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I'm doing a last pass shopping trip before I leave on Wednesday for 6 weeks in Guatemala. Is there anything you guys wish you brought when you traveled around here you didn't think of? Also, I use a safety razor normally. Are blades easy to find, it am I going to spend 6 weeks with a mach 3?
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Jun 11, 2015 17:43
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Beast Pussy posted:I'm doing a last pass shopping trip before I leave on Wednesday for 6 weeks in Guatemala. Is there anything you guys wish you brought when you traveled around here you didn't think of? I don't recall seeing any when I was there in 2009, and I can't imagine things have changed much. I don't think I've seen razor blades in Mexican grocery stores in the last couple years either. You might just want to do mach 3s or disposable BICs.
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Jun 11, 2015 19:10
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Beast Pussy posted:I'm doing a last pass shopping trip before I leave on Wednesday for 6 weeks in Guatemala. Is there anything you guys wish you brought when you traveled around here you didn't think of? Isn't a 6 week supply like, 6 blades? The weight and space is going to be hardly noticed.. are you not checking bags? I bet you could slip through TSA with them. They apparently only catch like 5% of weapons anyways?
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Jun 11, 2015 19:17
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deong posted:Isn't a 6 week supply like, 6 blades? The weight and space is going to be hardly noticed.. are you not checking bags? I bet you could slip through TSA with them. They apparently only catch like 5% of weapons anyways? I usually go through a few a week, and I'm not checking anything. Disposables it is.
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Jun 11, 2015 21:14
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Barbers in Guatemala are really cheap, and give a nice shave. I treat myself to a couple of barber shaves a week here in Mexico, where they are a bit more expensive, but still cheap.
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Jun 11, 2015 22:43
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TheImmigrant posted:Barbers in Guatemala are really cheap, and give a nice shave. I treat myself to a couple of barber shaves a week here in Mexico, where they are a bit more expensive, but still cheap. That actually sounds incredible. I'm going to feel so classy having someone else do my grooming for me.
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Jun 14, 2015 19:28
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So I am thinking about making a trip to Quito, Ecuador later this year; I can be flexible on the dates/time but it has to be at least 2 months out. My plans I would be doing this solo by myself. I would be taking 1-2 weeks off of work. I would like to see either the Amazon or the Andes; both if I have time. I enjoy trekking in new environments. Since I am doing this by myself I would like to hook up with some sort of operator or group as being in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country exceeds my safety threshold. I am in pretty good shape I went 64 miles through the White Mountains NH carrying everything I needed to live off of for 5 days in my backpack back in September. Since then I have ran a half-marathon, triathlon, and skied for 5 days out in the Utah Rockies. Right now I would be looking at a budget of $1500-$3000 exc. airfare. I would like to know some recommended groups or operators that would offer this. What areas of Ecuador would you recommend? owDAWG fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jun 21, 2015 |
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Jun 21, 2015 19:38
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owDAWG posted:So I am thinking about making a trip to Quito, Ecuador later this year; I can be flexible on the dates/time but it has to be at least 2 months out. Can't make any of those recommendations, but I visited Ecuador last year and had a great time in Ibarra (about halfway between Quito and the Colombian border in the north). Beautiful volcanoes up there. In Quito, definitely drive up to the TeleferiQo. At the top, there is a hiking trail around/to the nearby volcano. My wife and I didn't know this trail was there when we visited and were totally bummed we didn't have the right shoes/food to do the hike when we discovered it. Plus it was pretty stormy. Here's some more info I found from a random google. khysanth fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 22, 2015 22:56
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so i'm leaving in a week with a oneway ticket and a hostel booked in lima, anyone see anything wrong/that can be improved with this itinerary for the first month? arrive 4th 5,6 in lima 7 travel to cuzco 8,9 stay in cuzco 10, begin salkantay trek 15 end trek 16 travel to titicaca 17 day in city 18 lake trip 19 lake trip 20 Travel to Arequipa 21 day in the city/we'll see 22-25 3 day hike colca canyon 26 travel to the border and cross into Chile/arica 27 stay arica 28 leave arica 12 hour bus ride to san pedro 29 start san pedro de actama (bouldering? space tour?) 30 Valle de la Luna 31-2nd lican bur volcano, 2 days (1 rest) after 3 hotsprings taito 4 head south to santiago also, planning to spend until late august/early september in patagonia, Is there enough to do to fill that time?
