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Hey I'm going to Guatemala for a week here pretty soon. My buddy kind of sprung the idea on me and we didn't get serious about it until probably a little too late. Right now I'm wondering what the vaccination situation is like down there. I have never been anywhere before so this is all strange and new to me, is that a do it for sure thing? Buddy seems to lean toward "gently caress it" it but I don't know if I want to roll the hep dice.
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May 12, 2017 23:55
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Personally I'd get both hep shots (remember if you get the booster as well you're covered for 20 years or something), plus tetanus and rabies. However, I'm Australian and it's super cheap for me so I err on the side of caution. Depends as well on what you're planning to do there - if it's just a resort stay for a week I wouldn't bother. But if you're going jungle trekking and poo poo I definitely would.
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May 13, 2017 09:14
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Yellow fever vaccine is probably worth while to get, if you have more than a month before you leave. It's effective for your whole life once you get it and costs about $100. The downside is mild fever symptoms for 3-5 days for many people (I never have side effects, but did for this one) I would skip malaria pills, it won't present until you get home, and if you do have it, is easily treatable with $8 worth of pills I don't do any kind of medical prep anymore besides 5 ibuprofen, 5 Tylenol, two caffeine pills and a couple of multivitamins. If I need more than that I'll just go to a local pharmacy. The caffeine pills are for days I'm in a rush to get to the airport and skip my coffee. Double check with your doctor first of course
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May 15, 2017 17:17
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Real Mean Queen posted:Hey I'm going to Guatemala for a week here pretty soon. My buddy kind of sprung the idea on me and we didn't get serious about it until probably a little too late. Right now I'm wondering what the vaccination situation is like down there. I have never been anywhere before so this is all strange and new to me, is that a do it for sure thing? Buddy seems to lean toward "gently caress it" it but I don't know if I want to roll the hep dice. I'd get Hep A and B if you aren't up to date on those.
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May 15, 2017 19:44
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Hey all. Planning a 9 day trip to Ecuador from Atlanta (Travel Time 7~ hours). We came up with an outline for an itinerary, but we aren't sure how feasible it is, and what the best route would be: General Logistics 1. We are lying into Quito on Day 1 2. We are planning to rent a car to drive around, but we are also willing to take local flights to and from places, if it is necessary to see all these places in our allotted time course. 3. We are traveling with one native Ecuadorian who has spent time in the Central & Southern Highlands before, but never in the Oriente. What we want to do The locations we want to see are: 1. Quito 2. Mindo (Northern Highlands) 3. Parque Nacional Cotopaxi (Central Highlands) 4. Banos (Central Highlands) 5. Cuenca (Southern Highlands) 6. Parque Nacional Podocarpus (Southern Highlands) 7. Parque Nacional Sumaco-Galeras (Oriente) 8. Parque Nacional Yasuni (Oriente) What we need help with We are trying to figure out what the best possible route is that can enable us to see all of these places or at least most of them in the given time period. Looking at a map, it seems like Quito is a central point. Mindo is North of it, The Oriente is East, and Cuenca is South. It seems like it would be difficult to get from Cuenca to the Oriente in a car, meaning we might have to just use Quito as a central hub, and take local flights to Cuenca & back, and then Oriente & back. 1. Is this itinerary even feasible? 2. If it is logistically what is the best route to see all of this stuff? Can we do it all be car or will we need local flights? 3. How many days should we be planning to stay in the Oriente to Sumaco-Galeras & Yasuni? Thanks!
