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[lucky]

With this thread I'd like to start a little survey, game, poll, what ever you want to call it.

In this forum, we'll post a question wanting to know your South American best and worse experiences. After a few weeks, we'll gather the best 5 posts for each ( best and worse ) which have been posted and let you vote on which is the best. The best 3 selected will be posted as the Top 3 for one year.

What's the prize for the winner? Bragging rights for one year

We'll change it up each time like, "Your best / worse hostels to stay in South America", "Your best / worse bus rides" and so on.

This week let's start it off with this top 3:


What's your best and worse experience with locals in South America?


Post one of each ( your best and worse ).

Include a link to your blog entry which includes your experience if you can!
Lucky

[irax]

Let me start this off.

Firstly for the good memories! New Year at Puenta Del Inca in the Argentine Andes, small place and great people. The entry starts with the walking that I did and then continues on about the New Year Party.

Do You REALLY Want To Leave?

And then the bad memory, not surprising it´s about being mugged, at least thankfully it was only an attempted mugging.

What A Mug!

Hope you like them!

Cheers,
Ron.

[lucky]

Good ones, keep em coming!

[mrjoe]

As for my favourite memory I'd have to say clubbing in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Of course you can go clubbing anywhere but the people of Santa Cruz are really friendly (and they're all stunningly beautiful). It was a strange contrast against the poverty I've seen elsewhere in Bolivia.

Hunting with a hangover

Least favourite memory is the exhaustive bag and pocket search I received from a policeman at a checkpoint in northern argentina. It wouldn´t have been so bad but this was only one of 5 bag searches. Each time the bus had to stop and everyone had to get off with their bags. It must have added hours to the journey.

Argie Bargie

[whereshegoes]

In the beginning, South America was not even in the itinerary. In the end, I ended up living there for over a year.

My worst experiences were finally realizing that I was trying to fit in a place that I wasn’t meant to be. I ended up going through a horrible depression and completely losing myself. In hindsight, I wouldn’t change a thing. I suppose having your heart broken by travel romance is all par for the course.

The Paradox

My best experiences were the friends that I made who helped me through after the breakup. I ended up meeting an amazing bunch of people who reminded me how strangers can be. They helped me pick myself up and I became stronger than ever.

La Sonrisa del Cielo

Through it all, I learned how to love myself and “to thine ownself be true”. Now the Latino ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend are about to embark on their RTW writing all about it just as I did. We are now good friends and I am flattered to have “inspired” their travels. Even the bad experiences end up having a way of turning out for the best.

"Nunc scio quit sit amor."
Lat., "Now I know what love is."

-Virgil

[delfuegoproject]

driving the length of the Americas has given us a litany of best/worst experience candidates.

all four of us got very sick in Peru...that might not be the worst experience, but the toilet situations we encountered for various "emergency" stops ranged from unclean to unmentionable.

the real reason for this post is not to tell you about our best experience...but to show you...please check out our video titled "do not try this at home"

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entri...85900/tpod.html

5 hours of waiting and negotiating in Popayan, Colombia yeilded the epitome of the phrase "good things come to those who wait" -

we hope you enjoy the video...and thanks for the topic.

[lucky]

Pick a winner!

[kris]

For the best best experience i voted Mr Joe, Clubbing with stunning Bolivian girls (stephanie), going hunting and luckily being unsuccesful, experiencing TNT fishing and chilling with a beer on that hammock makes me want to get out and see that region of Bolivia...

then the best worst experience goes to irax for keeping his bag in a street jacking, and calling out to locals to help find his glasses in a blind disorientated state.. what makes it funnier is the prelude in italics.. also rons other blog a notable mention goes to trying to convince a locals wife that the poor guy was faithful made me laugh.

[coy]

Being originally from Argentina counts as the best worse experience?

Well I will tell you any way.

I lived in Argentina until 1982 and experience the whole Military Junta dirty war between1976-1983.

The worse

I had 1 kidnap attempt (They did not succeed, after all I am writing this entry)
I was arrested countless time (any teenager at the time was suspected of terrorism)
I have many friends disappear and never come back
Saw people blow up by bombs
Was call to go to a war, but left the country on time.

The Best

Left the country on time

I have more blog info about me at www.myspace.com/worldnetwroking

Coy