So I have started planning a bicycle tour from Deadhorse, Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. I am not sure exactly when I will have the funds to do this since I expect it to take 12 to 18 months to complete and I'd rather not rely on anyone (unless I have to and run out of money), but I was wondering if anyone was interested in joining me or if they have done this or sections of it and have any advice or waypoints to share. The plan is to take the Dalton highway and head all the way down to the Pacific Coast trail (waypoints provided by ACA) then continue following the Pan American highway down to Ushuaia, Argentina. I'd like to stop in Costa Rica for a little and Peru, but other than that I am up for anything. Willing to stop in cool places and work odd jobs until I am ready to continue the trip. 12 - 18 months is just an estimate on the timeframe, it might actually be longer.
Hey dude, I biked California to Argentina, took me 2.5 years....i reckon half of that time I was doing some kind of work exchange though, I was going to go to Ushuaia but arrived in winter, and Bolivia kicked my ass, and the thought of more wind and desert was just insane for me, actually I was starting to loose it abit in Bolivia when the wind started talking to me, but fuck, I chose a hard route, all off road, well the roads were non existent actually, sometimes 5 days inbetween villages, and only river water to drink, -20c nights, frozen solid water every morning, fuck i remember one -20c night where even in my -10 down bag I was just too cold to sleep and spent literally all night thinking about different pizza toppings....Anyway I headed east across paraguay and finished in Brazil...
Its all epic stuff dude, I love south america, my favourite places were mexico and Colombia....enjoy the food in mexico as its all down hill from there, they set the bar pretty high though....
I paid 50usd to cross the gap on a cargo boat, from colon( i think) to turbo...it took like 7 days or something to do like 250km but it was cool, 3 meals a day and stopping off on the kuna yala islands which was pretty cool...I bummed around on an island waiting for the ride for like 3 days, boring as hell, but a random family invited me in to their shack, gave me a hammock to sleep in and fed me rice and fish, it was the poorest living situation i have ever seen, real good people....also got smashed off a fermented corn/coffee combo 'chicha' at a local ceremony where a woman in labor takes center stage while the whole village gets absolutely smashed, the baby being born into high albeit wobble spirits....
Anyway man, as you can imagine i have loads of advice regarding pretty much everything so hit me up....Wild camping is pretty much perfect the whole way, actual you wont find any campsites until Argentina/chile so its the only way...I started off just doing my own thing out side of towns or like in the middle of nowhere inbetween towns...and then once my spanish got better i would pretty much always ask someone to camp, usually in town/random peoples houses/gas stations/schools literally everywhere and anywhere. The benefits being, it was easier, knock on someones door, ask them for water and get a feel for them, then ask to camp in their garden, most times they will say yes, most times you'll get a meal/chat/shower/upgraded to sleeping in a spare room and the occasional party/drinking, advice on the road ahead and most importantly a good nights kip, without worrying about safety etc, they see the bike, and your good to go...Same for small towns/villages, I would just ask to camp in the plaza, never got refused, all the locals would come out and chat and joke, of course there were times when i couldn't be arsed and id just wild camp, obviously, just saying you've got options.
Also big one is the Bomberos, the fire department, they are fucking legends! I stayed in so many stations i started to think i was actually a fireman, honestly some times i would stay a few days, just hanging out, resting, eating, playing volleyball or something random, panama was the best...
Also in dodgy areas I would just make sure to sleep at a 24 hour gas stations on the highway, most have 24 hour security, toilets and showers so your good to go...
Drinking local water will give you the shits on and off but its not a deal breaker, I had quite a few times where I was super dehydrated from drinking bad water, but its no big deal, also sometimes beer will mess you up as well....You can get good filtered water for free from the pharmacies though in a lot of countries, i wish i had known sooner, just go in and ask to fill up your bottles..also you can buy 'sueros' for cheap from the pharmacies, these are like little hydration packets they give for people with the shits, anyway you'll need em.
They say you cant ride the toll roads, especially in mexico, ignore it, I only ever had one problem in Mexico and thats because they were morons and I ended up jumping the fence right in front of them, bike, trailer and everything, going into the village, getting food and water then jumping the fence again to get back on the toll....
The PanAm is the easiest and fastest way, in terms of usually having a good wide shoulder, smoother gradients...but also the most boring, and at times slightly longer stretches inbetween towns, not that it really matters as you can hammer it most the time and make up the speed....Anyway, from Colombia downwards I pretty much dodged the PanAm and took back roads
lastly if you want to take it slow and make money then in South America Juggling is king and macrame is queen, I wish I had known sooner...I lived off purely what I made from juggling an acrylic ball (contact) on stop lights for 6 months!
