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I definitely was thinking of doing this in the near future. I watched a documentary on a guy that took a train ride like this and the scenery was just amazing

by xufi 10y ago

dominotw 10y ago
Me too. But I am too scared to go at it alone, I am worried about my stuff getting stolen ect.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- guard-of-terra 10y ago
  Why would anybody need your stuff? There's no shortages of used trousers. Even if you carry an used laptop it's not a grand desirable item. You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you.
  - jlg23 10y ago
    > Why would anybody need your stuff? [...] Even if you carry an used laptop it's not a grand desirable item. That used laptop might be worth a year of disposable income in some parts of the world. And temptations are had to resist when others understand that you can replace it after a single week of working. > You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you. No, in most parts of the world you cannot rely on plastic. Heck, even in Uruguay ("the Switzerland of South America") I had to take a bus for 1 hour to get to the next ATM; nobody in my beach side town would accept credit cards. The trick in such parts of the world is to distribute your money evenly into various pockets and bags and to have one dedicated pocket where you keep what you need for the day in small denominations so you don't have to flash an average, monthly, local salary when trying to pay for a roadside snack.
    - guard-of-terra 10y ago
      I've never heard of stealing and reselling laptops in Russia, perhaps because used laptop market is very saturated. People have more than they can possibly sell. This might change in a few years of harsh economic downturn but there's no signs yet. Ten years ago cellphone stealing was a thing, then market saturated and it became thing of past. I've been to Uruguay and we had no problem using ATMs at Tres Cruces. Of course you need to carry some cash, but $100 equivalent is more than enough. Argentina, totally different story as you might imagine.
      - genofon 10y ago
        Can you elaborate in the Argentinian part? I traveled a bit in some rough part and although I was quite worried I never had problem
- VLM 10y ago
  "I am worried about my stuff getting stolen" I've spent some time on trains in the equivalent of the 3rd class, and its just not an issue. Most people assume if you were wealthy you'd be on an airplane, so unless you're showing off cameras and laptops and phones (or jewelry?) they'll assume you're a crazy and/or poor hippie and have nothing to steal. Third class type lodging requires prioritization... you don't put your passport and wallet in checked luggage on a rack somewhere, you put your dirty socks in checked luggage and if someone steals your dirty socks you buy new socks at the next stop. Local clothes are often pretty cool to take home anyway. I lost a shirt once in Mexico (or was it stolen?) and it was actually pretty cool. Also if you are in 3rd class and you're sleeping on your wallet and your loot is in a backpack with your leg thru a strap, the entire coach PLUS the attendant has to be in on it if some dude starts going thru your package between your legs or your pockets under your butt while you sleep, so if you don't wake up someone is likely to say something unless you've implemented extreme levels of ugly american protocol. I never carry souvenirs past a post office. The annoyance of using the post office helps eliminate useless clutter too. If you are in a private room with a kleptomaniac in 2nd class there's really nothing you can do about it other than just hope it doesn't happen. It probably won't. Everyone else is worried you're the kleptomaniac axe murderer, you know.
- jlg23 10y ago
  As long as you don't flash expensive items[1] and work on having a good relationship with your fellow travelers I'd assume you'll be fine. I just did the 12 day trip up the Amazon from the Atlantic coast to Colombia in cattle class (i.e. the whole deck is one giant space for hanging up to 400 hammocks): Nothing got stolen, friends were made even though we did not speak a common language and by the time we got off the boat (12h earlier than scheduled, at midnight, in heavy rain) people who were strangers to each other just a few days ago created ride shares to hotels and poor families were invited to crash on couches or floors in hotel rooms the more affluent had booked. [1] If you have to, like your camera, just keep it with you all the time.
imjk 10y ago
What was the name of the documentary?
- xufi 10y ago
  It was on RT it looks like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTE04hyCRBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTE04hyCRBw