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Jun 27, 2015 02:25
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Profondo Rosso posted:so i'm leaving in a week with a oneway ticket and a hostel booked in lima, anyone see anything wrong/that can be improved with this itinerary for the first month? WAY too tightly planned. You're going to Peru, not Germany.
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Jun 27, 2015 05:50
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I would bounce out of Lima ASAP and head to Cusco so you don't murder yourself on the altitude when you begin your 5 day hike a few days later. I you've never had to do physical activity @ 11,000 feet you're in for a bit of a surprise at how thin the air is up there. There's not much to see in Lima anyways. Just another South American Megacity. I was there for ~12-18 hours and felt like I had seen all Lima had to offer. And yeah, I did a trip that tightly packed recently, but it was all by train and in Europe where you can get away with that kind of insanity. And I have a lot of experience doing it. I once had to rebook my flight home from Colombia because my bus got caught on the wrong side of a mudslide when heading back to the airport in Bogota from Medellin on the main route (two major cities). There's probably an 80% chance you can pull it off but you're going to kill yourself doing it. I see you have a couple of 2 day layovers in various cities, but you're probably going to want to pad 2 more days just to loving sleep. I know you can sleep on the plane/train/bus, but with that much activity your body needs a solid 12 hours of bed rest every so often to recooperate. Maybe I'm just starting to get too old for this poo poo though at 31 
Hadlock fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Jun 27, 2015 |
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Jun 27, 2015 06:04
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About to book my December 2016 Antarctica trip on the Sea Spirit with AdventureSmith, and I was considering doing some time in Patagonia before or after. It would be a shame to travel all that way for nothing. I'm doing the Sierra Club WTC so I'll feel prepared and will at least have one real camping trip under my belt in addition to the WTCG time before I leave for Argentina. Right now, I'm looking at doing the W in Tierra Del Fuego as the idea of crazy, wild winds really excites me. It's about an 8 hr bus ride from Ushuaia. Does anybody have experience with that trail or with the area in general?
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Jun 28, 2015 02:11
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Altitude is another thing. I've seen new arrivals have trouble in Mexico City, which is only 2200 meters / 7200 feet. Cusco, much higher up, wipes out a lot of people at first.
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Jun 28, 2015 03:17
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I had no problem in Denver (5000 ft) last year, loveland ski area @ 10,000 ft + too much alcohol made me want to die. I'm usually pretty healthy, good cardio, bike 100 miles a week etc. I really loved Cusco but my most distinct memory of the city was walking the 2 miles from the airport to the city center on foot and just about wanting to die. Keep in mind that they pressurize the inside of the airplane to an equivalent of an altitude of 10,000 ft. So when you land in Cusco, before they open the door to the plane, the pressure is actually higher inside the plane than outside. I didn't have "altitude sickness" or anything crazy like that, but I definitely got tired a lot faster. Effective oxygen percentage at 0-2000 ft is 20%, once you hit 10,000ft it's only 14% and at 13,000ft it's barely more than 12.5%, which as far as I'm concerned, is half the oxygen. Everyone is different but I would err on the side of caution here. 3-5 days in Cusco will give you a lot more red blood cells to deliver oxygen to your body before that hike. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Jun 28, 2015 |
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Jun 28, 2015 03:38
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We were crazy and got into Cuzco literally 24 hours before our Machu Picchu hike. Luckily only one person in our group got altitude sickness (bad headache, started vomiting a few hours after we arrived). The next day he was a trooper and went on the hike, though. I think 48 hours would be plenty of time to adjust but ymmv. Drink before you're thirsty and eat before you're hungry. Also chew some coca.
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Jun 29, 2015 19:25
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Funny, I took altitude sickness medicine before the hike which was great-- but now I don't know if I suffer from altitude sickness so now I'm on the medication train until I start experimenting with elevation. =)
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Jun 29, 2015 19:40
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Has anyone been to Igazu Falls from the Argentinian side & done a boat tour? Fiancee reckons we need to book well in advance, but it looks to me that you can just turn up & book on the day. Unless he's thinking of the big boats & I'm thinking of jet boats.
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Jul 6, 2015 02:57
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Hoplosternum posted:Has anyone been to Igazu Falls from the Argentinian side & done a boat tour? Fiancee reckons we need to book well in advance, but it looks to me that you can just turn up & book on the day. Unless he's thinking of the big boats & I'm thinking of jet boats. Yes. I just rolled up and had no trouble getting a spot on the boat, which isn't all that. The most spectacular part of the falls, on either side of the border, is the catwalk above Garganta del Diablo on the Argentine side. You seriously walk out right over the cataract, with nothing but a thin grill and guardrail separating you from thin air and mist. You get a good panorama from the Brazilian side, but the Argentine side is far superior. The catwalks come right up against the various falls, you'll see coatis (raccoon-like creatures that patrol the park) everywhere, and Puerto Iguazu is way more pleasant than Foz do Iguacu. If you're flush, there are helicopter tours above the falls, but I can't help you with details on those. Keep in mind that Argentina is also much, much cheaper than Brazil, which costs at least as much as Western Europe these days.
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Jul 6, 2015 03:48
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I just bought a ticket the day of but it was a couple years ago. I think I had to wait about 10 minutes in line. They have about 10 boats which hold ~40 people each and the falls are huge so it's not like they have a capacity problem. And yeah you get right up next to the falls in a lot of areas, you should definitely wear a swimsuit and plan to get completely soaked, line your day pack with a garbage bag and put your portable electronics in a truly waterproof enclosure. Also seconding Porto Iguazu being nicer, it's a much more small town feel, a hamlet almost, the Brazilian side is a big concrete lined city.
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Jul 6, 2015 03:59
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Thanks for the advice, & yup we'll be staying in Porto Igazu.The falls sound so amazing.Yay, 2 months til our trip!
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Jul 6, 2015 10:19
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Any suggestions on getting in and out of Costa Rica by doing land crossings? I've read a bunch about it and all I'm seeing is "sometimes you get through sometimes you don't". But nothing about what happens if you don't get through or how you can make sure you do get through. I plan on crossing Panama > Costa Rica > Nicaragua. Anyone have any experience with this?
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Jul 11, 2015 15:51
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huhu posted:Any suggestions on getting in and out of Costa Rica by doing land crossings? I've read a bunch about it and all I'm seeing is "sometimes you get through sometimes you don't". But nothing about what happens if you don't get through or how you can make sure you do get through. I plan on crossing Panama > Costa Rica > Nicaragua. Anyone have any experience with this? Where are you hearing this? Panama-Costa Rica crossings aren't terribly difficult. There are two crossings I've done - I've heard of a third one inland, but don't know if it exists. The main crossing is on the Pan-Am Highway, at Paso Canoas near the Pacific coast. It's choked with exhaust from truck traffic, and often very busy. The other one is on the Caribbean side. Guabito is the town on the Panamanian side, and really grubby. I remember a lot of Chinese-Panamanians with shops selling delicious fried chicken in Guabito. You have to walk across a river on an old railway bridge with big gaps in the ties to get to Costa Rica - pretty cool experience. Sixaola is on the Costa Rican side, with Puerto Viejo (very cool beach spot) a bit further down the coast. Bear in mind that there is an official requirement in Costa Rica for an onward ticket. They usually don't ask for proof, but if you show up looking like a dirty clown, they are much more likely to ask you for proof of onward travel and adequate funds. If you're flying out of Nicaragua or elsewhere, proof of your ticket will suffice. Exiting Costa Rica, the main crossing is again on the Pan-Am, at Peñas Blancas. There is another crossing on the river at Los Chiles, which is much more remote and wild. Unless you're exploring the San Carlos River, you'll be crossing at Peñas Blancas, which is an easy trip from Liberia in Guanacaste.
