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Depends where you go and what you do. $30-40/day is a comfortable budget if you plan to do a lot of drinking in bars, tourist activities (e.g., ziplining) and moving around in taxis on a daily basis, but you can get by on more like $5/day if you just hang out at the timeshare's beach and eat from the supermarket.
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Feb 21, 2011 01:16
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mattdev posted:Just booked a 9 day trip to Oaxaca City from March 4th-13th! I'm armed with my Lonely Planet, but what else do you all recommend? hey wow, that's great! anyway, i've got a friend who spent awhile backpacking around Oaxaca and I think he's still got some people there... standby for details.
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Feb 21, 2011 18:14
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duralict posted:Depends where you go and what you do. $30-40/day is a comfortable budget if you plan to do a lot of drinking in bars, tourist activities (e.g., ziplining) and moving around in taxis on a daily basis, but you can get by on more like $5/day if you just hang out at the timeshare's beach and eat from the supermarket. I was in Pacific CR last month and I found it to be somewhat more expensive than that but maybe I just drink a lot. Food and drink prices were pretty similar to U.S. prices - $5-20 for a meal and $2-4 for a beer depending on whether you were in a locals place or resort bar. Kayaking, ATV rentals, zip-lining, etc. ran about $40-80 depending on what you want to do. As far as your choices, I'm pretty sure you will have access to beach activities/tours from all of those places. Jaco would have the most night life. I don't think any of the Guanacaste locations you mention would have more than a couple of chill bars on the beach. Overall Pacific CR isn't a big party destination like Cancun. What airport would you be flying into? Jaco, Puntarenas, and Quepos are closer to San Jose and the others are closer to Liberia so that's something to think about.
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Feb 22, 2011 20:47
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barbudo posted:hey wow, that's great! anyway, i've got a friend who spent awhile backpacking around Oaxaca and I think he's still got some people there... standby for details. She said that it can be incredibly difficult unless your university has some sort of relationship with them. Have you considered any of the other universities in SP?
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Feb 25, 2011 10:23
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duralict posted:Depends where you go and what you do. $30-40/day is a comfortable budget if you plan to do a lot of drinking in bars, tourist activities (e.g., ziplining) and moving around in taxis on a daily basis, but you can get by on more like $5/day if you just hang out at the timeshare's beach and eat from the supermarket. Yup, stop at a supermarket on your way in to Jaco in a non-tourist town. Buy a bunch of snacks and alcohol to keep around the hotel. If your doing the canopy tour stuff I would try and book with them directly. Avoid the tour companies and their stupid vouchers if you can.
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Feb 25, 2011 18:14
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I'm looking at traveling to Peru for 7-8 days in late April/early May. Plane tickets from Portland to Lima are at $1000-1200 right now, which is depressing. Is that par for the course or should I keep an eye on ticket prices for a while? I have no problem waiting a bit, but it'll suck if they just keep going up and up. How much can I realistically fit into that time frame? My friend has a brother in Lima who I might be able to crash with, so I'm thinking I'll spend a night there when I arrive. From what I've read, I won't want to spend much more time than that in Lima. I plan to check out Cuzco and Machu Picchu, but not the Inca Trail hike (although I am interested in hiking up the peak over Machu Picchu, so I gather I'll near to get there early for that). Should I check out Arequipa as well? Will that be trying to cram too much in? I'd like to keep costs on the low end, although I'll do what it takes to get the most out of my experience. I'm not opposed to taking cheaper transportation that ideally won't kill me. I'm more interested in taking in ruins and natural scenery and potentially checking out some markets rather than delving into more of the nightlife and partying aspects. I'm taking Spanish classes right now, so I hope to have some basics down when I get there. I'm a vegetarian, so I won't be able to sample many of the recommended dishes, which is a shame. Will I be sticking to one or two dishes or is the cuisine fairly veggie-friendly? Also, as a girl traveling alone, will I have a ton to worry about as long as I'm traveling smart and not flashing lots of skin and/or money? I would love any suggestions of things to check out while I'm there as long as it's not too far out of the way or prohibitively expensive (the photos of northern Peru at the beginning of the thread look amazing, but time does not allow for that.  ) Any tips in general would be super helpful!
