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Is the road from Santiago to Arequipa (Peru) safe? Advice on my South America Itinery

  • 16-04-2010 2:24pm
    #1
    Pisco Sour
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,029 ✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    I'm looking into a 9-10 week trip around South America. At the moment my plan is to fly into Rio, spend a couple of days there and then do a GAP Adventures tour called In Search of Iguassu, which will take me along the south coast of Brazil over to the Iguassu Falls, then down into Uruguay and finishing in Beunos Aires. The trip is 16 days.

    After that I'll probably fly to El Calafate, and from there work my way up through Argentina by bus to Mendoza, stopping at a few places along the way. From Mendoza I'll get a bus to Santiago. And after Santiago I was thinking of stopping off in a few places along the Chilian coast until I get to Arequipa.

    Then in Arequipa I'll take a few days to alcimatise to the altitude before getting a flights to Cuzco to do the Inca Trail, before flying to Lima to finish my trip.

    I have a concern however about the quality of roads in some places in South America. The reason I am not going to Bolivia is because the roads are very narrow, are unpaved, and are perched on the edge of steep life-ending cliffs, with no protective barrier, and drivers who are known to drink and drive.

    So I've been trying as a result to develop a route that would avoid these type of roads.

    Is the road from Santiago to Arequipa paved? Is it perched on the edge of a cliff with no protective barriers, and only one lane wide? I dont mind having to travel on unpaved roads if the area is flat and theres no risk of falling over the edge of a cliff, but under no circumstances will I travel on narrow unpaved roads on the edge of a cliff.

    Also is the road from Mendoza to Santiago paved?

    Also how does my rough itinery look. Is it doable in 9-10 weeks?

    I want to make sure I am safe when travelling and I have a big fear of narrow unpaved cliff edge roads so I would like to develop a trip that avoids such roads if at all possible.

    Finally I'll have to fly out of South America to Auckland from Santiago meaning I'll have to get a flight back down there from Lima. In total I'll be getting 4 flights within South America:

    1) Buenos Aires to El Calafate
    2) Arequipa to Cusco
    3) Cusco to Lima
    4) Lima to Santiago

    Is there a south american flight package that you can get to keep the costs cheaper, similar to the RTW ticket?

    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    darrenh
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 685 ✭✭✭darrenh


    You obviously have a fear of bad roads, which in my opinion could hamper your enjoyment of South America. The Andes run the length of Chile (or around that) and any time you go form one town to the next in Peru, it involves a big ascent and descent through the mountains. Sometimes reaching over 5000m. Thats 5k up in the sky from where you are now! (I presume your at sea level!) Altitude sickness is what you should be worried about.

    The buses are excellent and the drivers are well trained. They swap over regularly. They are comfortable, they serve meals and show movie after movie. The only road I feared in Bolivia is from Uyuni to Sucre. Not for the faint hearted! If it says 'worlds most dangerous road', you go down it, and then hurt/kill yourself, then it is your own fault no matter how much the mistake wasn't yours. I presume though that you wont be doing that though.

    If you have to go to Santiago, why go twice. From Mendoza continue on to Salta and then cross into Chile and to a town called San Pedro de Atacama. From there you can do the Bolivian Salt Flats tour and return to San Pedro again without ever having seen a bad Bolivian road. Really recommended. If you've gone that far you might as well see one of South Americas highlights. From there go on to Arequipa by bus. The roads are not that bad. Do your trip around Peru and fly back to Santiago. Not much between Santiago and the north of Chile in my opinion. Chile lovers will probably slate me though! From Santiago it is only short bus journeys to the beach side towns. What ever you choose it will be amazing. Enjoy!;)


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