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| 20 pounds. Personal Best. |
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| Comparison of packing for South America. |
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Repacking
Coming Soon: Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand.
Wednesday 18 January 2012
South America Roundup
For any friends and family that are interested in travelling to South America we included a list of the places we stayed and some of the costs of our trip.
For most of the trip we stayed at places that catered to budget travellers and took buses as much as possible. At times we had to sacrifice comfort but overall South America is quite affordable to travel in.
Lima: Open Guest House (Favourite Staff)
Cusco: Home stay
Ollantaytambo: Chaska Wasi (Lots of Cats)
Tips for Staying on Budget:
For most of the trip we stayed at places that catered to budget travellers and took buses as much as possible. At times we had to sacrifice comfort but overall South America is quite affordable to travel in.
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| Per Person |
Peru
Peru is one of the most affordable countries in South America. This is where we decided to do Spanish school (Fair Play is great) as well as our Machu Picchu Trek. A lot of companies in Cusco offer jungle treks which are close in price to just taking the train to Machu Picchu and spending the night. The 3 night Lorenzo Expeditions trek cost around $190 and is highly recommend.
Lima: Open Guest House (Favourite Staff)
Cusco: Home stay
Ollantaytambo: Chaska Wasi (Lots of Cats)
Puno: Marlin's House (Good)
Bolivia
A four-course meal for around $2, need we say more! Bolivia is a fantastic deal and has a lot to offer. Our biggest cost was the 3 day Salt Flats tour with Brisa Tours (Cordillera and Red Planet Expeditions were also recommended) which cost around $130 including entrance fees.
Copacabana: Hostel Emperador (Ok)
La Paz : Sol Andino (Great)
Cochabamba: Residential Familiar Anexo
(Highest Ceiling Award)
Sucre: La Dolce Vita (Great)/ Also
stayed a night at Pacha Mama
Uyuni: Piedra Blanca (Good)
Potosi: Koala Backpackers (Good)
Chile/Argentina/Brazil
Our costs went up a in the more developed countries (not to mention road standards and quality of buses) but overall it is reasonably affordable to travel here if you're not moving too fast. The best steak in your life will cost about $15 with a glass of wine. Based on previous guidebooks, prices in Argentina seem to jump dramatically every few years.
Chile
San Pedro de Atacama: Juriques Hostal
(Good)
La Serena: Hostel Jofre (Very, Very
Clean)
Caldera: Hostel Ankona (Only Hostel in
Town)
Valparaiso: Casa Verde Limon (Really
good)
Santiago: Ventana Sur Hostel (Good)
Argentina
Mendoza: Empedrado Hostel (Really
Good/Best Breakfast/Best Events)
Cordoba: Baluch Backpackers (Good)
Rosario: Che Pampa's (Good atmosphere)
Buenos Aires: Tango y Bandoneon (great B&B) & Kapake Hostel (in Palermo)
Iguazu Falls: Marco Polo Inn (Alright)
Brazil
Foz do Iguacu: Pousada de Laura (most
eccentric/awesome owner award)
Parati: Che Lagarto (Great)
Rio: The Wave Hostel Ipanema (somewhat
dingy but great staff, next to 7 other hostels)
Colombia
Cartagena: El Viajero (Awesome)
Medellin: Wandering Paisa (Great)
Bogota: La Pinta (Good)
Guatemala
Guatemala City: Quetzalroo (best hostel
in the city and best host)
Livingston: Casa de Iguana (party
hostel)
Flores: Los Amigos (Great)
Semuc Champey/Lanquin: Zephyr Lodge (Best
location/Don't Miss it)
San Pedro la Laguna: Casa Blanca (stunning
views), Zoola is also good
Tips for Staying on Budget:
* Always ask for a discount at guesthouses/hotels/hostels - (it works about half the time)
* Most restaurants have set meals at lunch time. The same meal for dinner may be double the price so it's a good idea to sample the nicer restaurants at lunch.
* Flying anywhere within South America is expensive. Buses are a better option if you have the time.
Bonus! Our Sandboarding Video:
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| Our route. 28,000 km so far |
Thursday 5 January 2012
Guatemala
We arrived back to Canada today after spending an enjoyable couple of weeks travelling through Guatemala.
We started our trip in Guatemala city staying at the highly recommended Quetzalroo hostel.
From Livingston we took a river boat through the jungle before catching a bus to Flores. Flores is a little island city on a lake and a good base to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We arrived at the ruins at around 6 in the morning to the sound of howler monkeys in the jungle. They sound surprisingly scary (like a lion's roar)! We spent a day at the ruins climbing temples, playing with tarantulas, and watching some entertaining "profound" ceremonies for the winter solstice (the participants being new-age crystal and rainbow wand donned Americans)...We hear that it will only get more interesting as the end of 2012 approaches.