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Mar 2, 2011 02:55
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Caerulea posted:I'm looking at traveling to Peru for 7-8 days in late April/early May. Plane tickets from Portland to Lima are at $1000-1200 right now, which is depressing. Is that par for the course or should I keep an eye on ticket prices for a while? I have no problem waiting a bit, but it'll suck if they just keep going up and up. South America gives not a single poo poo about vegetarians/vegans. A few of the capital cities might have a scattered few vegetarian (rarely ever vegan--in fact, I've never seen a SA restaurant that even acknowledged veganism) restaurants, forget about it elsewhere. Women in South America are second class citizens that you can own, basically. The more rural you go, the worse it gets. At best, you're a vaguely respected human being grudgingly acknowledged to be capable of rational thought. At worst, you will be groped randomly by drunk guys because that's what girls are for! As far as theft, always watch your stuff closely, walk in VERY well lit places, etc. If you leave anything unlocked in SA you're a moron. Americans NEVER get this, so expect to get robbed because of your trusting nature! As always, all these negatives are much less pronounced in Brazil/Chile/Argentina, and I frankly think first time SA visitors or 3rd world travelers are stupid not to go to one of those three first, since they're also probably much more beautiful/interesting than most of the other countries. Getting lured to the shittier countries because of marketing is more common, though, since so few people seem to know about anything beyond Machu Picchu. Buenos Aires, Patagonia, glaciers, Atacama, Rio + its wilderness, Iguacu, the Altiplano, etc. are probably some of the best sights I've seen across the five continents, but good luck convincing people of this! a japanese pop icon fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Mar 3, 2011 |
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Mar 3, 2011 01:43
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a japanese pop icon posted:South America gives not a single poo poo about vegetarians/vegans. A few of the capital cities might have a scattered few vegetarian (rarely ever vegan--in fact, I've never seen a SA restaurant that even acknowledged veganism) restaurants, forget about it elsewhere. Agreed. It really gives you a perspective of how western/american the idea of vegetarianism and veganism is. That said, about half the hostellers I ran across seemed to be long term, 6+ month hosteller world travelers from Australia. Most of their meals were cooked in the hostel and largely consisted of spaghetti. It's no accident that hostels have an over-abundance of pasta-boiling pots. For 8 days it might be worth finding nice restaurants and ordering items off their menu that look like they might be vegie items, since it will only cost you an extra $40 for a week to eat out vs eating in. Most of the hosteller travel books have a paragraph or two about what's available for your delicate palate in a metropolis of 8+ million 
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Mar 3, 2011 03:17
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Oh yeah, I wasn't anticipating an overabundance of vegetarian restaurants. I just didn't know if there was a lot of variety in the cuisine or if more of the dishes were heavily meat-based. In any case, I'll certainly get by with whatever I can find on a menu that doesn't have an obvious meat product and keep my fingers crossed. Peru ended up being my first choice due to recommendations from my friend who lived in Lima. I did some traveling in Guatemala last year, so while you can't compare the two much, I'm not entirely green on international traveling at least. I would love to check out the Patagonia area someday too.  Thanks for the other tips! I'll try to stick to more reputable areas and will at least have the benefit of being with a local for my brief time in Lima.
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Mar 3, 2011 08:11
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Well, I ended up moving to Bolivia after all, and now I'm teaching English and studying Spanish and going through the bureaucratic mess of extending my visa. One observation I'd like to share is this: La Paz is cold.
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Mar 3, 2011 17:46
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Caerulea posted:Oh yeah, I wasn't anticipating an overabundance of vegetarian restaurants. I just didn't know if there was a lot of variety in the cuisine or if more of the dishes were heavily meat-based. In any case, I'll certainly get by with whatever I can find on a menu that doesn't have an obvious meat product and keep my fingers crossed. Soups are almost always based on meat broth. The beans usually contain lard and/or bacon fat. In most places in the world, locals will think you're crazy for coming from a wealthy country and not eating meat. Outside of larger cities with an international presence, or Gringo Trail hotspots, people in Latin America don't understand the concept of vegetarianism. It really is an affectation of people from wealthy countries, for the most part. Colombia is the dark horse favorite of South America, for most people who've been there. It's budget-friendly, incredibly varied in topography, and the people are great. It's also nowhere near as bad as its reputation these days.
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Mar 3, 2011 19:33
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São Paulo probably has the largest concentration of vegan/vegetarian restaurants I've seen outside of the pacific northwest. They're all absolutely amazing, especially for a country that has such a meat heavy diet. Buenos Aires had quite a few, but most were owned by expats.
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Mar 4, 2011 22:28
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Caerulea posted:Oh yeah, I wasn't anticipating an overabundance of vegetarian restaurants. I just didn't know if there was a lot of variety in the cuisine or if more of the dishes were heavily meat-based. In any case, I'll certainly get by with whatever I can find on a menu that doesn't have an obvious meat product and keep my fingers crossed. I saw a lot of vegetarian restaurants in Cusco and there were some in other towns on the gringo trail so you may have to look a bit harder or ask your hostel for info but you should be able to eat vegetarian while you're in Peru.
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Mar 5, 2011 07:23
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Anyone know what we should expect to pay for duty on alcohol? I know you can bring 1 liter per person duty free, but we're about 250ml over that limit right now and might end up buying a bit more. The Mezcal in Oaxaca is dirt cheap, delicious, and I want more to bring home!
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Mar 6, 2011 04:28
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Airfare from Dallas to Mexico City is stupid cheap! Just booked tickets to MEX from 3/15-3/28. Besides Teotihuacan, any prime sites I need to check out? I am a bit of a history and architecture nerd, so colonial style churches and missionaries are always interesting. I am also considering 2-3 days in Oaxaca. A quick google says it's ~7 hrs/$40USD by bus each way. What should I expect to budget for basic food (not bar/club) costs? I spent about $10/day in South America last year. I am thinking it will be about the same in Mexico.
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Mar 8, 2011 16:58
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Not long at all till I head off on my South American trip, whoop whoop! The plan is Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Peru over 2 months. Just wondering should I change some of my currency (Englishy) into American dollars before I go, or just stick to their currencies?
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Mar 9, 2011 00:19
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Squalitude posted:Not long at all till I head off on my South American trip, whoop whoop! The plan is Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Peru over 2 months. Just wondering should I change some of my currency (Englishy) into American dollars before I go, or just stick to their currencies? I found having a couple days worth of USD handy when I first got into Peru, mainly for paying for the taxi from the airport. And then afterwards withdraw some local currency from an ATM. Pretty much everything except the really expensive stuff (say a helicopter ride) is done in local currency. I didn't get any local currency beforehand because those kinds of currencies aren't common in New Zealand and arranging for physical cash would probably be expensive. Likewise trying to convert physical NZD when over there. But ATMs are plentiful, however try to stick to the ones that belong to banks, not the standalone one's with helpful stuff for tourists, they have extra and expensive withdrawal fees, the Bank one's just work like normal (sans the overseas fee your bank back home will charge).