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Jul 11, 2015 16:22
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TheImmigrant posted:Where are you hearing this? Panama-Costa Rica crossings aren't terribly difficult. There are two crossings I've done - I've heard of a third one inland, but don't know if it exists.
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Jul 11, 2015 17:44
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huhu posted:I first read it on Wikitravel which led to me doing further research and not turning up any exact results. So then so long as I shave and have some decent clothes on I'll be fine? Yep. The only person I encountered who'd had trouble was someone I'd zeroed in on for grass at a San Jose hostel. He had dreads down to his waist, and looked like a marijuana advertisement. Costs Rica lives and breathes tourism - they don't make it difficult to visit.
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Jul 11, 2015 17:56
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TheImmigrant posted:
When i crossed from nicaragua i didn't have an onward ticket, so i just got an e-ticket for a flight and changed the date and point of departure on the email to Costa Rica in a few weeks time. Someone else i was with didn't have anything, so he had to buy a expensive bus ticket back to Nicaragua before they let him through.
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Jul 12, 2015 08:41
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How bad is the situation in Honduras/El Salvador? I'm planning on taking a Tica bus from Managua to Guatemala City and then directly to Antigua. I'm a bit paranoid since this is my second backpacking trip and my first was through SE Asia which is quite stable.
huhu fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jul 14, 2015 |
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Jul 14, 2015 06:35
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huhu posted:How bad is the situation in Honduras/El Salvador? I'm planning on taking a Tica bus from Managua to Guatemala City and then directly to Antigua. I'm a bit paranoid since this is my second backpacking trip and my first was through SE Asia which is quite stable. It's definitely not good, but you're unlikely to have problems if you're just blowing through on TicaBus. You'll have to spend a night in either Tegucigalpa or San Salvador, since the bus doesn't operate at night. Neither is a particularly pleasant city, but I'd choose San Salvador over Tegus. If you haven't gotten your beach fix yet, or are a scuba diver, both countries are worth a visit. Honduras has cheap, top-notch diving around Utila and Roatan, off the north coast, and gorgeous beaches around Tela and Trujillo. The islands are quite safe. El Salvador has good beaches and surfing around La Libertad. No one goes to Guatemala for its beaches. Keep your with about you while changing buses in Guatemala City, as it is not a nice place.
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Jul 14, 2015 17:31
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Thanks for the advice. Last question. Thoughts on this itinerary? Is there anything big I've managed to miss? I figured I'd fly out of Belize instead of traveling all the way back to Guatemala City. Costa Rica: + San Jose & Surrounding Area (2 Days) + La Fortuna/Arenal (3 Days) + Liberia/Sámara (2 Days) + 2 Days for other stuff Nicaragua: + Ometepe/Volcan Maderas (4 Days) + Granada (4 Days) + Leon/Poneloya (3 Days) + 2 Days for other stuff Guatemala: + Antigua/Iximche (4 Days) + Coban/Semuc Champey (2 Days) + Flores/Tikal/Yaxha (3 Days) + 2 Days for other stuff Belize: + Belize City/Altun Ha (2 Days) + Caye Calkyer (2 Days)
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Jul 14, 2015 21:19
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huhu posted:Thanks for the advice. Last question. Thoughts on this itinerary? Is there anything big I've managed to miss? I figured I'd fly out of Belize instead of traveling all the way back to Guatemala City. More time in Leon, less in Granada. Leon is more vibrant, and has Sandinista murals all over the place, whereas Granada has historically been conservative. There have been civil wars pitting the two cities against each other. Ometepe is outstanding, and will never be the same if the Chinese actually build finish the canal through Nicaragua. Don't miss Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Spend as little time as possible in Belize City, which is an unredeemable cesspit. Coming overland from Tikal/Flores (Flores is a great place to spend some time), Cayo (aka San Ignacio) is just over the border into Belize, and worth a day or so. Caye Caulker is an easy trip on a speedboat out of Belize City.
