should I travel to south america?

Im from england and wanted to know if travelling to south america this summer for two months by myself was a good idea?
i could go anywhere to be honest but i though south america would be something different?
any tips? anywhere i should go or maybe avoid? my girlfriend may join me halfway through as well, is this a good idea? is it safe?

Some places in south america are quite dangerous and I for one certainly would not consider going alone you would be a disaster waiting to happen.

I was in Argentina for nearly 2 months last year, and I can tell you for a fact that alot of the bad press south america gets is bullsh1t. I was in Buenos Aires mostly and it is a great city, friendly people, great food and drink, dirt cheap, just learn a few Spanish phrases most people don't speak English, great place to meet up with your girlfriend if she comes over, go to Peurto Madero best and safest part of the city

If you like travelling and meeting warm-hearted and sociable people and eating great food and listening to happy music and seeing magnificent landscapes and beautiful architecture and you don't mind living very cheaply in beautifully-kept hotels and seeing airports with spotlessly clean and polished floors or even,at high altitude,getting a can of free oxygen if you're feeling the effects, and if you have some basic street sense and maybe 20-30 pounds or dollars a day to live on or twice that for classier hotels,and less in many parts, even a lot less...then yes. . http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.travelpod.com/users/globetrekker/29.1223141400.free-oxygen-tank-at-cusco-airport.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/globetrekker/29/1223141400/free-oxygen-tank-at-cusco-airport.jpg/tpod.html&usg=__3ssm2s2kdNOd6XZyucS5Vr051mA=&h=550 &w=412&sz=44&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=7Dqd91Lb-NnazM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcusco%2Bairport%26hl%3Den%26client%3D firefox%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1 . . LAN on the board in the picture is a local,and excellent,airline. . http://www.lan.com/ . .
Book any local flights locally at local prices,not through the European or USA sections of the sites. It's half,sometimes a third,of the price. I did all my travel arrangements after I got to South America and did for a little over £1000 (flight from UK included) for a month's tour each time what the British travel agents wanted £2500 and even £3000+ for,and had my own selection of transport options,times,hotels,everything
And the freedom to go as I pleased with no fixed itinerary to stick to. . . http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoZ8F7wW2bfdEup1VcoAFFPty6IX;_ylv=3?qid =20080130142624AA6DXQC&show=7 . . .
Getting to Lake Titicaca from Cuzco cost me £6 for a local-price ticket at the station ticket office. Eight hours travelling slowly through the beautiful altiplano with fine food on board and a gorgeous hostess to bring snacks meals and drinks to the table. The service was excellent.The posh tourist tickets from UK travel agents will set you back £100 or so to add that journey to a trip. .Orient Express do it as well,for a fortune. . I did the same journey,with the same stop at La Reya,and lovely food for far less. http://www.go2peru.com/andean_explorer.htm . The hotel was £8 a night. Very nice it was too. Somebody else had a homestay. .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvucitc8p98 . .It really is that peacefull.. . . http://www.cusco.net/video.php?Codigo=1031&Titulo=Qorilazos%20Dancing,% 20traditional%20dance%20from%20Chumbivilcas,%20Cus co.
http://www.cusco.net/video.php?Codigo=1028&Titulo=Landing%20approach%20 to%20Cusco%20airport.%20TACA%20Airbus%20A320.
' ' '
Street dancing in Cuzco,festival time.. http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/jamesmc/my_big_log/1212689760/festival-in-the-streets.avi/tpod.html . . .
That video selection was sheer bribery...haha.
There are other places. Cuzco and Machu Pichu and the wonderful Lake Titicaca are good and safe options,and totally enjoyable. So are thousands of other places you may wish to see.
If you wish to see Cuzco and Machu Pichu,staying a couple of days in Arequipa is the recommended option to get used to the high altitude and well worth the trip. It means an extra flight but booked locally it's cheap,and the flight and Arequipa itself,are beautiful. See a third of the way down here,from..."Going straight to Cuzco..." just right of the trip advisor link . . .
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsdcwPY5Ze3.xc2_SIYap_IhBgx.;_ylv=3?qid =20090312054025AAlUSsK&show=7#profile-info-AA11964689 . . .
I've been to South America twice by myself and looking forward to a hundred more...we can dream.
It's mostly friendly,warm-hearted,and safe. Some areas are not. About the safest you can find is Chile,which is beautiful and very very clean. But it's not the only safe country.
There are hundreds of young girls backpacking around South American countries at any one time. And hundreds of blokes. Despite the bad stories they manage to get home again and recommend the trip to others,as I am here. Same in South Africa.
The mostly biased news you hear and what the real truth is are two different things. Good news doesn't sell newspapers.
Don't worry at all. It can be far less safe in Manchester or Nottingham than in Buenos Aries or Quito. Just be sensible about dark areas at night or dodgy-looking clubs,the same as at home.
More about the safeness of Latin countries on here. . http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsoiSBRRvXg0CEEzOUPyTHghBgx.;_ylv=3?qid =20090511040900AAEteyj&show=7#profile-info-iqe0pSuJaa . . .

Two kindly policemen in Lima,in a police force said by some to be nothing but corrupt rogues and hooligans,gave me a lift in their car to get me across a highway blocked by protestors durng a political rally which prevented me from getting to the bus station for a long-distance coach due out in twenty minutes. Bad choice of route walking from the hotel, but I didn't know about the rally. Just turned the corner onto the main road and there it was. Ahh! Beetroot juice!
Well,it was actually something else,but no matter..!
They obviously saw I was desperately trying to cross, and used the car to get a passage through the crowds and drop me off safely the other side. Forty or fifty yards. Packed solid the length of the street with locals waving banners and effigies and shouting "Agua! Agua!......" Water,water,safe drinking water...Always a safe subject for any opposition group in any South American country just before an election. Helluva sight though. And very good and kindly police. They didn't interfere with the rally a bit,just cruising along slowly with the march and letting it let off steam. That's the way. No damage done,no fisticuffs. No marching in with batons. Nothing for newspapers abroad. We only get bad news. Not the good.

In the backpacker hostels you can meet people and team up for a few days if you plan on travelling in the same direction...it's commonly done. I travelled for a few days with a tall and very pretty Italian girl who spoke fluent Spanish which helped me a treat.. I was her male companion who made her unavailable for local male attention in some of the 'awkward' areas that she may not have seen otherwise.
Symbiosis in action. Mutually beneficial.
The mountains of Equador and Colombia,and now even the north of Peru,can be dangerous because of local drug operations. The towns are mostly safe,and the trouble is between local warring gangs trying to control their own patch of the drug trade. Any of the gang members may be quite polite and helpfull towards yourself though if you were to ask where the bus station is or similar. You won't know if some of the people you come across are involved in anything suspicious. Same in London or New York. Only if you are a threat or a danger are you a target.
More safety tips here. . . http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhQl7c3IMXc.soKTHjC4c4AhBgx.;_ylv=3?qid =20090511040900AAEteyj&show=7#profile-info-iqe0pSuJaa . . .
There is pick-pocketing of course,but crossing a busy street at a zebra crossing in London can lose you a wallet too if you don't know how to live safely.
The long answer here will give you a flavour of things,with a flight tip,and links to other South America questions....http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgTzXU7Du7seK2eTniUlDDMhBgx.;_ylv=3?qid =20090316200617AAveIgh&show=7#profile-info-xSsRubZsaa . . .
If your girlfriend can join you,what better way to enjoy the delights of South America, than being together. Have a wonderful time.

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Some places in south america are quite dangerous and I for one certainly would not consider going alone you would be a disaster waiting to happen.