I definitely was thinking of doing this in the near future. I watched a documentary on a guy that took a train ride like this and the scenery was just amazing

by xufi 10y ago

I definitely was thinking of doing this in the near future. I watched a documentary on a guy that took a train ride like this and the scenery was just amazing

dominotw 10y ago

Me too. But I am too scared to go at it alone, I am worried about my stuff getting stolen ect.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
guard-of-terra 10y ago
Why would anybody need your stuff? There's no shortages of used trousers. Even if you carry an used laptop it's not a grand desirable item. You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you.
- jlg23 10y ago
  > Why would anybody need your stuff? [...] Even if you carry an used laptop it's not a grand desirable item. That used laptop might be worth a year of disposable income in some parts of the world. And temptations are had to resist when others understand that you can replace it after a single week of working. > You can use plastic to avoid ever having large sums of cash on you. No, in most parts of the world you cannot rely on plastic. Heck, even in Uruguay ("the Switzerland of South America") I had to take a bus for 1 hour to get to the next ATM; nobody in my beach side town would accept credit cards. The trick in such parts of the world is to distribute your money evenly into various pockets and bags and to have one dedicated pocket where you keep what you need for the day in small denominations so you don't have to flash an average, monthly, local salary when trying to pay for a roadside snack.
  - guard-of-terra 10y ago
    I've never heard of stealing and reselling laptops in Russia, perhaps because used laptop market is very saturated. People have more than they can possibly sell. This might change in a few years of harsh economic downturn but there's no signs yet. Ten years ago cellphone stealing was a thing, then market saturated and it became thing of past. I've been to Uruguay and we had no problem using ATMs at Tres Cruces. Of course you need to carry some cash, but $100 equivalent is more than enough. Argentina, totally different story as you might imagine.
    - genofon 10y ago
      Can you elaborate in the Argentinian part? I traveled a bit in some rough part and although I was quite worried I never had problem
VLM 10y ago
"I am worried about my stuff getting stolen" I've spent some time on trains in the equivalent of the 3rd class, and its just not an issue. Most people assume if you were wealthy you'd be on an airplane, so unless you're showing off cameras and laptops and phones (or jewelry?) they'll assume you're a crazy and/or poor hippie and have nothing to steal. Third class type lodging requires prioritization... you don't put your passport and wallet in checked luggage on a rack somewhere, you put your dirty socks in checked luggage and if someone steals your dirty socks you buy new socks at the next stop. Local clothes are often pretty cool to take home anyway. I lost a shirt once in Mexico (or was it stolen?) and it was actually pretty cool. Also if you are in 3rd class and you're sleeping on your wallet and your loot is in a backpack with your leg thru a strap, the entire coach PLUS the attendant has to be in on it if some dude starts going thru your package between your legs or your pockets under your butt while you sleep, so if you don't wake up someone is likely to say something unless you've implemented extreme levels of ugly american protocol. I never carry souvenirs past a post office. The annoyance of using the post office helps eliminate useless clutter too. If you are in a private room with a kleptomaniac in 2nd class there's really nothing you can do about it other than just hope it doesn't happen. It probably won't. Everyone else is worried you're the kleptomaniac axe murderer, you know.
jlg23 10y ago
As long as you don't flash expensive items[1] and work on having a good relationship with your fellow travelers I'd assume you'll be fine. I just did the 12 day trip up the Amazon from the Atlantic coast to Colombia in cattle class (i.e. the whole deck is one giant space for hanging up to 400 hammocks): Nothing got stolen, friends were made even though we did not speak a common language and by the time we got off the boat (12h earlier than scheduled, at midnight, in heavy rain) people who were strangers to each other just a few days ago created ride shares to hotels and poor families were invited to crash on couches or floors in hotel rooms the more affluent had booked. [1] If you have to, like your camera, just keep it with you all the time.

imjk 10y ago

What was the name of the documentary?

xufi 10y ago
It was on RT it looks like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTE04hyCRBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTE04hyCRBw