Why a Booktrail?
1951: It’s the story of one of South America’s most iconic figures and as he explores his homeland via a motorcycle.
The Motorcycle Diaries
What you need to know before your trail
Che Guevara is emblazoned upon Tshirts, mugs and posters al over the world but how well is the man really known? In 1951, he undertook a journey with a close friend across much of South American and immortalised it in diaries.
Before he met Castro and became known for his passionate Guerrilla struggles, Che was a dedicated medical student. A man who changed the face of Latin American and also thee perspectives and opinions of millions of people worldwide.
Locations
Reset- Argentina
- A: Rosario - Che's birthplace
- Chile
- B: Antofagasta
- Peru
- C: Tacna
- Colombia
- D: River Pamplonita
- Venezuela
- E: Caracas
Travel Guide
Che was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1928. The length and breadth of the journey they undertook was very impressive and what a ride!
Argentina
Buenos Aires, Villa Gesell, Miramar, Necochea, Bahia Blanca, Choele Choel, Piedra del Aguila, San Martin de los Andes, Nahuel Huapi
San Carlos de Bariloche
Chile
Peulla, Temuco, Lautaro, Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso
Antofagasta, Baquedano, Chuquicamata, Iquique, Arica
Peru
Tacna, Tarata, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Juliaca, Sicuani, Cuzco, Abancay, Huancarama, Huambo, Andahuaylas, Ayachucho , Huancallo, La Merced
Oxapampa, San Ramón, Tarma, Lima, Cerro de Paso, Pucallpa. The Amazon river – Rio Ucayali, Iquitos, San Pablo
Colombia
Leticia, Bogotá, Cúcuta
Venezuela
San Cristóbal, Barquisimeto, Corona, Caracas
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
The Motorcycle Diaries is the book I would love to have written as it would mean that I had been on a similar amazing road trip as the writer of the book, the Marxist Revolutionary, Ernesto Che Guevara.
It is the ultimate travel book as well as being a memoir of Che Guevara as a 23 year old who would several years later become internationally known. He embarked on his trip in 1952 largely on a motorcycle across South America with his friend Alberto Granado.
It’s very much a trip and an account of self discovery and learning about life and things that would impact so greatly on his life and cause later on such as the poverty of the indigenous peasants he encounters on his way. He witnesses first hand the struggles that they face and the barrier of social classes, he would not have known until the trip.
Ask any traveller and they will tell you that what they encounter on their travels stays with them for life. Guevara went that step further and used his experiences to go on to use armed revolution as a way of challenging the injustices of his country and beyond.
An amazing story that allows you to visit South America and to go on the journey with him. The rough and rustic scenery in the book is mesmerizing and the sights I have not visited myself are as vivid as though I were seeing them with my own eyes. The story is a serious one but the backdrop is a story in itself. Read it when it’s raining and you can’t bear going out. Read it when you want to feel the wind in your hair and you want to feel that sense of adventure coming back to life.
It’s an account of a very fascinating life but an even greater account of a journey like no other.
Where Next?
