How did you do all that by yourself?

Every time I answered: "I went from Colombia down to Ecuador, and all the way through Peru and Bolivia down to Santiago in Chile. It took something like 2 months in total traveling mostly on buses" to someone asking me where I was, the next question that immediately comes is: "How did you do all that by yourself?"

And there I always think "huh, I never really felt alone and by myself, ok a few times maybe, but I have met so many people I have spent time traveling with" and "It didn't seem like very long and like I did a lot of distance, ok I spent 24hours consecutively in a bus once but that was ok, and "all that" like you say makes me feel I have done nothing"

Thinking about distances, I actually looked at a map when I came back home. It is not that I never looked at a map when I was traveling or planning my trip but it is different to look at it once you have done it and you know how slow buses were or how windy and hilly the roads are. So from the map I can say that I have covered roughly 8000 kilometers in buses, and 2000km by taking twice a plane (Quito-Cuenca in Ecuador, and Lima-Cuzco in Peru) in 2 months.

Too fast? It depends how you see it, some people (most backpackers..) will tell you that this is crazy, that you're rushing it and you don't have time to appreciate things or see everything. And I think that it is true. Most backpackers will take 6 months or even a year to do a similar trip. Many times I wished I could stay longer here or there, spend more time with nice people I have just met and not simply say that I have to take another bus further south the next day. But to me it was also a good occasion to discover countries. It a bit like taking a bite of each, and you come later to take full meal of the one(s) you liked the most. I think I will explain this more in details in another post.

To come back to the original topic of this post, I think that what amazes people when you say you have been traveling in South America for 2 months by yourself it that they think you had to do everything yourself without no one to help you: find a place to sleep every night, arrange transportation from city to city and country to country, and all that in countries that are far from being developed...

But you know what the more the countries are "developed" the more difficult it is to travel as a backpacker. You need to book in advance for trains or flights, you need to make a reservation for hotels/hostels to make sure you will have a place to sleep when you arrive, you need to show tons of papers to get a visa or rent a car, etc. AND it is expensive. In South America, in "non-developed" countries such as Bolivia like people see it, there is no need for all that.

You go to the bus terminal, ask when the next bus is leaving, "how much does it cost?" Too expensive? you just go to the next counter ask to the other bus company. You get your ticket, hop on the bus, spend a few hours looking at the landscapes, read your Lonely Planet about what there is to see in the city you're going to and look at the accommodation section, see the sun setting and the night coming darker and darker, and arrive in a new city. You ask to people around you where is a good, cheap hostel. Many of them are willing to answer or at least they don't to have this western-world look that says: "what do you want? I don't know you, i don't have time". You get to the hostel, ask if they have a room, how much it costs for a night, ask to have a look at it. It's fine, you take it, drop your bag and go wander around. In the hostel you find people to talk with or simply decide to go in town to eat something in the street. Easy, fun, AND cheap.

Ok this sounds easy but it really is :) For sure having a tourist guide such as the Lonely Planet helps. If you need one I would really recommend "South America on a shoestring". You have all south america countries in one book. Explanations are short and you find quickly what you need (what to see/to do, where to eat, where to sleep, how to move to/from there). It is very useful when you arrive at 11pm in town and you just wanna know where is a good hostel.

On the other hand it also formats your travel as you tend to do and see what the guide tells you do. Without such a guide and sufficient time I think you will have an even better and more authentic traveling experience as you rely on other travelers and locals' advices. You don't simply follow the backpackers' footprints and I think it is the only way to start to understand a bit the local culture by living with locals.

Now regarding planning such a trip in advance. What you need is: very little planning :p. The more flexible you are the more you can change your plans and follow people somewhere or go see something that wasn't written in your traveling guide.

Basically I had borders (I land in Bogota, Colombia on a specific date and I need to take my flight home in Santiago Chile two months and 8000km later) and I had things I wanted to do and see.

In the end "planning" gives:

-November, 11th, land Bogota 3:15pm, sleep at Alejandra's place

-November, 12th, visit Bogota, take bus to San Agustin

-November, 13th, visit San Agustin, take bus back to Bogota

-November 14th, take bus Manizales

-November 15th, visit Manizales

-November 16h, visit Manizales, climb Nevado del Ruiz

etc.

So I had this written on a piece paper for 2 months of traveling and that was it. I changed my plans many times, I also followed them perfectly for a few days some other times. In my case I needed to have a rough idea of how long it takes by bus to cover Bogota-Manizales for instance. On a map it is not so far (~500km) but in reality it takes 12hours so it is the kind of things you should do if you want to keep moving from place to place in a short period of time. I think that people that have 6months for such a trip don't even write down where they wanna be on what day. They just have a rough ideas of things they want to see (Salar de Uyuni, lake Titicaca, Cuzco, Macchu Pichu, etc.) and that's basically it.