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Jul 14, 2015 22:00
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TheImmigrant posted:I hung out at Pitstop quite a few times - know the owner, and dated one of the women who worked there. Parque LLeras (the place with all the restaurants and bars a few blocks away) is the poo poo. Pitstop is where the Irish guy kacked it by the pool one morning, after a very long night. Super nice guy, but so strung out. Pit stop might be the biggest crack den hostel I've ever stayed at They even have a demount-able so last nights party can kick on without scaring today's party too much. Wasn't surprised when I heard old mate died there.
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Jul 15, 2015 06:26
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What's the best way to book hostels/bnbs/airbnbs in Argentina now? The thing with the exchange rate is a huge pain in the rear end. I'd been putting off figuring it out for the past 6 months in the vain hope the Argentine government would get its poo poo together but I guess that never happened. Dolarblue quotes 14 pesos to the dollar whereas the government exchange rate is 9. It's no Venezuela, but still. Like on hostelworld.com, are the prices quoted -- along the lines of $20pp/night -- in the real exchange rate or the government exchange rate? $40 a night (for two) seems like a crazy amount of money to spend per night for housing in Buenos Aires; it's not even that much more in London. On the other hand, $26/night (for two) seems more like it. What I can't figure out though, is how to securely book rooms online and not pay the 50% "government mismanagement" surcharge. I'm also looking into finding something on AirBNB and to pay people in USD, but for this I'm not sure if I should haggle the prices or if they're already given in real dollar values (i.e. is their price lower if I pay in sweet, sweet US$ instead of pesos)? Also I'm not super psyched about bringing a month worth of dollars and carrying it around with me the whole time in Argentina. Is it pretty easy to get US$ at normal exchange rates in Colonia or in Foz do Iguacu? Or is it pretty easy to get Uruguayan Pesos and Reals and then exchange those for Argentine pesos at a reasonable exchange rate*? We're going to be traveling for 4 months, so making Argentina 50% cheaper than list-price is a pretty big deal to us. *Dolarblue.net only cites Euro and USD... so maybe most backstreet traders won't accept Uruguyan and Brazilian money at good exchange rates? Honestly I'd even be OK getting something the equivalent of like 12:1 (using US$ equivalents). Saladman fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Jul 15, 2015 |
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Jul 15, 2015 18:44
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Saladman posted:On the other hand, $26/night (for two) seems more like it. What I can't figure out though, is how to securely book rooms online and not pay the 50% "government mismanagement" surcharge. That's because you can't. quote:Also I'm not super psyched about bringing a month worth of dollars and carrying it around with me the whole time in Argentina. Is it pretty easy to get US$ at normal exchange rates in Colonia or in Foz do Iguacu? Many ATMs in Uruguay dispense USD. Don't know about Foz, but you can certainly get USD in Ciudad del Este, along with anything else imaginable. I don't know how safe it would be though, or whether you can still get dollars from ATMs in Paraguay. TheImmigrant fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jul 15, 2015 |
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Jul 15, 2015 18:52
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TheImmigrant posted:Many ATMs in Uruguay dispense USD. Don't know about Foz, but you can certainly get USD in Ciudad del Este, along with anything else imaginable. I don't know how safe it would be though, or whether you can still get dollars from ATMs in Paraguay. I only have an American passport, making Paraguay a hassle/expensive. Brazil too actually. I guess I can send my girlfriend over as a money mule if necessary. So the best bet is probably to AirBNB anywhere in Argentina with long stays and ask if they have US/Euro cash discounts?
