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best spanish speaking country for tour?

Old 07-20-05, 11:31 AM
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best spanish speaking country for tour?

I am planning on going on a 4-6 week self supported bike tour in the next year. I am want to tour a spanish speaking country. Any suggestions? I was thinking maybe Ecuador....
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Old 07-20-05, 12:18 PM
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My vote would be Chille. Beautifull scenery, mountains, volcanos, Carratera Austral. Nice people, good food and wine, found some very nice hostels.
Second vote would be Bolivia. Losts of history, nice people, but the food is less good and the traveling is a lot "harder".

Patrick
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Old 07-20-05, 12:39 PM
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I also heard good comments about Chile (never cycled there) but it would cheaper to bike in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Other well known bike touring countries are Spain and Cuba... (never cycled either of these places).

There is also California, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida and Texas ;-)
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Old 07-20-05, 01:02 PM
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Caifornia
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Old 07-20-05, 01:15 PM
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I've toured in Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, plus several daytrips in Ecuador. Also a bit of touring in Spain. Mexico is great if you pick the right region & season (northern hemisphere winter is best). I especially liked Michoacan state. If you want easy riding, the Yucatan is very good in the winter, assuming it didn't get trashed too badly by Hurricane Emily this week. I'm thinking of returning myself to Mexico this winter to bike in the highlands of Oaxaca and Chiapas.
South-central Chile ("la region de los lagos") and adjacent Argentina have some of the finest scenery I've seen anywhere on the planet, though it's not nearly as interesting culturally or gastronomically as Mexico. There are relatively few paved roads, however, and not even that many unpaved ones in the region. The Carretera Austral in southern Chile gets raves, though I wasn't there myself. It's much wetter, and some camping will be required. No camping gear was required on my 2 bike trips to Mexico (inexpensive hotels) or south-central Chile (hospedajes, e.g. bed & breakfast)
I think that touring in the mountains of Ecuador could be good. I did daytrips near Otavalo (north of Quito), Cotopaxi volcano (south of Quito), and Banos (east slope of the Andes partially down to the Amazon basin), and all were enjoyable. I've heard there's a pretty region between Cuenca and the Peruvian border. I was in Ecuador before the most recent economic collapse and dollarization, and don't know to what extent security has deteriorated.
Costa Rica is a lovely country that's well worth a visit, but I found biking there less satisfying than the other countries I've mentioned.
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Old 07-20-05, 07:45 PM
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South-central Chile ("la region de los lagos") and adjacent Argentina have some of the finest scenery I've seen anywhere on the planet, though it's not nearly as interesting culturally or gastronomically as Mexico. There are relatively few paved roads, however, and not even that many unpaved ones in the region.


Wow, thanks for the input. In regards to the roads in Chile, did you need a mountain bike, or was a touring bike sufficient? Also what was the security situation like? How far apart are most towns/ places to stay/eat? The same questions go for mexico as well. I don't think I am going to be camping on this tour.
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Old 07-21-05, 06:16 AM
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There is no country where I felt safer than Chile.

For Chile, I rode a mountain bike with smooth inverted tread tires. That worked very well for my riding which was mostly on paved roads, but included 2 crossings of the Andes on unpaved roads. BTW, the passes between Chile & Argentina in the lake region are considerably lower than those further north. Go tohttps://www.turistel.cl/ to see some excellent maps. Click on "mapas ruteros", then on individual letters to open the maps. It looks like there have been some additional roads paved since I was there 10 years ago. You could probably use a touring bike if you intend to stick to paved roads most of the time.

Hospedajes (B&B) were easy to find every night. However, my trip was in December, and supposedly few Chileans go away on holiday before January 1. Therefore, it might be harder to find a vacant room in January.

The Yucatan of Mexico is another incredibly safe area. The Mayan culture is alive and well in small villages and big cities alike in the Yucatan, and I always felt at ease everywhere I went. Female cyclists have said the same thing about the Yucatan. The safety situation varies elsewhere in Mexico. Obviously there are problems in much of the US/Mexico border area, and Mexico City (though I personally had no problems at all in Mexico City, and really liked the city). My friend & I felt quite safe biking in Michoacan and Jalisco states. I've been on 2 non-biking trips elsewhere in Mexico (Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Puebla, Oaxaca states & Mexico City) and had zero problems and felt I had to remain somewhat vigilant only in Mexico City. I have been told one first-hand story by a cyclist who was robbed in a rural lowland Pacific coastal area, and read a similar first-hand story by a cyclist on the central Mexico Gulf coast. (Personally, the only country where I was ever in danger on my bike trips was, of all places, Switzerland.)