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May 22, 2017 18:39
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For our honeymoon, my wife whipped out Nicaragua as a suggestion and flashforward a bit and we've got a nice trip planned out. We are staying in a lodge on mombacho for a few nights to have more of a'vacation mode' experience. Day trips to Grenada and Laguna De Apoyo and probably a hike up the mountain. Then off to Ometepe for 4 days. Nothing really planned except a hike up one of the two volcanoes. Any other cool places besides the eye and the waterfalls? Then flying down to San Carlos and traveling by boat to Los Guatuzos for 4 nights. The back to San Carlos, down the river to El Castillo for rainforest hikes and historical tours. From there its back to San Carlos, flight to Managua to stay the night, returning to the states the next day. Travel sites have been helpful to prepare, but I guess I'd like to know if anyone has any experience going down the rio San Juan to these sites? How intense is the rainforest there? We are pretty outdoorsy and are comfortable spending the last half of our trip in the wilderness. We speak poor spanish but our hosts have been very helpful so far in arranging various boats and other arrangements. Also, is renting a moped or motorcycle a good idea on Ometepe? I've heard that renting vehicles in CA can be dicey. meanolmrcloud fucked around with this message at 03:33 on May 30, 2017 |
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May 30, 2017 02:36
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meanolmrcloud posted:For our honeymoon, my wife whipped out Nicaragua as a suggestion and flashforward a bit and we've got a nice trip planned out.
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May 30, 2017 06:53
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I posted a separate thread about this before realizing I could just post in this one. Oops! My girlfriend and I want to take a 7-12 day vacation to Central or South America this August, but we're too lazy to plan the trip ourselves. Can anyone recommend any reliable package tour companies? Reviews online seem to be very mixed for all the operators I've seen. We're most interested in Costa Rica and Ecuador, though we're open to other suggestions as well.
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May 30, 2017 20:15
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Try Contiki? They're reliable and a legit, major company for exactly that sort of thing and are oriented towards people in their 20s to 30s (although I don't think age limited).
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May 30, 2017 21:17
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AbDomen posted:I posted a separate thread about this before realizing I could just post in this one. Oops! I'm a big fan of Intrepid. I've done three trips with them in Asia, Europe and Africa and always been very happy. They have a few different styles, but it's mostly doing logistics (hotels and transport), and at each destination they mostly leave you alone to explore and experience. Their target market is usually 25-40 age group, people old enough to be out of the "let's get wasted every night" phase of travel, but not yet in the "travel with the kids" phase. Contiki might be different in South America, but in Europe it's usually known as a party tour for 18-year-old Australians getting drunk and hooking up in a succession of European capitals.
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May 30, 2017 23:50
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Hadlock posted:I would skip malaria pills, it won't present until you get home, and if you do have it, is easily treatable with $8 worth of pills Malaria can actually be really serious and in some cases can't be properly treated. I'm not saying you need to take antimalarial drugs, but it's not like catching a minor illness. The CDC has detailed malarial risk charts, as sometimes the exposure is specific to certain areas and even parts of cities. It's worth checking to see if you'll even be at risk. One of the common antimalarial drugs involves just taking an antibiotic every day, which has the bonus of helping you avoid food poisoning.
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Jun 28, 2017 21:09
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Agreed, it is serious and you should treat for it, the point I was trying to make was that it is dormant (incubates) for close to a week, if not longer (CDC quotes 6-18 days), for most people that will be a couple days after you get back, at which point the treatment is the same as taking precautionary meds. As you pointed out, one of the precautionary meds is a simple antibiotic, if you're like many people, including me, those horse pills can make you nauseous or even vomit (projectile vomit in downtown Iguazu was fun), or give you pretty impressive diarrhea (Bogota's Museu del Oro was pretty traumatic for me). I generally have an iron stomach, growing up on a sailboat very high tolerance for motion sickness, and generally don't react poorly to drugs/antibiotics. But, gently caress taking antimalarial antibiotics as a preventative. Your mileage may vary, but I'll take the risks and medicate later, vs. being violently ill out of both ends while on vacation. This isn't good advice for everyone but people should be aware.
