nothing but help from border officials. OK, so a fat bearded old man isn't a normal target for sexual assault. Nor is a fat old man riding a Honda 125 a particularly tempting target for bandits - better a rider in bespoke leathers on a Harley or BMW.
Ride sensibly, treat people with courtesy, you will have a great time, encounter wonderfully generous people, experience magnificent country and superb architecture and good food. However, one warning: Argentina is the only country in the Americas (North, Central or South) that serves good coffee, perfect espresso even at the remotest gas station in Patagonia - thank God for all those Italian immigrants.
You can find an account of my own ride on my web site cover
Message me if you have any specific questions.
All joy to you...

I second that.....

I felt safer in parts of South America where people told me I was sure to be murdered than in parts of my own city of Liverpool.

Walk into a slum in expensive western clothes and a camera hanging around your neck, and you deserve what you get !!

Good thing about being a bike traveller is that you always look dirty, scruffy and poor ! LOL

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Ok you want to go from Cartagena to Medellin,not to Bogota.
The reason being from Medellin down to Cali you,ll go through the Zona Cafetera where all the coffee is grown and argueably the most stunning part of the country.
Keep in touch and I,ll help with the best routes through Ecuador and Peru as well.
Al thedogsbollocks

I agree with South America being safe and fun for motorcycling. My wife and I rode for 3 months and abut 18,000 miles there last year and had a wonderful time. You always need to be careful and not show large amounts of money and carry your stuff spread out as any time you let people know you have a wad of cash on you it might attr5act the wrong people. South America is no where near as unsafe as central America. Have a great time

__________________
Larry Davis

Ted, I think of myself as moderately elegant, shoes properly polished, etc. An elderly Brit Blimp!
Though I do lose confidence in this image when picking myself and the bike up from the dirt,

Attached Images

 

Sebastian,

I agree with Simon! I love South America, and in 30 years of living there, you only have problems that you ask for!

In Ecuador, turn in to Cuenca and go down thru Banos into Peru towards Jaen. A BEAUTIFUL ride and only a little gravel near the border. From there, unless you are OK with gravel, head to the coast (tho I'd try not to miss Cajamarca either!)

Then farther south, head up into the Callejon de Huaylas, to Caraz then down to Huaraz (CAN'T MISS HUARAZ!). From there back to the coast and to Lima is a quick 6 hours.

On the Nazca to Cuzco run, don't try it on a dreary day... It is long and cold if the sun is not shining! Wait for a sunny day and shoot only for Abancay, then the next day make a liesurely ride up and over to Cuzco.

Si lo haces de esa manera, sera muy lindo. No vale la pena intentar de hacerlo en una sola. Escribame, ingles o espanol, me es igual...

Abrazos..... Toby

__________________
http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

You do more for our national pride than I !!

Although, Instead of picking my bike up from the dirt, I'm usually shovelling it out and picking up the pieces from a 10m radious

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

hello,

this is martina from villa kunterbunt valparaiso.
sorry, but i ever heard somebody tell such nonsence before.
if you are still living here, what the hell are you doing in this beautifull land?
it would be good not to scare travelers who try to organize their trip.
i better don't use the words i'd like to....

hopefully you didn't confuse this person, i'd like to tell him:just don't worry and do the trip, you'll find excelent people and a beautifull and safe country.

martina

I am not Chilean but I have been living in Chile for 5 years so I am going to give you a few tips.

For me the great surprise when I moved to Chile was that I was told not to put up my tent to sleep when I traveled. The reason was that you might get robbed or worse during night. In Chile you should suspect anything from anyone.

So I don´t know how you are going to travel but when I travel by motorcycle in Chile now I do things like drive far off into the desert until I cannot see or hear the highway anymore and there I make my tent for the night. Because if I can be seen from the highway or from local houses then I have no place safe to sleep.

The second thing I want to advice you about is to take care of your girlfriend. She runs a serious risk of getting assaulted if she walks alone after dark. Unshamed stares at close distance, shoutings and whistling she will just have to live with. For some strange reason Chilean men are crazy about white women. Why I do not know as white women deviate from their own race.

Now for your map. You have marked off Valparaiso. My suggestion would be to take extra care there because Valparaiso has very ugly crime where you can get physically hurt if you walk out in the streets at night as foreigners. I would suggest don´t walk out at night in the streets there. Viña del Mar is safer. You could sleep there and just visit Valparaiso at day.

I see you plan to travel south in Chile also. I take it you will pass through Temuco also then. In that case I can suggest a place to rent a cabin for some days and in the same time learn to tame horses.
Domaracional.cl

And here just in case you would like to print out road maps of Chile.
Mapas Ruteros de Chile

Good luck! [/quote]

First, I just got back from a six month trip through South America last week, so I'm pretty current. I agree with many above who said don't believe all the scare BS. I never had a problem, and only had one cop try for a bribe (although that is rare... it does often happen to others. I'm an ex-cop and carry my old ID for such situations). You just need to learn how to play their game. Lots of posts on HUBB with advice. And follow the other advice about not being too flashy and stay out of bad neighborhoods, just like you would at home.

If you're going that far south, why not consider going ALL the way: Antarctica. For me it was incredible... the highlight of the trip. I got a good last-minute deal out of Ushuaia through a travel agent there that had been recommended to me, Alicia Petiet (alicia@antarcticatravels.com). Try to contact her at least a few days or a week before you arrive to get the best deals.

__________________
Steve Barnett
Panama City, Panama

You are mad. Chile is brilliant.

__________________
Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick