South America Guide

Posted by Brian

Posted on October 2, 2008

So I am back home now. 3 months and 8 countries after leaving Australia! Here is my summary of things that we saw and did in South America. Anybody thinking of doing it, stop thinking and just do it. You won't regret it...

Firstly is Buenos Aires. We stayed in the Centro area but the main party area is Palermo. Its a great city and very European. Kind of like a mixture between Madrid and Bangkok. We spent 4 nights there and that is enough there. We walked around a lot but there is a metro system there if you get lazy. Things to see are the Bombenera where the Boca Juniors play and Caminito area in la Boca which is beside the stadium. There are tango dancers in cafes and plenty of other things to do and see around the city. We just wandered around aimlessly for most of the time.

After that we flew to Rio. This is my favourite city in the world. There is so much to see and do or if you are lazy or hungover you can just chill at the beach. We spent some time in Copacobana but mostly in Ipanema. If you are going there I'd recommend Ipanema. Christ the Redeemers statue is one of the wonders of the world now and you can make your way up there on your own. For a similar price though you can get a city tour which takes you there and other places so we did it that way. Try and get to the statue early though because it gets very busy and hard to take photos although if you are patient you will get the photos you want. When in Rio dont miss sunset on the Sugar Loaf. Everyone claps when the sun goes down but not sure what else they might have been expecting. Games are on in the Maracana most Wednesdays and Sundays and if you are lucky you might get to see a local derby. Flamengo games are meant to be the best because most people in Rio support them. You can go on your own and buy tickets there or for 3 times the price you can go with a group (bealocal.com). Lapa is the going out place on Fridays and Saturdays where there are street parties. That is really cool. The favela tour is good too. Its a little voyeuristic but it gives you a better understanding of what goes on there and is definitely worth seeing. Rio has a bad reputation of being dangerous but if you have common sense, dont walk too far at night, dont carry around more money than you need and dont give money to muggers unless you are sure they have a gun/knife, it isn't bad at all. No worse than any city really.

From Rio we went to Ilha Grande. There are no cars or ATMs on this island but its worth chilling out there for a few days. Ferries only go once or twice a day and leave from Angra dos Reis (there is another town too but I forget the name of it). The last one at 4.30 when we were there but there are other boats that bring you to the island for a bit more money. On the island there are plenty of beaches and walks you can take but there are lots of mosquitoes so bring repellent.

After Ilha Grande we went to Paraty. This is an old colonial town between Angra dos Reis and Sao Paulo. We were meant to spend 2 days there but spent 5. Our hostel was called Sierra del Mar and was probably the best place we stayed in. It was cheap too for what you got. Maria runs it with her boyfriend and both were really sound, Maria is hot too! There are waterfalls outside the town that you can cycle to or get a bus, don't try to walk it. We did and were walking for 4 hours and barely saw a river. Was nice to walk around the smaller towns around it though. Paraty itself is a class town and really beautiful. There is a beach across the road from the hostel too for chilling out on and you can rent kayaks etc.

We left Paraty and got a bus to Sao Paulo and then on to Iguazu. Book the Sao Paulo to Iguazu bus in advance. Its about 100 euro. In Iguazu the most popular place on the Argentinian side is Hotel Inn. We stayed in some little shitty place though nearer the town. The falls are better to be seen from the Argentinian but people say to see it from both. On the Argentinian side you can take a boat under the falls, bring spare clothes, you get wet!! You can also do a day trip to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay for some cheap shopping and black market goods.

Salta was our next stop, where we stayed for a weekend. I cant tell you too much about it coz I got the worst hangover of my life here and spent a full day in bed. Its a university town and as you can guess, really good to go out in! From Salta we went to Bolivia. The border crossing is a pain coz Bolivia dont open their border til 8 am. Its cold there and finding the border walking isn't too easy either.

On the Bolivian side we got the bus to Tupiza. We started the Salar Tour from here. It cost about $100 for 4 days. You spend an awful lot of time in the jeep and it gets to about -15c at night. After that there is nothing bad about the tour and is well worth it. The food they give you is good and considering where you are you are well looked after. Have a look at the photos for yourself to see just how good it is. The tour stops in Uyuni and the best advice possible is get out of there ASAP! Its a shit hole. We had problems because the election was the next day and no buses were running. We eventually paid a guy from a tour company to drive us to Potosi. Potosi is the highest city in the world. The main attractions there are the mines and a huge mountain (about 6300m I think). We didnt do either, walking up a hill at 4800 is though enough never mind trying to climb a mountain. The mines are full of asbestos too so didnt want to take the risk.

Sucre was next up and we stayed here for 3 weeks. 2 weeks to learn Spanish and 1 week because we got blockaded in. This is a common occurance around Sucre so if you are tight for time don't go there. There was no trouble inside the city itself. We spent 2 weeks doing Spanish with Aida Rojas. Shes was really good and cheap and I have her email, etc if anyone wants lessons in Sucre. Her parrot is cool too. Sucre is a great town. Its really small and all the people there are really friendly. We even took in a soccer match while we were there. The shisha bar is good for drinks too.

From Sucre to La Paz we went by plane because of blockades but they were of course lifted the day we booked our flights! We stayed in the Wild Rover hostel. Its a bit of a party hostel and sells Barrys Tea!! Excellent. From there we organised the bike ride with Gravity and our trip to the midget wrestling. Also our bus out. La Paz is a big city and isnt much different from any other big city. Do the bike ride dont bother with the wrestling and probably get out of there soon after. We visited San Pedro prison, the one from the book Marching Powder. It was expensive and not that great but we had to see it after reading about it. Read the book if you are going to go. Stuart is the guy you go to see in there. Stay away from Jacques, he's meant to be crazy. If Stuart is gone, try looking for Daniel. There is a big cocaine culture in La Paz if you are into that too but I have no info for anybody on that.

The bus from La Paz to Cusco is fine. No dramas. Cusco is where you do the Inca Trail from. If you want to do the original book it at least 6 months in advance to be sure of a place. If you dont want to be tied by time then you can do an alternate trek when you are there. Matt did one but I didn't so cant really advise people much about it.

While Matt was on the Inca trail I headed to Trujillo in the North of Peru (this will be new to anybody who has been reading the blog). I spent a couple of days there and waited for Matt to catch up. It is Perus second biggest city which I didn't realise until afterwards. There is Chan Chan, an old archaeological site and the temples of the sun and the moon. I didn't visit any of them! I stayed in Casa de Clara which was a nice hostel but a bit weird. Judging from the look of the rest of the places though was the best pick.

After Matt met back up with us we went to Huanchaco. This is a nice little beach town. Its quite the whole time but there are more people around at the weekends. It is very popular for surfing. I am told that it is unique because the surf is so consistent. Basically you can surf all day every day. Not that I did. I spent most of the time lying down and drinking. It was the first place that we had been able to wear shorts since Sucre! We stayed in My Friend hostel. It was very cheap and the food there was class. I would definitely suggest it. For a little bit more, hostel Rubalong looked good too. It has a class view of the beach.

What I dont recommend is a bus from Trujillo to Quito! 29 hours on a bus is too much. It was very tough work and painful. Have money to buy stuff at the stops or it is awful. I can't give much advice on Quito because we didnt stay there very long.

That is about all I can think of about South America the way we did it. Any specific questions, just ask!! :)