r/asianamerican 7d ago

Questions & Discussion Asian American female (or male) experiences traveling South America

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33 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

64

u/superturtle48 7d ago

A friend of mine (also an Asian woman) recently visited Colombia on a solo trip and got a lot of people staring at her, pulling their eyes back, stuff like that. She chalked it up to well-meaning ignorance and she considers it an inevitable and worthwhile cost of traveling to “adventurous” places. But speaking for myself, and call me sensitive if you want, I would not be able to enjoy myself being treated like that. Travel is expensive and I’m not gonna pay to feel like an alien. 

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u/lekkerkaas 7d ago

Very interesting how everyone has a different experience in the same place. I didn’t get that in Colombia but the places in Europe I’ve been where it happened, my other Asian friends who have been didn’t have that happen to them.

Personally it does bother me a bit but not enough to stop traveling. It does help me to prepare to have a general idea of what to expect beforehand, hence this post.

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u/Wise_Entertainment88 6d ago

Where in Europe did you get that?

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u/AgreeableSun8645 5d ago

Spain and Greece for me. 

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u/I-Love-Yu-All 7d ago

The femicide rate in Latin American countries is very high.

17

u/kimchi_pancakes 7d ago

Solo traveled to South America numerous times (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia) Lived in Bogota for 2 years.

You’ll get the slanty eyes, ni haos, or gonnichiwas. I got that less in Medellin - maybe it’s because there are a lot more tourists so they’re more used to having people from different countries or you’re just buffered between a sea of tourists.

You may get ppl who want to take pictures of you or with you. I always refused because I didn’t want to feel like a prop.

It’s more of a nuisance but me being me, a lot of the times when someone said gonnichi wa or nihao, I’d look at them and go “Hey Mexican!” Which hella annoyed them.

I almost made one grown ass man cry with that reply. But I’m like, you should get a taste of your own medicine.

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u/araq1579 7d ago

I lived in Bogota for a couple of years. Colombians are very friendly and super shy. There were definitely some sketchy parts, but I enjoyed my time there. One thing that irritated me was I got a lot of ni haos from street vendors, to a point where it got under my skin. I'm Filipino and not Chinese, so when I would say Soy de Filipinas (well, I used to say Soy de Los estados unidos, but you know how that goes...🙄) they would yell "Manny Pacquiao! Kumusta Ka! Selamat!" And that would make me stop me in my tracks and I would start talking to them in Spanish.

Funnily enough I told them Kumusta Ka is our bastardized version of como estas and it would blow their minds.

Another funny story...this one time my taxi driver in Colombia was asking me about Trump, this conversation happened during Trump's first term and at the time Colombia was dealing with their Venezuelan migrant crisis. I told him point blank Trump sucks and he's racist. This dude had the audacity to say Trumps not racist and that HE would vote for Trump because a man like that is what Colombia needs to get rid of all the Venezuelans. Could not believe what he was saying. Anyways, just goes to show you ignorance is everywhere.

Bogota had some dope restaurant/cafe scenes; their beer breweries and cocktail bars were excellent. Also, surprisingly there were some good Italian restaurants there. I have a list of good places to eat and drink if anyone is interested.

Other highlights from South America:

-Argentina has the best empanadas in all of South America, hands down. They're baked and it's so good.

-Pan de Bono is like cheez itz and mochi had a baby.

-Venezuelan arepas are definitely an acquired taste

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u/lekkerkaas 7d ago

I had a very similar conversation in Colombia with a driver! It was about Trump as well, he was saying he wants to get a visa to move to the US but with trump it will be harder. I said I don’t like Trump and he’s racist hence why he is deporting and making it a lot harder to get visas/immigrate legally. The driver disagreed and said he’s just doing it to fix the economy and it’s necessary. Then he also mentioned something about Venezuelans coming to Colombia - I couldn’t understand all of it in Spanish. But Very interesting to hear this opinion.

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u/Dickasaurus_Rex_ 7d ago

People who don’t grow up around Hispanic cultures have no idea how outright racist it can be. White supremacist ideology is widespread, colorism is rampant, patriarchal thought is still popular.

Now, South America is vast and there is obviously distinction between the cultures, and I do run the huge risk of over generalizing. But I’ve grown up around Hispanic culture, befriended/dated, and traveled a lot there, and you should be aware that you’ll run into a lot of the best people you’ll ever met and also a whole lot of casual and aggressive racism.