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Jul 15, 2015 20:38
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Saladman posted:I only have an American passport, making Paraguay a hassle/expensive. Brazil too actually. I guess I can send my girlfriend over as a money mule if necessary. Recently, you didn't need a Paraguay visa unless you were traveling beyond Ciudad del Este. You need a Brazil visa before arrival though, and they run $170 for US citizens now. You might still be able to do a visa-free day trip to the Brazilian falls, but not as far as Foz. As got Airbnb, book a shorter stay, then negotiate something longer directly with the host. Airbnb has steep fees, and you'll both save money by negotiating an extension of the stay outside of Airbnb.
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Jul 15, 2015 21:06
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TheImmigrant posted:As got Airbnb, book a shorter stay, then negotiate something longer directly with the host. Airbnb has steep fees, and you'll both save money by negotiating an extension of the stay outside of Airbnb. What I'm not sure about on AirBNB though, is are the prices already quoted in US$? I checked out the prices in Caracas and they list like $20/night, instead of $500/night like they would at government rates. Anyway, it sounds like a good idea to book shorter and work with them for additional nights, I hadn't thought about doing that. Thanks, hadn't heard about that for Ciudad del Este... although I'm not sure why I'd go except to "cross a country off the list" (which isn't something I really care about).
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Jul 16, 2015 12:34
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Saladman posted:What I'm not sure about on AirBNB though, is are the prices already quoted in US$? I checked out the prices in Caracas and they list like $20/night, instead of $500/night like they would at government rates. Anyway, it sounds like a good idea to book shorter and work with them for additional nights, I hadn't thought about doing that. The prices on airbnb are probably not translated from any currency, they are just set on USD, so look them up on USD. The moment you book an apartment they instantly charge your card and only after you arrive to your destination, the owner of the place gets the money (so you don't have to deal with different rates/giving money to anyone or anything similar). You pay exactly what you see. Also I don't recommend negotiating off the website at all: it's incredibly risky and the dollar value moves around too much. I have done it in the past and was a terrible experience. In the other hand, I have been using airbnb for a long time now with 0 issues. The people renting the places need the good reviews so they try their best and you're covered in case anything goes wrong. Off airbnb and that no longer applies. If anything, I recommend negotiating something on airbnb. For example, I got a place for way less money than what was originally posted on the website because I was staying for 3 months and I talked to the owner before trying to book the place. Good luck!
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Jul 17, 2015 22:40
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So whoever said my original itinerary was too packed is right. I like taking things slow and getting to know the area. I've been in lima/cusco/hiking the surrounding mountains the past 12 days and peru is pretty great (yes i saw machu picchu lol). New plan is to slowly work my way north over the next few weeks to iquitos by bus and river boat. If anyone has any experience with those (cargo?) boats up river I'd be glad to hear it Also uphill hiking at 15000 ft kicked my rear end so hard
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Jul 17, 2015 23:45
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Profondo Rosso posted:Also uphill hiking at 15000 ft kicked my rear end so hard Science shows that you'll have your new level of fitness gained from altitude for about a month and have measurably reduced appetite, so it's all good.
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Jul 18, 2015 00:03
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Any good recommendations for trekking outfitters in Bolivia? I hope to do 8-10 days of hiking in March or April. Ideally I'd like to stay in some villages and do some mountain trekking.
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Jul 26, 2015 02:23
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Does anyone have particularly good tips about safety (i.e. not getting robbed/ripped off) in South America? In particular I guess Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia (maybe Argentina?). We're not nighttime people, so are unlikely to go out to bars/clubs much-if-at-all unless we're with local friends in the few places we know people. Anything we should worry about taxi drivers or whatever that we wouldn't normally be accustomed to doing in North Africa or wherever? Are money belts and fake wallets worth the precautionary hassle, or are they just going to be an uncomfortable annoyance? I see people suggesting this poo poo for people going to Rome and Paris, which is insane, but I'm not sure if the same thing goes for Cusco and Bogota. I wasn't worried about it, but reading about the incidence of bot flies and typhoid, I came across a bunch of people saying they got robbed in Peru.
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Jul 26, 2015 16:09
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