From: To: Subject: Lonely Planet Thorn Tree: Seeking specific information on driving in Colombia: subscription update Date: Friday, August 01, 2003 12:02 PM chopin1215 has posted a reply to the thread entitled "Seeking specific information on driving in Colombia". --------------------------------------------------- dear dan, i am colombian, but i have travelled significantly in and out of colombia, i do not live in colombia, but i can give you some tips (some of which might be obvious): - do not drive at night, the chances of something happening are slim except in "hot spots", but why risk it? - under no circumstance should you try to bypass a roadblock, whether it is set by police, army, guerrillas, or paramilitaries (chances are you may be stopped and even after stopping wont know which group it was!). any of these groups might fire if you try to bypass the roadblock. - a scheme to rob your car is to bump you (not likely on a highway). you get out to check the damage. be attentive. some roads have been "militarized", which makes them very safe for travel. best to inquire locally with police, tourism offices or locals. there are "tourism carivans" on certain weekends- everyone goes from point A to B (e.g., bogota to villa de leyva). how to minimize the risk? if you are stopped, dont tell them you work for an american oil company or the govt. youre less likely to be kidnapped if youre a teacher in oklahoma than an investment banker in nyc. this may seem obvious, but carrying the "wrong" kind of documents can (business card) make the difference. also, dont carry expensive jewelry/watches/clothing. if you look at statistics, you'll probl find that chances of something happening are very low (many many people travel by road). things have improved in the last year; just avoid the "hot spots". i do not believe kidnapping of foreigners is common, but it does happen. probl. not many foreginers doing this, but there are foreigners living in colombia (there are many companies in bogota and elsewhere); kidnapping in cities is very rare, unless you live there and are wealthy, travelling trhough should not be a problem. most of the kidnappings occur on roads by the guerrillas, randomly, but being stopped is no guarantee of kidnapping either! those in the cities are "planned". alx ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lonely Planet Online - the Web's best travel site - Climb the Thorn Tree: http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com - Explore the WorldGuide: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/ - Get our guidebooks: http://shop.lonelyplanet.com