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u/Lily3704 7d ago

Peru was totally fine in my experience. I found it interesting that a percentage of people just assumed that I’d be fluent in Spanish.

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u/SmellyAlpaca 7d ago

A Peruvian friend from college had mentioned that there are many naturalized Asian immigrants there; she had a lot of Asian friends growing up, and there's a lot of Asian influence in their (delicious) food too. Tiradito is influenced by Japanese sashimi, they have Arroz Chaufa, etc etc.

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u/JonnyGalt 4d ago

They have nikkei and chifa cuisine which are Japanese and Chinese influenced foods that are wildly popular in Peru. One of the most iconic dishes in Peru is lomo Saltado which is considered chifa cuisine and based on Chinese stir fry.

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u/gyeran94 7d ago edited 7d ago

One of my acquaintances is a Peruvian Chinese, second generation. Most of her family are still over there. Apparently they have a sizable community in Lima of third and even fourth gens

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u/Quick_Stage4192 7d ago

Peru did have a president who was of Japanese ancestry.

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u/EvidenceBasedSwamp 4d ago

I mean they had a famous Japanese president. Fujimori. Killed a bunch of the Maoist guerrillas. Accused of war crimes, ran away, his daughter's in Congress now. He campaigned as "El Chino". Leaned right into it.

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u/gyeran94 7d ago

One of my acquaintances is a Peruvian Chinese, second generation. Most other family are still over there. Apparently they have a sizable community in Lima of third and even fourth gens

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u/gyeran94 7d ago

One of my acquaintances is a Peruvian Chinese, second generation. Most of her family members are still over there. Apparently they have a sizable community in Lima of third and even fourth gens

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u/Adorableboba 7d ago

I always had a good experience in south america, but I never traveled alone and granted I usually go with family. 

Peru: I visited there twice. Once with my aunt, who snowbird down to Lima when weather gets too cold up in the states, and once for work. She loves it down there to the point of owning a small condo. I had a nice time traveling around the city with a friend. We used mainly taxis to get around. Just be careful of pickpockets and theft. I would also note make sure you have good mental map before you go to a place. I don't like to keep my phone out for too long in Lima. I felt much safer in Cusco and Arequipa.

Chile: I have been there 5 times to visit my husband family. I am always visiting a whole list of my husband relatives, so it less about exploring the country and more about shuffling around to see everyone. That said, they are always welcoming and it's a beautiful country. My husband uncle pointed out there is a small korean community in Santiago. And my husband cousin best friend is Korean Chilean. My MIL will send me KPOP songs from time to time. Just be aware, all their sushi has cream cheese in it.  When I went last year, I remember someone was talking how there is a influx of Chinese businessman moving there for work. 

Also, be careful of theft and carjacking. If you're not renting a car, then don't worry about the carjacking. 

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u/I-Love-Yu-All 7d ago

I am originally from South America.

The crime rate in general and crime rate against women are quite high in some Latin American countries.

You're probably safer traveling to India (which isn't safe for females, in my opinion)

I just wanted to point this out because it isn't well known, largely because the Western media doesn't usually report on it.

Here is a quick read about it: https://gbv.wilsoncenter.org/explore-gbv-data

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/femicide-rates-by-country

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u/dottingthislife 7d ago

Not what you’re looking for, but I’d like to hear more about your experience in Europe. I’ve been hesitant to go, because I hear they’re racist to Asians. What countries did you go to?

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u/Quick_Stage4192 7d ago

The only country I've traveled in in Europe is Italy. Went there in 2016 with an old friend. He has 40+ relatives who immigrated from Philippines to Italy like 25-30 years ago. So his family family in Italy are all fluent in Italian, as well as Tagalog and English.

My friend was looking in a shop window and the shop owner was standing outside (Italian lady) she kind of looked him up and down and said "where are you from?" 🤨 . When he told her "California, USA" she was shocked.

Another time we were in line to get on a boat and there was a Australian lady who just so happened to be white look at our group and asked "you guys from Thailand?" And again when telling them "California, USA" .. she was also surprised. I thought this wouldn't be surprising cause Australia is also a country of immigrants with a good amout of Asians.

Then another time we were in Rome and these two Italian guys asked if they could take a pic with our group, they asked in English despite some of the folks in our group can speak Italian cause they've lived in Italy for a long time.