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Jun 28, 2017 23:58
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Back in January I said I wanted to travel to Ecuador in May/June. Well better late than never. Yesterday I booked a flight to Quito leaving 9/20 returning 10/9.Ur Getting Fatter posted:Andes hiking: I went up the Cotopaxi volcano in Quito, it's a bit touristy but iirc most people stay at the shelter and there's some trails you can go up if the weather's good. I'm thinking of doing a day trip to hike Cotopaxi towards the end of the trip, perhaps my last day in Quito as my flight departs at 12:35 A.M. What I think I will really sink my teeth into is hiking the Quilotoa Loop. Taking four nights to solo hike the rim of a crater lake, town to town. I am definitely planning to stay at least three nights in Montañita. The beach looks amaaaaaaaazing, I want to ride a horse on it so badly!! Have you heard of the town north of Montañita called Ayampe? I read that it's more a quiet beach village with not much in the way of tourist amenities compared to the party atmosphere of Montañita. I was thinking of staying a couple nights up there after Montañita. I really want to be in the rainforest for at least 2 nights. Three day/Two night Amazon treks seem to be common things that go anywhere from 150-500 USD. I thought I might launch into the Amazon from Baños, but perhaps Puya is the better option? khysanth posted:
So here's a rough itinerary. My last trip was to SEA for three months and I am so spoiled from that, getting to stay wherever for however long. 20 arrive Quito early AM 21 acclimate Quito 22 acclimate Quito, bus late afternoon-->night in Latacunga 23 Quilotoa Loop Latacunga bus-->Sigchos hike-->Insinlivi 24 Quilotoa Loop Insinlivi hike-->Chugchilan 25 Quilotoa Loop Chugchilan hike-->Quilotoa 26 chill Quilotoa 27 Banos/Puyo travel day 28 Amazon 29 Amazon 30 Amazon 1 Amazon-->night Banos/Puyo 2 Montanita travel day 3 Montanita 4 Montanita 5 Ayampe/Montanita 6 Ayampe/Montanita 7 Quito travel day 8 Quito daytrip/relax 9 Quito relax then leave Appreciate any feedback. And what up to the other goon back in May planning the 9 day Ecuador trip. Any updates on that? e: actually missed a day in my rough itinerary, fixed CLARPUS fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Jul 22, 2017 |
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Jul 22, 2017 08:03
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CLARPUS posted:Back in January I said I wanted to travel to Ecuador in May/June. Well better late than never. Yesterday I booked a flight to Quito leaving 9/20 returning 10/9. Hey, what's up. My wife and I arriving in Quito on 9/19 and flying out on 10/4. She spent 6 months there a decade ago and it's her first time back; I've never been south of Mexico. I didn't come here just to piggyback on to your post though, but to ask about Zika and other health issues. Sorry if this has been discussed to death; search came up with nothing. We've more or less decided not to include the rainforest in our trip due to Zika. At first it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but we are considering having a baby soon and the CDC recommends no sex/condoms for 6 months after traveling to Zika areas. Which sucks--1 month would be one thing but 6 months definitely cuts into our plans. It's hard to figure out the details but it doesn't seem like "just get tested after and wait if you need to" is actually solution. We are meeting with a prenatal specialist soon so we'll get a real medical opinion on the dangers and testing options but I thought I might ask for some takes from people more familiar with Zika areas. If we don't do the rainforest we'll spend a few days traveling to Cuenca, then fly back into Quito. From what I can find out the mosquitoes don't range up to 6500 ft. Which leaves only one potentially problematic area--Banos, at 6000 ft. I'm wondering if we can justify cutting the rainforest but still spending one day/night in Banos. I realize the risk is minimal, but it's less an issue of being afraid of the risk and more of having to go through the motions of the precautions. Obviously no one can tell us what kind of risk we should accept, so maybe I'm just here to vent. We got over the disappointment of deciding not to go to the rainforest, then got excited about all the sites between Quito and Cuenca instead, and now we realized that part of our new itinerary takes us into the risk area anyway. Ugh. Anyways...besides the Zika issue, open to discussing what we should do in general. We'll do some hiking but that's not the main point of the trip. Mainly just to visit my wife's old friends in Quito and otherwise relax and take our time rather than have a packed itinerary. Maybe some day trips from Quito in addition to the extended Cuenca trip. Would people recommend hiring a tour company for the Quito -> Cuenca trip or navigating ourselves? We're not interested in any backpacking more serious than day hikes. There seem to be some outfits out there with good reviews, e.g. one sent us an itinerary that included Quilotoa hiking, Banos area, Chimborazo biking, Devil's Nose Train, Ingapirca Ruins, and a half day tour of Cuenca; 5 nights accommodation, breakfast and lunches, driving, and entrance fees for $639 each. We could do that then fly back into Quito on our second-to-last day, spend the night in an airport hotel and fly home in the morning. At least, that would save us an extra trip between Quito and the airport. If we drop anything from that itinerary it would be the Cuenca part, right? I mean, we can explore a city on our own for a day. CLARPUS, I know nothing about you but the timing seems serendipitous, maybe we can meet up for a drink or something in Quito. It would probably be more interesting to see you at the end of your trip but if your itinerary holds it would have to be at the beginning. If the timing worked and we get a driver you could hitch a ride with us to Quiloatoa but if we stick to our plan above that probably wouldn't be until the 27th at the earliest, more likely the 29th I think. Just a thought. Anyways, curious to hear any feedback on our plan and thoughts about the Zika risk in Ecuador.
