Thank you very much Ed much appreciated.
Mark

Hi Mark,

I felt no more unsafe in S America than anywhere else I've travelled, or a late night out in London. Colomobia and Rio de Janiero might be the exceptions, though this may have been due to all the talk, as I certainly didn't see anything dodgy going on myself.

As usual the normal rules apply; act sensibly, don't act like a rich tourist - flash watch, expensive camera hanging round your neck etc. Don't do anything silly you wouldn't do at home - go out on your own and get so drunk you don't know where you are etc. Try and get your bearings so you're not wandering around lost etc. There's a decent article on safe travelling here: http://www.canoe.ca/Travel/TipsTrends/Tips/2008/05/11/5540271-sun.html

Key tip - be sensible and enjoy!!

Ed

Hi Ed thank you very much i will look into the options you have given me,
yes i think i would rather do that journey by over land alright,
just another question is it reasonably safe country to travel in most of south america ??

Harlo, is anyone going to Japan in june? will be there for about 3 weeks.. staying 2 weeks in tokyo, fuji, nikko and last week at kyoto, hiroshima, osaka...

Hi Mark,

I've done some travel around south america and the only company I've come across that does reasonable flights between countries is LAN (http://plane.lan.com/promociones/data/norteamerica/us/todo_el_mundo/sudamerica_airpass/index-en-us.html). They do an Airpass where you can pre-buy a number of flights over a flexible period.

I know that Argentina and Brazil both have airlines that do reasonably priced internal flights (particularly Argentina, given the exchange rate).

That said - although it's an enormous continent - one of the best things about south america is travelling overland...and I'd definitley recommend that you try to go Peru to Bolivia overland - if you're starting in Lima you'll get to take in Arequipa, Nazca, Cuzco and of course Lake Titicaca - all stunning places!!

Enjoy...I'm thoroughly jealous ;)