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Mar 9, 2011 01:08
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Traveling to Peru used to be so loving cheap. I remember 300 dollars tickets to the usa and 50 dollar tickets to anywhere in the country. Frankly Peru is a pretty lovely country. Don't expect a lot of clean streets or nice looking building's. The Peruvians do not seem to have a great sense of historic preservation. The Colombians do. The Brazileans do to some extent. The Argentineans and Chileans do. But Peruvians? Naw. They're lucky no one found Machu Pichuu before archeologists did. Edit: AS for currency in Peru. Good luck getting USD exchanged they're mental about counterfeits since this little incident . hatersg2haet fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Mar 9, 2011 |
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Mar 9, 2011 10:37
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Anybody have any advice on Bolivia travel? I have read the whole thread and have spotted a few tidbits, but I am mostly curious for some tips as a solo female traveler. Concerning buses mostly, I am flying into Santa Cruz and am taking a bus ~6 hours to a village near Trinidad for volunteer work, spending 3 months without electricity, then taking a return bus to Santa Cruz for a flight back to the states at 0600. How safe is nighttime bus travel? Would it be better for me to return to Santa Cruz early and spend the night in a hotel before my return flight? Candygram fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Mar 9, 2011 |
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Mar 9, 2011 20:22
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I didn't have a problem with exchanging or using USD in Peru when I went last September And buses in Bolivia are notoriously unreliable and an unlucky strike can shut down the only road out of your town, so you should try to arrive a day in advance
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Mar 11, 2011 20:19
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mattdev posted:São Paulo probably has the largest concentration of vegan/vegetarian restaurants I've seen outside of the pacific northwest. They're all absolutely amazing, especially for a country that has such a meat heavy diet. If you are willing to get out of the old Rio/Sao Paulo routine, the northeastern Brazil is heavily on fish and vegetarian foods as well. Additionally, it is a much better place to visit and have fun than Rio and Sao Paulo, besides, it is much cheaper as well
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Mar 11, 2011 20:42
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Does anyone have any good resources for where to start with a trip like this? Money is kind of a limitation and I'm finding it overwhelming with all of the choices at hand. Basically I want to backpack for around two weeks, but I have no experience with the area and really don't know how to even start researching. I hear South America can be modestly priced if I stay away from really tourist-y places. How long does planning generally take? I'm looking at going some time in late April/early May. Is that enough prep time?
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Mar 13, 2011 00:11
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I don't know if this will help you or not, but Basically my thought process went like this: 1. What is my budget 2. How long can I afford to be away for 3. When I plan to travel, what time of year will it be? I realized I had about 6 weeks worth of budget, but my airfare would be significantly cheaper if I bought a round trip ticket, which limited me to 30 days. Also it was November at the time, which crossed places like Russia, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe off my list. That left the Equator (N. Africa, Equador), SE Asia ($$ airfare), Australia ($$$ airfare) and South America. Once I had South America figured out, I bought a couple of the Lonely Planet books and started doing some reading (there's some great "South America on a shoestring" and "Central America on a shoestring" books out there that cover a wide area). Also, head to your nearest REI or North Face dealer and start asking the guys there some questions. There's a reason why those places don't hire kids in high school wearing abercrombie tshirts.
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Mar 13, 2011 11:46
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John Jhonson posted:Does anyone have any good resources for where to start with a trip like this? Money is kind of a limitation and I'm finding it overwhelming with all of the choices at hand. Basically I want to backpack for around two weeks, but I have no experience with the area and really don't know how to even start researching. Brazil and Chile are out of the question for anyone on a tight budget. Focus on a country like Colombia or Ecuador, both of which are very cheap and rewarding for budgeteers. Take an afternoon and go to a Barnes & Noble or Borders, plant yourself in the travel section, and read through the Lonely Planet and Moon and other guidebooks to various destinations. That should be your very first bit of research.
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Mar 13, 2011 14:58
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Well my trip to SA starting in Santiago is tomorrow, eeee! Thanks to the peeps that have contributed to the thread and answered my questions. Now let's hope my vast experience of Samba de Amigo can see me through the continent.
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Mar 13, 2011 15:47
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Well I just got back from Carnavales en Panama. If anyone has any questions about Panama please feel free to ask. I enjoyed Panama so much more than I did Costa Rica.
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Mar 13, 2011 19:07
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pitchblende posted:Well I just got back from Carnavales en Panama. If anyone has any questions about Panama please feel free to ask. I enjoyed Panama so much more than I did Costa Rica. Panama has everything that Costa Rica has to offer, without the tourist hordes but with a cool capital city. Costa Rica is like Latin America Lite.
