Many people are seen walking the Pan American Route, by car, motorcycles, as backpackers or with other travelers who do them the favor of transporting them from one place to another. This is one of the routes that combine not only geographical elements, but a whole set of cultural, historical, religious, tourist elements, among others; along this legendary route that is considered the longest in the world and that also connects the two poles of the Earth as it leads from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina.
The mysticism of this route it is given by its extension of 32,700 km kilometers crossing the three Americas and connecting all kinds of geographies, climates and seasons of the year.
On his way, the Pan American Route connects the countries of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America, beginning in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska; after Canada, it re-enters the United States, where there are 2 semi-official routes, one through Denver and the other through Minneapolis; and then go to Mexico.
Already being in Mexico, the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo marks the beginning of the original highway of the Pan-American Highway, passing through Mexico City until reaching the State of Chiapas, and then passing to Guatemala. It should be noted that the alternatives for touring Mexico in practice may include detours to visit countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
In all countries, with the exception of Honduras, the Pan-American route passes through the capitals. However, there are alternative route options to avoid them, which is often recommended to speed up the trip, unless you want to get to know these cities. Upon arrival in Panama, the pan-american route It is interrupted by the aforementioned Darién Gap, where there is obviously no road section, forcing travelers who bring their own vehicles to transfer them by boat to South America.
You could send the vehicle on a ship and fly or sail to Colombia or Panama, depending on whether you are coming from the north or the south. It is important to point out that crossing the Darién Gap with your own vehicle is probably one of the highest expenses of the trip: which costs approximately 1,000 dollars.
In Colombia, the Pan-American route begins in Turbo and passes through Medellín and Calí, before passing to Ecuador; There are some detours in which you can visit the Caribbean coast and Bogotá. But, if you go from Colombia to Ecuador, you can visit the beautiful Quito, where the official route passes; to then continue to Peru, following National Route 1, which borders the coast, crosses the entire country and passes through its capital, Lima; where he should stay for a few days.
When crossing from Peru to Chile, the highway of the pan-american route it passes through the Atacama Desert, one of the driest destinations in the world, following Route 5 towards Valparaíso; but generally travelers head further south, to explore Chilean Patagonia. Later, to get to Argentina, you have to go to Valparaíso, where the route continues east to Buenos Aires, where the route ends; but most travelers travel the remaining 3,000 kilometers to reach Ushuaia in Patagonia, the southernmost point in the world.
It is important that you know that there are deviations from the original road of the Pan American Route, which usually include countries such as: Belize, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil; and other alternatives that include the rest of the South American countries such as: Paraguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
The costs of a trip to the pan-american route in your own vehicle, includes expenses such as: fuel, food, lodging, tolls, entertainment, as well as communications. In addition, you must take into account the fixed expenses that you will have to cover: borders, crossings by boat or ferry, extra transport, round trip flights, etc. It should also be noted that prices vary greatly in different countries.
According to information given by some travelers, the average budget for this trip is between 20 and 30 dollars per day, depending on the country; between 600 and 1000 dollars per month. It is estimated that most of the travelers who travel this route do so between 1 year and a half and 2 years, but that depends on the decisions of each person; since according to estimates of some travelers the average time that can be spent in each country is as follows:
Canada: between 3 and 4 months, United States: between 3 and 4 months, Mexico: between 3 and 4 months, Belize: 7 and 15 days, Guatemala: 20 days and 1 month, El Salvador: between 7 and 15 days, Honduras : between 7 and 15 days, Nicaragua: between 20 days and 1 month, Costa Rica: between 20 days and 1 month, Panama: between 20 days and 1 month, Colombia: 3 months, Ecuador: between 10 days and 1 month, Peru : 3 months, Bolivia: 2 months, Chile: 2 months and Argentina: between 3 and 4 months.