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Jul 23, 2017 06:01
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Well, this thread is quieter than I expected, but we decided gently caress it, we're going down from the mountains. Incidence rate of Zika is literally zero east of the Andes (in the province where Tena is at least). And waiting 6 months to have a kid isn't a big deal. So our plan is to spend a few days at a jungle lodge past Tena, then spend a 4 days between there and Cuenca before flying back to Quito. Our only decision left is Chimborazo or Cajas, don't think we'll have enough days for both. Any thoughts? We would just do like a mild half-day hike. I'm thinking Cajas might be better to put a couple more days between the rainforest and high-altitude hiking.
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Aug 21, 2017 17:31
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This whole sub-forum is pretty quiet. Just wear a bunch of mosquito repellent. I spent like 2 months at sea level in that general area (well, caribbean coast of Colombia up to Nicaragua) and got some nasty tropical disease -- malaria maybe, not sure, but it looks like you won't be going nearly that low. Everybody I ran into backpacking around South America loved Baños. Does it -actually- have mosquitos though? A quick google search tells me "nearly not at all but it's not literally impossible to find one". I spent a week in Medellin which is a couple hundred m lower and never saw a mosquito. I hear Guayaquil is kind of a pit, so I don't think you'd be missing out on too much by not going to the coast, but no personal experience there.
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Aug 21, 2017 18:22
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Headed back to Colombia for my fourth time, probably going for a month with newish girlfriend. I've done Bogota and Cartagena to death, probably going to spend two days in each to placate gf, a week or more in Medellin I've heard Bucaramanga is a cool college town from my friend who lived there for three years and married a Cartagena local. Any other suggestions that aren't the big three? I did Santa Marta already, it was cool to get drunk in the rooftop hostel there but at nearly 34 starting to outgrowb that slightly. Also that city is boring as hell.
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Aug 22, 2017 01:05
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Saladman posted:This whole sub-forum is pretty quiet. Just wear a bunch of mosquito repellent. I spent like 2 months at sea level in that general area (well, caribbean coast of Colombia up to Nicaragua) and got some nasty tropical disease -- malaria maybe, not sure, but it looks like you won't be going nearly that low. Everybody I ran into backpacking around South America loved Baños. Does it -actually- have mosquitos though? A quick google search tells me "nearly not at all but it's not literally impossible to find one". I spent a week in Medellin which is a couple hundred m lower and never saw a mosquito. Well, now we are planning to go that low (into Tena) but even still, there are zero reported cases of Zika in Tena and Banos provinces, so it's not much of a risk. Even in places where it is a risk the incidence rate is really low. Regardless, our doctor told us that all precuations are recommend even if we never notice any mosquitoes. If a male is infected the virus can be in their semen for up to 6 months and there is no way to test for it. And often microcephaly is not detected until after birth. But we decided just to wait the 6 months before trying anyway because 6 more months to get our life in order before having kids is not a big deal.