Distances between towns can occasionally be great in Mexico, so you do have to take some care that you can find a room for the night, but I never had a problem myself. One final thing, it's extremely easy to bring a bike with you when you take buses in Mexico & Chile.
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Old 07-21-05, 11:23 AM
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I've been told that the paved roads in chile are mostly highways and full of traffic. Is this true, or is there a network of smaller roads as well?
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Old 07-21-05, 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by pasopia
I've been told that the paved roads in chile are mostly highways and full of traffic. Is this true, or is there a network of smaller roads as well?
Well, that's not quite true, but neither is there a wide network of smaller roads, either. The truth is somewhere in between. If you look at the turistel maps I mentioned above (particularly region "H"), you'll see that there's not much in the way of north-south roads other than the Pan American Highway. There certainly isn't a continuous paved secondary route parallel to the Pan Am which covers the whole region. However, there are some sections available which are paved, and some others which are unpaved. Since I had no desire to, say, cover the length of Chile, I wasn't attempting to simply go north-south. My own route in the region was like a giant "S", starting in Puerto Montt, biking over to Bariloche (highly recommended route involving 3 boat trips), then back into Chile (that pass has now appears to be paved) to Valdivia, then back eastward to Pucon, then up to Temuco. I also did some riding way down south around Punta Arenas as well as the Valparaiso/Vina del Mar area, and around Santiago. I did bike a couple of short stretches along the Pan American and it was noisy with lots of traffic, though I was able to ride entirely along a paved shoulder. Still, not my idea of fun. Also, it was unusually dry when I was there, and the unpaved roads were annoyingly dusty, though traffic was generally light on them.

If you end up going to Chile, I would recommend that you cross into Argentina for at least a few days. The culture is quite different from Chile, and Argentina is now a cheap place to visit. Be aware, however, that much of western Argentina is very sparsely populated and you'll have to plan your route carefully since you don't want to camp. (I understand where you're coming from. I didn't want to camp either, and was glad I was able to do my trip there without shlepping camping gear.)

Questions to consider are what month(s) do you want to travel? What are the most important attributes you're looking for: Scenery? Culture? Safety? Good food? Chile rates very highly for scenery & safety, including hygiene. The culture & food are less interesting. Parts of Mexico have good scenery, other parts are so-so. Some parts (e.g. Yucatan) are very safe, others less so. The culture is always fascinating in Mexico and the food is superb. The Mexican people are outgoing and wonderfully friendly. Chileans are nice but very reserved (the contrast with Argentina is striking when you cross the border) Ecuador has some great scenery, too, and an interesting culture. Unexciting food. The people are quite reserved. I'm honestly not sure what the safety situation is like these days, but in the past, Ecuador was a safe country overall.
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Old 08-08-05, 11:02 PM
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Chili: Region de Los Lagos and the whole Carretera Austral (from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins). For the Carretera You need a strong bike: there are about 1000 kms of hard unpaved road.

Last edited by maurizio18; 08-08-05 at 11:18 PM.
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Old 08-09-05, 11:50 AM
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Chile is just gorgeous. Along with Puerto Montt, and the Lake District that others have mentioned, do not miss Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine in the south - one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and very undeveloped, in fact the road into it from Puerto Natales is still gravel and lightly travelled, at least it was a few years ago.
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Old 08-10-05, 12:27 PM
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A great tip we received is that there is an unfinished road from Puerto Natales to Torres Del Paine. A few of the bridges are out, but a determined cyclist can do it in about two days. Awesome scenery and no traffic at all. Torres Del Paine is indeed one of the most beautiful places in the world, but it is a long way from anywhere else. To get there you should to the whole tour (caratera Austral and on to Ruta 40 through Patagonia). It was very hard, but a trip we will never forget.
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Old 08-10-05, 07:01 PM
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Hard to beat parts of Spain. I've travelled there quite a bit though I've never biked there.
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Old 08-13-05, 10:07 AM
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I cycled a short tour in the Yucatan two years ago. The roads weren't in the greatest shape, but it
was quite enjoyable, nonetheless.

Here is a blog entry from a friend of mine that recently returned from a visit to Oaxaca, Mexico:
https://www.nicomachus.net/weblog/archives/000107.html
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Old 08-13-05, 10:13 AM
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Colombia has a long cycling tradition. It also has some of the most diverse terrain in the world. Unfortunately, the country is in a permanent state of civil war, so it would be quite dangerous. Chile is a nice country, especially the wine region. Kind of like California without the development. Mexico also has some diverse terrain, but the infrastructure is questionable. My experience in other Latin America countries is limited. Spain is great too. So my vote would be in this order:

1. Chile
2. Spain
3. Mexico
4. Colombia (just make sure you have a good life insurance policy)
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Old 08-14-05, 01:27 PM
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Is cycling allowed on the Pan-Am highway? Specifically in Chile?
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Old 08-15-05, 07:32 AM
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I biked on the Pan-Am in Chile in two different places about 10 years ago. No restrictions at that time, at least. There was a paved shoulder, but fairly constant traffic. I only rode on it when I had no other alternative. FWIW, I also biked on sections of the Pan-Am in Costa Rica. Similar to Chile.
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