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Mar 14, 2011 00:35
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I'm thinking about/planning on doing a 3-4 month solo backpacking trip to South America in June. Probably starting in Colombia going to maybe 2-4 different countries. I'm thinking, Colombia - Ecuador - Maybe Brazil, Peru and Bolivia , but I'll probably somewhat end up winging it. I have roughly $5k, to travel with. I could spend probably about another grand more, but I'd prefer to spend less, so I can return home not completely broke. I said thinking up there because I haven't really started making any serious/committed plans yet, but my work contract is ending at the end of May and I want to see some more of the world. I don't have any particular ties to South America or Latin culture, but I really enjoy discovering and learning about different lifestyles, new people, and cultures. I did a solo backpack trip in southeast Asia in 2009, so I'm okay with travelling by myself, but I have some questions regarding south America. A couple questions: 1. How easy is it to meet other travellers in these countries, specifically the countries I listed? I don't really know how touristed/travelled south America is, but Is it easy to find/join other travellers to travel with? 2. How easy is it to get by with no spanish speaking abilities? I briefly scoured through the colombia/Bogota couch surfing group, and everything was in spanish, which concerns me. 3. How bad and how open is the 'rip - off' rate for travellers and non-spanish speaking people. If I went to a restaurant would they give me a 2nd menu in english where everything is twice as expensive as the spanish menu? 4. How safe/how common is theft? I always try to trust my gut when travelling and dealing with locals. You know there are nice locals, who seem very sincere and nice locals that don't seem quite genuine, but in my previous travels if a guy didn't seem very sincere, and you went along with him/what he says anyways, the worst that would happened is you'd be swindled for a few extra dollars. However, I would usually only go with a guy/what a guy said if it was my only choice, like in the case of a taxi, and I didn't quite know the route. I'm more concerned with getting kidnapped or seriously robbed. This is probably a loaded question, but I just feel like I need some re-assurance with the whole safety thing. 5. How good is the Canadian exchange out in South America? Is it generally up to date with the global trading rate? In Southeast Asia, I found that even though at the time of travel, the Canadian Dollar was on par with the American dollar (or at least very close), I could never get close to exchanging at the actual market rate. Should I exchange a bunch of dollars to US before travelling, maybe even open up a US dollar account or just stick with Canadian dollars? 6. Are there any low cost flight carriers in South America? I keep reading that the bordering areas around colombia and Ecuador (with all surrounding countries) are pretty dangerous. I just did a quick look for 1-way flights between Colombia-Ecuador-Peru and they seem all seem to be around $300-500, which seems pretty expensive. I'm having some trouble deciding if I should buy round trip into colombia or one way. 7. It seems like the climate can change quite a bit between country and region in South America due to the terrain. Are clothes cheap out there? Can I pick up sweaters/jackets for cheap? I'll be backpacking so I'd like to pack only the necessities and buy any extras if required. 8. Just to ask - I'm a 24 year old (Canadian) Asian male, again travelling solo. Am I gonna get any poo poo for this? I went to a resort in Cuba 2 years ago with some other Asian friends, and we went out to the local cuban town, a whole bunch of local cubans kept whistling at us yelling 'Chinos, Chinos!'. It didn't really offend me or anything, I actually thought the ignorance of it was kind of funny, but I don't want seen as some guy who can be taken advantage of, which unfortunately sometimes comes with being Asian. Anyways, I stopped by a local bookstore today and spent an hour flipping through South American LP books, and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable about the idea of going. I just ordered the LP South American shoestring guide on Amazon.
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Mar 14, 2011 04:34
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jonawesome posted:I'm thinking about/planning on doing a 3-4 month solo backpacking trip to South America in June. Probably starting in Colombia going to maybe 2-4 different countries. I'm thinking, Colombia - Ecuador - Maybe Brazil, Peru and Bolivia , but I'll probably somewhat end up winging it. I have roughly $5k, to travel with. I could spend probably about another grand more, but I'd prefer to spend less, so I can return home not completely broke. Seriously learn loving Spanish. This isn't Russian, or Chinese, or anythinng like that. Basic, broken (but understandable) Spanish takes like at most a week or two to learn. People DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISh outside of the upper classes/hospitality areas. The more rural, the less English, the further from Brazil/Chile/Argentina the less people speak English. Stop being lazy, if you're going to backpack you better loving learn the language. As for other questions: 3) They won't give you an English menu most of the time. Again, learn loving Spanish. You will probably be ripped off fairly often, but there's little to really do about it. 4) It's not 100% safe. People are literally still getting kidnapped in Colombia (outside the big cities, to be fair), and every single belonging you leave unattended for more than 30 seconds is likely to be stolen. Violent crime outside the guerila states is pretty rare, though. 8) South America is super racist, so have fun with that. That said, it's unlikely to get you more ripped off than any other gringo, it'll just get you racial slurs sometimes.