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Aug 22, 2017 18:57
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Wife and I are going to Chile next month! Itinerary is Basically Santiago (1 day) > Valparaiso (1 day) > Casablanca Valley Wineries + Santiago again (1 day) and then flying south to hike The W Trail at Torres Del Paine. Any particular must do things in either Santiago or Valparaiso?
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Sep 24, 2017 22:04
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SgtScruffy posted:Wife and I are going to Chile next month! Valparaiso is basically an open-air art museum. I was only there a day myself, and my group just walked the city for hours and were never bored. Make sure to go the UNESCO section of town, and if you're brave & have a car, drive up into the hills to see the houses/experience the terrifying incline of the roads.  Also: the Dunas de Concon are 30 minutes north of Valparaiso and highly worth checking out if you're into dunes.
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Sep 24, 2017 22:23
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SgtScruffy posted:Wife and I are going to Chile next month! I did a good walking tour of Valparaiso - the guide told us the history behind lots of the graffiti. The Museum of Memory and Human Rights was a memorable part of my time in Santiago. I was interested in that part of history before I went to Chile, but I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't know about the various US-backed dictators in South America. Wandering around the town centre and also the cemetery was interesting.
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Sep 24, 2017 22:49
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Lady Gaza posted:I did a good walking tour of Valparaiso - the guide told us the history behind lots of the graffiti. That museum is one I'd like to go to - it certainly sounds like a heavy museum, but I think it's important to learn more. And I wanted to originally do a bike tour of some of the graffiti in Valparaiso, but I'm told that the city is like 200% hills, so that would be an awful idea -- confirm?
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Sep 24, 2017 23:33
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SgtScruffy posted:That museum is one I'd like to go to - it certainly sounds like a heavy museum, but I think it's important to learn more. Try 300% hills, but it's not an awful walk. There are lots of little paths that connect everything, so it's really easy to loop back to where you started. But biking would be an unnecessarily strenuous workout.
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Sep 25, 2017 01:06
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Biking in Valparaiso isn't so bad, as long as you only have to bike downhill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFuSjk7jv_M I like the more recent track better because they go through a house https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7nXlDV1XiM Juanito fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Sep 25, 2017 |
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Sep 25, 2017 01:37
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SgtScruffy posted:That museum is one I'd like to go to - it certainly sounds like a heavy museum, but I think it's important to learn more. Valparaiso has google street view, just check it out and see if that's up to your biking ability/desires or not. If you don't bike on hills a lot at home you'll probably hate it though. I spent 4 days there last year and there really isn't that much to do, we even took a day trip to Vina del Mar (which is 100% not interesting or worth visiting unless you have never seen an upper-middle class beach town in Florida or California). AFAIK most of the interesting graffiti is pretty focused in a single part of town, https://aventurasdechile.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/mi-amiguita-en-chile/img_1923/ the Cerro Alegre/Cerro Conception area. I found Cerro Bellavista to not be so interesting. Pablo Neruda's house is kind of interesting, but unless your full day there means a good full 24 hours and not a daytrip from Santiago, I would not prioritize it, though YMMV. The Cerro Alegre area is very compact, and super steep and the roads look generally very uncomfortable to bike on (lots of brick/stone inlaid, not smooth pavement). The seaside part of Valparaiso is not very nice. It's not like it's dangerous or sketchy, but it's just a bunch of worn-down 1970s-1990s industrial/residential type stuff with little/no interesting graffiti or anything else to speak of. You'll probably walk through it anyway on your way from the bus station to Cerro Alegre, but it's long enough it might be worth taking the bus and funicular to save yourself some time.
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Sep 25, 2017 19:06
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In the beginning of planning a trip to Oaxaca. Is it worthwhile timing it to coincide with Guelaguetza?
