EPTOf course I will cover everything in my blog once I'm there!
Thanks!!
![[image loading]](http://chrisontour84.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/part1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://chrisontour84.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/part2.jpg)
Help me plan my South America Trip!
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
Of course I will cover everything in my blog once I'm there! Thanks!! | ||
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VelRa_G
Canada304 Posts
Quito, well, there's the Mariscal which is the "Khao San" of Ecuador. Seriously. Freaking. Go. To. A. Salsa. Bar. If you think the hacks on "So you think you can dance" are good dancers, try EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THOSE BARS... I do really love Ecuador. I'm very jealous! | ||
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docvoc
United States5491 Posts
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Rimstalker
Germany734 Posts
And again, no idea how much of an experienced traveler you are, but I would try to keep my schedule as flexible as possible, South America tends to fuck you up with some kind of disease sooner or later. And another warning: Really think about visiting Patagonia, at least the Argentinian part is very sketchy right now. | ||
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GoTuNk!
Chile4591 Posts
On February 07 2013 06:32 Rimstalker wrote: How much of a mountaineer are you? Just asking because I had some friends fail horribly at their dream holiday of hiking in the Karakorum because he got altitude sickness. And again, no idea how much of an experienced traveler you are, but I would try to keep my schedule as flexible as possible, South America tends to fuck you up with some kind of disease sooner or later. And another warning: Really think about visiting Patagonia, at least the Argentinian part is very sketchy right now. All I can say is chilean side and Chile in general is a very stable, non-corrupt soon to be developed country. Nothing to worry here  (Except a few cities at night, which you are not going to anyway) | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
My biggest concern is how to get from Calama to Foz do Iguaçu right now, if I search for flights on skyscanner I can only see flights that take 30 or more hours which would suck! And sadly I do not have any information about the Flight Times within the LAN Airpass. I'm also puzzled about the fact that the flights Calama - brasilia and brasilia to Foz do Iguaçu are free in the LAN Airpass | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
So I will add 2 days in Santiago and fly back from there, with the new flights I will have 9 days left and now I have to decide between: A) Go to the Galapagos Islands after climibing Cotopaxi (would be very cheap to get there with the LAN Airpass) B) Spend 9 days in Colombia, starting in Bogota. The Airpass would allow me to fly from Bogota to Medellin and from there to Quito - I would at least take the 2nd flight because I heard its cool to fly into quito Maybe someone was traveling in the South West of Colombia and could give me some tipps on how to use the time there as its best.Thanks a lot! It's really hard to skip parts I already planned but I think it's the wise choice Chris | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
[URL="http://chrisontour84.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/south-america-in-2013/#more-1944"]LINK[/URL] (Details are in the end) If anyone is interested in joining me, let me know!! Feel free to also comment and provide advice about what agencys to use for the different trips (machu piccu, madidi np, salar de uyuni etc) or how to spend my time in the regions the best. For example I do not want to take a 6 day cruise for the Galapagos islands but rather have everything self organized with daily tours departing from Baltra. Thanks for all your help!! ![[image loading]](http://chrisontour84.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/sa2013.jpg) [3] Colombia [1] Bogota – 28.06.2013 first full day [1] Medellin [1] Guatape [18] Ecuador [2] Quito [1] Baños de Agua Santa [3] Quilotoa Loop [2] Climb Illiniza Norte 5,126m [2] Climb Cotopaxi 5,897m [1] Quito [7] Galapagos Islands [17] Peru [2] Cuzco [2] Sacred Valley of the Incas / Urubamba valley [5] Machu Picchu [1] Arequipa [3] Hike in Colca Canyon (no tour) [2] Climb El Misti 5,822m or Chachani 6,057m [2] Puno / Peru Side of Lake Titicaca [15] Bolivia [2] Copacabana / Bolivia Side of Lake Titicaca [2] La Paz [1] Yungas Road aka Death Road [5] Rurrenabaque & Madidi National Park [5] Salar de Uyuni [4] Chile [3] San Pedro de Atacama , Salar de Uyuni Tour will leave us there. [1] Santiago de Chile | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
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uberxD
412 Posts
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
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Golden Ghost
Netherlands1041 Posts
I can only say I hope you have a great time and perhaps I can follow your example sometime in the future. | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
We slept in the snow for the first 2 nights but only had blue sky and sun ever since! Some pictures are uploaded in my blog from the first half now! Link | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
So my trip with 2 more people is coming up very soon now and got some remaining specific questions: 1.) What's a good price for climbing Illiniza Norte and Cotopaxi in Ecuador? I'm in contact with a Couchsurfer who is also offering Tours up there as he is a Mountain guide. How do these prices compete? He is charging $180 for Cotopaxi and $90 for Illiniza Norte if we are 3 or more. He also offered to get down to the bottom of the Cotopaxi crater for $40 in 3 hours. Anyone did that? 2.) We did not book anything besides the Flights for the Galapagos Islands yet and I was reading here, here and here that you can actually save a lot of money by not booking in advance. I'm just not sure if there would really be any free spots for the three of us if we go there in the middle of July? 3.) Has anyone climbed Cotopaxi AND one of the following Peaks in Peru? Climb El Misti 5,822m or Chachani 6,057m. I would like to climb a second mountain but El Misti looks veeeeeery similar to Cotopaxi so maybe it would not really be worth doing it after Cotopaxi? How about Chachani, anyone had any experiences there and can compare it to Cotopaxi? Or should we skip those and rather do something else in the two days? 4.) How would you suggest what the best way would be to explore Lake Titicaca after arriving in Puno after a 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa ? I was thinking of skipping the Floating Islands and spending more time on the Bolivia Side at Isla del Sol for example. Any thoughts? 5.) Yungas Road: I planned to book with these guys. Should be a good choice I guess? 6.) I also planned 5 days to see the Madidi National Park close to Rurrenabaque and do some Wildlife Spotting in the Beni Wetlands. Is this something we have to book in advance or should it be ok to book something on spot? We can either take a 50minute flight from La Paz or 20 hour bus ride. Has anyone done the busride yet and can tell me if it has some nice scenery at least or if we should rather get the flight? 7.) Then we're on to Salar de Uyuni. Same question here: Anyone has some recommendations for a tour operator to do a 5 day trip which will in the end drop us off at San Pedro de Atacama? And whats the best way to get there from Rurrenabaque? I assume we would need to take a 15 hour bus ride from La Paz? I think those are the most important questions that I have! Thanks a lot for anyone who can help answering them already Cheers Chris | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
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Topin
Peru10042 Posts
well i havent travelled there but i saw some documentaries about the floating islands and it looked really cool, so i would advice to take a little time to visit them, is not something that you can fin around the corner ... i think xD. Also when you visit [2] Sacred Valley of the Incas / Urubamba valley [5] Machu Picchu your mind will blew up, the landscape of both places i just unreal and the feeling you get in Machu Picchu its from another world, im glad you decide to visit us. in Machu Picchu you will be closer to Flash | ||
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Tak3r
United Kingdom749 Posts
Today we went sandboarding in the dryest place on earth, the atacama desert. It was very fast and I flipped over 3 times, check it out here if you like https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151803289718879¬if_t=like | ||
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