Finally to answer to the "by myself" I actually LOVED it. You do what you really want without interferences of other. You feel like taking the bus now to go there, just do it. No need to see if others agree, if there is another places of everyone, etc. You get to talk more to locals because you have no one to talk to. And if you feel lonely you can still make friends or find traveling buddies in hostels or just while being on a bus. I am almost about to say that I liked it better than traveling with friends but I actually liked it differently.

One regret? There is one thing you can't do when you traveling alone: share your experiences like you would do with a good friend or talk about it ages later with your friend: "Hey you remember when we met those locals that invited us to a birthday party? That was crazy."

Did you feel in danger or unsafe in any place?

Did i feel in danger or unsage in any place? Hmm, the first thing I want to answer to that is: "no, never, I never had a single problem, i didn't get stabbed or anything if you really wanna know"

This question is actually more appropriate that it seems since countries like France give a strong advice against visiting countries like Colombia or Peru, both countries where I have actually been. Ok I have never had any problems but I have also tried to avoid having problems as much as possible. Basic ideas you come with when you first travel there are: do not go to slums or dodgy areas, do not show around that you have a 1000$ DSLR or a rolex or whatever else that costs money, do not leave your bag to someone you don't know, etc.

But there is things that you might not have think of and that's where you actually realize that if you are a bit unlucky and uncautious it is possible to have problems that can turn in very bad situations sometimes.

For instance, I have met in Trujillo, Peru an american guy accompanied with a local women that came to me asking if i could understand both Spanish and English. I said yes, and she started to ask me in Spanish if I could ask the guy in english if everything was ok and if he needed anything else. Ok the guy looked a bit sketchy but most backpackers like I also do so I wasn't expecting to hear what he told me.

image: Policemen in Lima, Peru

He woke up at 5am, took a cab to go from his hostel to the center, and suddenly the cab driver started to act weird. First stopped at a gas station, then started to drive around some blocks while talking on the phone, and finally stopped the car in front of a group of guys. 4 guys pulled him out by force and started to beat him up to get his money. Apparently someone had even biten in his arm as he was trying to stay inside the car while giving kicks whith his legs. In the end he had his camera stolen, they torn appart his jacket to get his wallet with all his money, credit card, and everything else. And the poor guy had only something like $50c to go back to another place where luckily he had left his backpack with some money and his passport. When you hear that, the first thing you think of is "shit that could have happened to me too", even before thinking "poor guy".

The more you travel, the more you hear of similar stories. 2 guys in Quito, Ecuador that got "assaulted" with mustard and ketchup and while one guy was insisting to help them clean the mess, the other one stole things in their backpacks. Even better, someone in Guayaquil, Ecuador that simply got asked by a taxi driver to give away his wallet and all his money. The taxi driver was pointing a gun at him.. And still even "better", a french women working for a NGO that one night got shot down in Quito for something like 20$, that had to wait 2hours in the hospital before getting surgery since she didn't have her credit card with her, and that in the end didn't make it...

I would say that in all countries I have been to and not only Ecuador there is some places that are unsafe. Though Quito and Guayaquil became recently notoriously famous for being unsafe I wouldn't say that Bogota, Cali, or Medellin in Colombia nor Lima in Peru, nor La Paz in Bolivia are safer. In general, it is better to pay attention in capital cities where crime is more of a problem that in small cities or in the countryside where I have never felt unsafe nor heard any stories.

Therefore general safety rules are: always try to take an official taxi, do not hang out by yourself after 10-11pm and until 6-7am, always pay attention to your backpack in bus stations or in minibuses, always pay attention to your wallet and camera when you take public transportation which are always crowded and full of pickpockets.

In the end there is many places that you would miss if you're simply scared of going there because you've heard or read stories about it. Simply know that locals know the best about what to do, where to go and not to go. Most of them will actually tell you that during the day it is safe almost everywhere and especially in the center with the presence of the police. So the best advice I can give is just to go ask local people, and you might also end up having someone showing you around the city, inviting you for a drink, or simply telling you about a place that is not written in any tourist guide :)

image right: policemen in La Paz, Bolivia

image left: policeman in Cuzco, Peru

Back to the past

It has been almost a month since I came back from my trip to South America. It was a fantastic 2 months trip from Bogota, Colombia to Santiago, Chile. Thousands of kilometers on buses, minibuses, and many other means of transportation. Countless encounters with amazing local people, and unforgettable adventures. In short great great memories of it.

And the thing that amazed me the most in all that? The food, the people, the landscapes? No, it is simply all the questions I had when I came back home:
-"Did you feel in danger or unsafe in any place?"
-"How did you do it all by yourself?"
-"Did you meet people?"
-"Where did you sleep?"
-"What did you prefer?"
-"Did you have any problem ever?
-and the cult one: "How was it?"

I think I will try to answer all that since I have been asked so many times. And maybe use this blog not like a diary blog that you fill as your travel but rather as something that you use to get back to the past and to make a roadbook of all what you've seen and done.