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Sep 26, 2017 17:26
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Saladman posted:Valparaiso has google street view, just check it out and see if that's up to your biking ability/desires or not. If you don't bike on hills a lot at home you'll probably hate it though. I spent 4 days there last year and there really isn't that much to do, we even took a day trip to Vina del Mar (which is 100% not interesting or worth visiting unless you have never seen an upper-middle class beach town in Florida or California). china bot posted:Try 300% hills, but it's not an awful walk. There are lots of little paths that connect everything, so it's really easy to loop back to where you started. But biking would be an unnecessarily strenuous workout. Juanito posted:Biking in Valparaiso isn't so bad, as long as you only have to bike downhill. Thanks for the advice! It didn't seem like Valparaiso is like SUPER EXCITING, just more nice to walk around and get coffee and enjoy a town for a day. I think our airbnb is in the Cerro Concepcion so that should work out for just walkin' round. I'm guessing that's the UNESCO area that was mentioned earlier
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Sep 27, 2017 21:59
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Comb Your Beard posted:In the beginning of planning a trip to Oaxaca. Is it worthwhile timing it to coincide with Guelaguetza? The photos I saw from the earthquake, big chunks of the city, in particular the picturesque Town square, the mayor's office along one side had just totally collapsed. Oxaca is on my list of places to revisit some day, but my guess is that they'll need at least six months to get their poo poo in order
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Oct 1, 2017 06:46
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Has anyone ever got a SIM card in Argentina? Going for three weeks in November - I can use my data in a lot of countries but not there without paying a ton.
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Oct 14, 2017 14:40
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I guess Cuba isn't really Central or South America, but this thread might as well include the Caribbean as well. Has anyone been around Cuba and has particular suggestions of cool things to do, places to eat, or to stay, that aren't in every guidebook list of what to do in Cuba? We'll have like 12 days there, 7 days with a car, flying in and out of Havana. Thinking about spending 6 days in Havana and 6 days in the greater Cienfuegos region. Viñales looks cool but maybe like a long way to go to see some tobacco plantations and moderately-weird landscapes? If anyone has been snorkeling in the center or west of the island, any favorite spots that are accessible from land or short boat trips?
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Oct 23, 2017 19:07
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Comb Your Beard posted:In the beginning of planning a trip to Oaxaca. Is it worthwhile timing it to coincide with Guelaguetza? Speaking of I picked up some really cheap tickets to fly in for the 2018 festival. Anyone have a hotel they really liked? I'd prefer a/c and some wifi, maybe a pool. I'm probably going to be the only traveler, my Spanish is beginner but passable (and going to work to improve it). Not sure if I should rent a car? I've driven in MX before and it was nice to have while in Tulum and was able to road trip to Chichen cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Oct 29, 2017 |
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Oct 29, 2017 05:14
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Lady Gaza posted:Has anyone ever got a SIM card in Argentina? Going for three weeks in November - I can use my data in a lot of countries but not there without paying a ton. You can get a prepaid sim for most major carriers pretty much anywhere (look for “kioskos” and newsstands. Cost is usually 10-20 pesos plus whatever you’re going to top it up with (maybe more expensive at the airport). I think Claro has a 1gb for 20 pesos (~1 dollar) deal right now, only caveat is that data expires daily. Best coverage is usually Movistar.