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Mar 14, 2011 09:25
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jonawesome posted:1. How easy is it to meet other travellers in these countries, specifically the countries I listed? I don't really know how touristed/travelled south America is, but Is it easy to find/join other travellers to travel with? 1. Really easy. Just stay in decent hostels (check out hostelworld/tripadvisor before you book), and you'll have no problem finding people. I spent 7 months travelling from BA to Guatemala, and met up with loads of people along the way. 2.It's not too difficult, as long as you stick to the gringo trail. The more out of the way you go the harder you'll find it. Also, it'll be difficult if something bad happens (serious illness/accident/theft), but in general getting by without Spanish isn't too hard. I arrived speaking nothing, but with my fairly fluent girlfriend. I only had real issues when trying to bargain, or when something bad happened (when we got mugged, and when I got pretty ill). 3. You'll pay more as a gringo, but it's not too bad. Just don't go anywhere with a picture/english menu. Learning enough Spanish to read a menu shouldn't take long at all. 4. In general, not too bad. We had 2 issues in 7 months. One was at the Ecuador/Peru border, which is renowned for being really sketchy, and the other was on a hiking trail we'd been told was dangerous. Again, if you stick to the gringo trail, you'll find it a lot easier. 5. Given that CAD is stronger than USD at the moment, I'd stick with CAD. Just find/open a bank account that gives you fee-free withdrawals abroad. 6. The Ecuador/Colombia border was the easier/quickest we encountered in the 12 or so borders we did. The Ecuador/Peru was the worst, but just take an international bus if you're worried. 7. Yes, clothes are cheap. Not western fashions, but just take warm weather clothes and buy layers as and when needed (like in Bolivia, at altitude).
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Mar 14, 2011 09:29
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jonawesome posted:I'm thinking about/planning on doing a 3-4 month solo backpacking trip Check out this: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list If you're from the northeast your spanish is probably going to be terrible. Living in Dallas (and having taken latin in High School) I probably knew about 10% of these words just from everyday life. If you're French Canadian, or have some french language background you should be able to read most spanish with no problem whatsoever. Short sentences and/or phrases are pretty easy to both pick up and use. Forming short questions like "where is bathroom" is super easy (donde se banos) and "how much?" (quanto costa/cuanto cuesta). If all else fails, just say "qua?/que?" (what?) and point where on the map you need to go. The middle class all grew up watching American TV with spanish subtitles so there's often a good chance they'll understand your english better than vice versa. I didn't ever feel truly ripped off. It probably did happen on occasion, but even when it does you'll only pay half of what you did back home, which is a pretty acceptable rate to me, considering our lifestyle/rate of pay back home.
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Mar 14, 2011 16:18
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Thanks for the tips guys, I'm definitely not against learning spanish, I just (as mentioned) don't have any ties to South America and don't really have much of a reason to learn the language. I also have been spending the last year studying Korean, and learning two languages at once can be pretty challenging. I do have some familiarity with French, so hopefully I'll be able to pick some of the words up alright. How bad is theft in hostels? Of course that's fairly dependent on the travellers in the hostels, but is it generally safe to keep stuff - Ipod, Camera, netbook, maybe guitar - in the rooms when you go out at night? Is theft from hostel workers common?
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Mar 14, 2011 16:40
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XXdragonsparkzXX posted:Anybody have any advice on Bolivia travel? I have read the whole thread and have spotted a few tidbits, but I am mostly curious for some tips as a solo female traveler. Concerning buses mostly, I am flying into Santa Cruz and am taking a bus ~6 hours to a village near Trinidad for volunteer work, spending 3 months without electricity, then taking a return bus to Santa Cruz for a flight back to the states at 0600. Coming back from the parque your options are 8am, 2pm or midnight and the midnight one won't get you to Santa Cruz in time for your flight. The people there know the schedules and the easiest way to do things and you don't need to book accommodation in Santa Cruz so just leave the return bit until you're coming back. You'll need a mosquito head net which you can buy in Santa Cruz if you can find the shop with them (I don't know where it is) but you can't get them any closer to the parque. If you can get one at home do so otherwise it's definitely worth spending half a day wandering around Santa Cruz to find one especially if you've got three months. Everything else you should be able to get out there.