Our next stop was Lanquin. It is an incredibly beautiful place so we decided to spend Christmas there. We went on a day trip to Semuc Champey which is a limestone bridge over a river with turquoise colored pools to swim in. There was also a cave nearby that you explore with a candle in hand while swimming, climbing waterfalls, and jumping into dark crevices. Quite the adventure and definitely different than anything else we have done so far.
After Christmas we went to stroll the colonial streets of Antigua. It was a nice change of pace from our previous stop and we took our time wandering the city and trying our best to barter in the artesanal market.
We decided to spend the last portion of our time in Guatemala at Lake Atitlan in the town San Pedro la Laguna. The lake was very picturesque and surrounded by three volcanoes. We spent new years eve in San Pedro where they shut down some of the streets for a block party and tons of fireworks. We also took some time to visit the nearby towns of San Marcos and Santiago.
Guatemala was probably one of the most interesting countries that we visited from a cultural perspective. Many people, especially the women and children, tend to wear traditional dress that varies from region to region. The people are very friendly and you would be hard-pressed to walk down the street without being greeted by various passer-bys. At the same time, you can also find people strolling around town (or perhaps sitting in front of you on a tiny shuttle...) with a gun in plain sight. We thought it was a bit funny when we approached one of our first restaurant stops in Guatemala and were met with a "no guns" sign, however this type of sign can be found at many establishments and is perhaps necessary. Although we heard the odd horror story from other travellers along the way, we had no issues and really loved our time in the country. Guatemala will definitely be added to our list of countries that we would like to revisit in the future.
Future Plans: After all of the hard work we have put in over the past four months, we thought it would be prudent to relax with our family and friends in Canada for a few weeks. Thanks for reading and check back for more posts in late January. We are off to Hong Kong on January 25th!
Our next stop was Livingston on the Caribbean coast. It was an interesting Garifuna town with a great local dish called tapado- a huge bowl of soup with squid, clams, mussels, a full crab, and a full fish in a coconut milk broth.
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| We didn't have a picture of the tapado, but we did have this one of a frozen banana covered in chocolate and nuts! |
From Livingston we took a river boat through the jungle before catching a bus to Flores. Flores is a little island city on a lake and a good base to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We arrived at the ruins at around 6 in the morning to the sound of howler monkeys in the jungle. They sound surprisingly scary (like a lion's roar)! We spent a day at the ruins climbing temples, playing with tarantulas, and watching some entertaining "profound" ceremonies for the winter solstice (the participants being new-age crystal and rainbow wand donned Americans)...We hear that it will only get more interesting as the end of 2012 approaches.
 |
| Baby tarantula in hand |
Our next stop was Lanquin. It is an incredibly beautiful place so we decided to spend Christmas there. We went on a day trip to Semuc Champey which is a limestone bridge over a river with turquoise colored pools to swim in. There was also a cave nearby that you explore with a candle in hand while swimming, climbing waterfalls, and jumping into dark crevices. Quite the adventure and definitely different than anything else we have done so far.
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| Adam's Christmas dinner... |
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| Paula's Christmas dinner - unfortunately the stomach flu struck on Christmas eve |
After Christmas we went to stroll the colonial streets of Antigua. It was a nice change of pace from our previous stop and we took our time wandering the city and trying our best to barter in the artesanal market.
We decided to spend the last portion of our time in Guatemala at Lake Atitlan in the town San Pedro la Laguna. The lake was very picturesque and surrounded by three volcanoes. We spent new years eve in San Pedro where they shut down some of the streets for a block party and tons of fireworks. We also took some time to visit the nearby towns of San Marcos and Santiago.
Guatemala was probably one of the most interesting countries that we visited from a cultural perspective. Many people, especially the women and children, tend to wear traditional dress that varies from region to region. The people are very friendly and you would be hard-pressed to walk down the street without being greeted by various passer-bys. At the same time, you can also find people strolling around town (or perhaps sitting in front of you on a tiny shuttle...) with a gun in plain sight. We thought it was a bit funny when we approached one of our first restaurant stops in Guatemala and were met with a "no guns" sign, however this type of sign can be found at many establishments and is perhaps necessary. Although we heard the odd horror story from other travellers along the way, we had no issues and really loved our time in the country. Guatemala will definitely be added to our list of countries that we would like to revisit in the future.
Future Plans: After all of the hard work we have put in over the past four months, we thought it would be prudent to relax with our family and friends in Canada for a few weeks. Thanks for reading and check back for more posts in late January. We are off to Hong Kong on January 25th!
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