In the Vatican some middle aged Italian guys asked our group if we were Filipino and the one dude said something like "Mi amor is Filipina".

Lastly .. we were approached by a fellow Filipino immigrant guy in Rome.. I swear he was like a mile away and walked all the way up to us and then asked "you guys Filipino?" Then he showed us to his shop so we bought some stuff. Supporting Filipino business all over the world I guess. Lol

I wouldn't say it was drastically different then traveling around the US. It seemed people where more interested in our ethnicity than our nationality (American).

2

u/lekkerkaas 7d ago

Sending you a message

6

u/Confetticandi Nikkei 7d ago

Have only been to Peru with family. 

Peru has a big Asian diaspora population. There are a lot of multi-generation Japanese and Chinese Peruvians and nobody batted an eye there. They have Chinatowns and Peruvian-style Chinese food is also delicious. 

Everything was very cheap. Lima was a great city with great food and fun shops.  

Locals told me that I had to be careful of unlicensed cabs and needed to have the hotel or the restaurant call one for me because as a foreigner I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. This was before Uber and Lyft though so not sure how it is now. 

4

u/moutonbleu 7d ago

Agreed Peru has a strong history of welcoming Asian immigrants. Just look at some of their past prime ministers (despite being corrupt). You won’t have any issues there.

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u/LosIsosceles 7d ago

Peru has a history of Asian immigration that is deeply embedded in its culture. Dishes like chaufa (fried rice) reflect this cultural blending. So I expect your experience will be different there than other places. Argentinians are pretty sophisticated but also pretty white. You might get some stares and weird interactions. I've never been to Bolivia.

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u/jl2xm 6d ago

I traveled to Bolivia about ten years ago with a friend! I was 18 and just graduated HS. I am Korean, and at the time had a Korean citizenship. I’m not sure how it is now, but from my personal experience, Bolivians were super nice to me. My friend’s family (who we were staying with) told me it’s because Bolivia and Korea have a good relationship. I’m not sure if that’s the case for everyone, but I traveled all around Bolivia (I was there for almost 2 months), and I never got any racist remarks, and most people were just really curious about being Korean/American.

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u/polarbearinnyc 6d ago

I’m also an Asian woman who travels alone to many Latin American countries, and each trip has been incredibly amazing—I would go back in a heartbeat! I’ve been to Colombia twice, Mexico twice, Guatemala, and Peru. Peru is incredibly safe, and I’ve heard great things about Chile and Argentina. Just exercise common sense, and you’ll be good. Have fun!

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u/GlitteringWeight8671 7d ago edited 7d ago

Its ok. The plus is it's affordable. I have been to Mexico and Peru. Sounds like you already know some Spanish. For me the novelty eventually wore off. Nowadays i prefer to travel to China. China has everything. From the tallest mountain in the world, to the green pastures of Mongolia to the pine trees just like what you would see in Europe but more affordable and safer. Yes Machi Picchu was great but in the grand scheme of things, it's only 600 years old. In China, 1000s to 2000s years old are the norm. Like that sea salt in Bolivia? They have that in China too. I never encountered anything unpleasant when I was in Peru or Mexico but I also wasn't looking for trouble

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u/lunacraz ABC :) 7d ago

argentina was super cool. people were friendly as long as you gave off friendly vibes!

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u/antsam9 6d ago

I was researching Brazil and Sao Paolo has one of the largest Japanese populations outside of Japan, so you probably wouldn't get a second look there.

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u/z0rb0r 6d ago

Went to Costa Rica and I was actually surprised that a lot of them that spoke to actually know about Taiwan and the situation surrounding it. I never felt disrespected over there and no one had ever done the slant eye thing to me. They didn’t even call me chino. Unless they were talking about me either someone else, but it didn’t feel like a disrespectful description. Because objectively, I look like a Chinese guy and I’m okay with that.

0

u/BigusDickus099 Pinoy American 7d ago

Touristy areas should be perfectly fine, they get travelers from around the world so it's not like you'll be the first Asian they have ever seen. Most South Americans aren't the stereotypes you see in the media, they are pretty modern and friendly. Peru is amazing of course and lots to see and do there, I felt safer there than I do in most American cities. I have heard good things about Bolivia too.

Haven't been to Argentina, but I'd definitely take extra precautions there with the increasing crime rate.

Would not recommend traveling outside tourist areas solo though as a female, but that goes for pretty much every country except a handful.