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Mar 14, 2011 17:55
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jonawesome posted:How bad is theft in hostels? Of course that's fairly dependent on the travellers in the hostels, but is it generally safe to keep stuff - Ipod, Camera, netbook, maybe guitar - in the rooms when you go out at night? Is theft from hostel workers common? Theft by other backpackers in hostels and guesthouses is the most common kind of theft on the Gringo Trail. Lock up your electronics and passport, and ask yourself if you really need to bring the netbook in the first place.
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Mar 14, 2011 21:03
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Destroyenator posted:I've just finished six weeks there and have been considering doing a write up for this thread. The buses are safe, you'll be fine even as a single female but they aren't necessarily pleasant. Try to avoid night buses if you can just because they suck.  Did you volunteer at Ambue Ari?? I already have my head net, I heard it gets brutal seeing that no repellent is allowed. If you have any more pointers for me that would be amazing and very appreciated. I don't head out until June and have done as much research as I can, but there's still some gray areas.
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Mar 14, 2011 23:32
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a goon posted:and ask yourself if you really need to bring the netbook in the first place. I never heard of any laptop theft. If you bury your laptop in an old pillow case in the middle of your bag and lock the bag, you'll have zero problems. p.s. gently caress the traveling laptop haters. Laptops (Netbooks) provide a huge amount of utility and huge additional freedom to retool your trip on a whim, since there's no time limit on personal computer during peak hours at the hostel. Netbooks take up zero additional space. That said, if you only own one laptop/netbook that also is your primary computer and can't afford to replace it ($300), you should probably leave it at home. I use my netbook almost exclusively for travel and have been extremely happy to have it as a tool while abroad. You can pry it from my cold, dead hands, right after I book my next hostel.
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Mar 15, 2011 06:06
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Plus it's good for doing banking, because gently caress typing in your bank passwords into a net cafe computer. However smartphones with wifi are also pretty drat good at filling that niche, possibly better than a netbook because they're carried on your person at all times instead of left behind in a shared room. Also translation apps and currency converters
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Mar 15, 2011 08:10
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Hadlock posted:p.s. gently caress the traveling laptop haters. Oooh, defensive. I spend 60+ hours a week on a computer. The last thing I want to do on a leisure trip is keep my nose stuck into another computer, spending 60% of my days updating Facebook or my blog, so that people back home knew I what I was doing three minutes ago. Would much prefer talking to actual living people. Once every couple of days at an Internet cafe is more than enough. To me, part of the novelty of taking a lengthy overland trip is disconnection from home. That's cool if you're different.
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Mar 15, 2011 15:43
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Hadlock posted:Check out this: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Basic_English_word_list I had to laugh at the bad Spanish you used to demonstrate how easy it is, sorry  But yes, generally being understood is simple. Your "ties" to SA is you're loving backpacking there, so at least learn to speak like an ape-man in it.
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Mar 16, 2011 12:12
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XXdragonsparkzXX posted:
The stuff about the all natural shampoo and soap and stuff isn't that important because you can't get it in Bolivia so don't go out of your way for it if you don't want to. You'll probably need your yellow fever vaccination but if you're only going to Ambue Ari malaria pills are probably overkill. None of the long termers take them and there hasn't ever been a case of it there. There have been a few cases of people getting robbed in the Santa Cruz bus station after visiting ATMs so you're better off getting a taxi from the airport into town (ask for the plaza central) and getting cash out there. It's only a 5B taxi from the bus terminal. You can only get cash in Guarayos as a credit card cash advance with an additional 5% fee otherwise you have to take a trip to Trinidad. The first week is the toughest and will seem like a huge struggle but push through. You'll have a fantastic time. I don't check here that often (I'm still traveling) but I'm happy to (try to) answer any more questions you have.
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Mar 16, 2011 20:33
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