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Oct 30, 2017 12:25
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It seems like as soon as you clear customs these days every international airport has 1-4 kiosks selling 30 day unlimited data "tourist SIMs" for $8-12
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Oct 30, 2017 12:36
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china bot posted:Valparaiso is basically an open-air art museum. I was only there a day myself, and my group just walked the city for hours and were never bored. Make sure to go the UNESCO section of town, and if you're brave & have a car, drive up into the hills to see the houses/experience the terrifying incline of the roads.  I saw this!! We didn't get the chance to go to the dunes, unfortunately, but Valparaiso was awesome for the day! We saw La Sebastiana (Nerudas house) and had a solid day of walking tour. Lady Gaza posted:I did a good walking tour of Valparaiso - the guide told us the history behind lots of the graffiti. Thanks for the rec on the Museum of MHR - it was definitely a "not a fun thing, but a very important thing" to see. We also did a Valparaiso graffiti walking tour, that was guided by a street artist, so you got a cool perspective from there. Overall it was awesome. DEFINITELY recommend Torres del Paine national park, if anyone is into hiking SgtScruffy fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Nov 1, 2017 |
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Nov 1, 2017 00:41
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I'm visiting Peru in mid-April and I'd appreciate some advice. How rainy will it be? How buggy? I'm planning to hang around Lima and Cuzco, and do either the Lares or Salkantay treks -- any tips or things I should know about? Editing to add: am I getting a significantly worse experience by taking an alternate trail to Machu Pichu, instead of the Inca trek? svenkatesh fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Nov 9, 2017 |
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Nov 8, 2017 23:58
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svenkatesh posted:I'm visiting Peru in mid-April and I'd appreciate some advice. I did the Salkantay trek. As far as I heard from people the Inca trail is not better in any way, though it is a little easier and it is quite different from Salkantay. The only particular bonus is that you get to enter Machu Picchu directly (instead of taking a bus for the last hour, as in Salkantay or longer for Lares). So one hike actually leads to Machu Picchu, while the others are “hikes in the general vicinity then you take a bus to your actual destination (Hidroelectrica)”. There is no road to Aguas Calientes, only to the hydroelectric station a couple Miles downstream. The train from there to MP is outrageously expensive, like $20 pp way way for a 15 minute ride. Don’t book in advance if you do Salkantay or Lares, you’ll get waaayy better prices on the spot. We paid something like $240 for Salkantay which included the entrance to MP (but did not include the train from hidroelectrica to Aguqas calientes, nor does it include the bus up or down from Aguas Calientes to MP; it’s an hour walk to/from hidroelectrica to AC (flat) and it’s about 45 Minutes from AC to MP (500 vertical Meters of stairs, quite tiring after doing the Salkantay trek). The Salkantay trek comes in 3 or 4 day versions. They are exactly the same hike, but the 4 day version includes a day at a thermal bath in Santa Teresa after the hike and before going to aguas calientes. Also gently caress sand flies forever. gently caress them so hard. When you get below 2000m cover yourself in bug spray. Sand flies bites do not itch at first but after a day oh my god you will have a terrible next two weeks and you’ll have spots for a month. gently caress you Peruvian sand flies. Saladman fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Nov 9, 2017 |
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Nov 9, 2017 00:20
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There's a bus that will take you from the river/valley floor to the door of machu pichu for like, $25 round trip, no walking needed. I took a combi to some set of ruins along the train, vallaharama or something, then picked up the train there the next morning to aguas calientes, bus from AC to Machu pichu, was pretty low stress.
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Nov 9, 2017 10:23
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So anyone who's looked into popular backpacker poo poo to do in Ecuador, or backpacking, or Latin America in general, has no doubt seen that "swing at the end of the world" thing, which looks kind of cool but in all likelihood not at all worth the hype unless you're an insane connoisseur of swings and have never been on a rollercoaster in your entire life. It's surprisingly hard to find 'real' photos of that place that were taken recently, but: Hurray, you also get to experience the joy of waiting 45 minutes in line if you go on a day with nice weather. Just like Disneyland!!
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Nov 15, 2017 19:23
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Holy poo poo, we were there last month and it was not like that all. Granted it was cloudy when we started driving up the mountain but it cleared up by the time we got to the top, so maybe we beat the rush, but it didn't seem crowded even when we were leaving. But yeah I would say it's not worth a 45 minute wait. It's also a lot closer to a normal swing than a rollercoaster. Now, there are some newer giant swing attractions on the same mountain where you have to get strapped in and it's practically bungee jumping at the top. My wife did that and loved it. Could be worth a wait if you're into that sort of thing. Also I will say that it was fun hanging out up there even beyond the minute or two I was on the swing. I feel like you can enjoy the attraction without getting on the swing yourself. But maybe that's just me.
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Nov 15, 2017 20:03
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| # ? Jun 5, 2024 06:56 |
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Yeah, it was probably for some special event since they had a BBC film crew up there, but looking on TripAdvisor it looks like 20-30 minute waits can happen if you get there at the same time as a tour bus (or if you go on a tour bus).
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Nov 16, 2017 11:09
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