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JasonV posted:I'm tentatively planning a ~3-6 month trip to Central America starting in probably May. A few questions: Yeah you won't have any issues with visas, they won't ask Canadians for return flights / return bus tickets when you cross any of those borders (if they indeed ask anyone). Just make sure that your airline is not a dick about it, but I would be very much be surprised if they required a proof of return for a Canadian flying to Mexico. Land borders will not be any problem at all. No idea about your other two questions, I've only been during dry season, but tourist hot spots like Antigua (Guatemala), Granada (Nicaragua), and Panama City will definitely have quite a few people around. A lot of backpackers are there doing like multiple months of travel. I did what you did a few years ago and I'm pretty sure I met more people doing 2+ month trips than I did people doing 2-3 week vacations. Colombia is super rad if you end up getting that far south and the general consensus in this thread seems to be that Costa Rica is expensive and comparatively "eh" (or at least, that was my opinion from 3 weeks there).
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Jan 24, 2019 20:57
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Yeah, I don't think you'll have much of an issue with empty hostels. I found that for Mexico + Central America, it's mostly dependent on weather more than anything. If there's bad weather in one place, people will just move on to the next city/town with better weather. The seasonality is more for non-backpackers really. So if it's decent enough weather, I don't think you'll have a problem.
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Jan 25, 2019 00:00
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Saladman posted:Yeah you won't have any issues with visas, they won't ask Canadians for return flights / return bus tickets when you cross any of those borders (if they indeed ask anyone). Just make sure that your airline is not a dick about it, but I would be very much be surprised if they required a proof of return for a Canadian flying to Mexico. Land borders will not be any problem at all. Yeah - I've been doing some more research and it looks like most of South America doesn't have any complex visa requirements either. So, depending on my mood (and, unfortunately, current events/politics) I might be including South America as well, or at least the pacific coast. I did plan to have a return ticket from Cancun and just pay to change the return date as needed, then buy a connecting flight from wherever I am once I'm done. Mainly, it doesn't look like I need to plan anything in advance as far as itinerary. I can just wing it once I get there, which is awesome.
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Jan 26, 2019 01:07
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You can reserve a ticket with an airline, and then just cancel (or maybe it cancels on its own if you don't pay) later, and you don't pay anything. I've done this a few times in the past, as a just in case. If immigration had a problem, they could pull up your flight reservation.
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Jan 26, 2019 01:54
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I'm going to Barranquilla Colombia for a week for Carnival. What are some good things to check out in the area after the parades end on Tuesday?
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Jan 27, 2019 06:51
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I've been to close to 40 countries and have never been asked for proof of forward travel, with the sole exception of China. And actually of the two times I was in Shanghai they only asked for it once. I have the advantage of looking like a typical westerner though. I've seen a suggestion that you take an old plane ticket confirmation email and modify the dates and flight numbers and print it out. If you speak fluent English this is probably overkill though.
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Jan 30, 2019 17:28
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svenkatesh posted:I'm going to Barranquilla Colombia for a week for Carnival. What are some good things to check out in the area after the parades end on Tuesday? Unfortunatley, there's not a whole ton to do in Barranquilla outside of Carnival. If you don't have time to do Santa Marta or Santa Veronica you could always take a bus or Uber a bit north and check out some of the beaches like Playa Puerto Velero or Puerto Mocho Beach. Puerto Colombia has way more to do and would be better to chill at. Hadlock posted:I've been to close to 40 countries and have never been asked for proof of forward travel, with the sole exception of China. And actually of the two times I was in Shanghai they only asked for it once. I have the advantage of looking like a typical westerner though. I've only ever been asked in Fiji and New Zealand and that was before boarding the plane to both. In Asia I had an emailed bus ticket that I just changed the dates / places on and kept with me. Nobody ever asked though. SixPabst fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jan 30, 2019 |
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Jan 30, 2019 19:03
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Montevideo was the poo poo. So laid back and tranquil. Chilled in a park to watch the sunset around Tres Cruces, met a few girls, drank mate and beer, and some dude sold us weed brownies.
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Feb 5, 2019 15:12
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Good Parmesan posted:Montevideo was the poo poo. So laid back and tranquil. Hell yes. I went there for a long weekend to escape BA and wish I would have stayed a week - 10 days.
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Feb 5, 2019 18:06
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Going to Peru in early September. Got the Inca Trail on the mind and that’s cool and good but the girlfriend is wanting to hit up some amazon stuff for the week after. She’s a bit hesitant after seeing Iquitos being a no go from the state department. What would be a good alternative from Cusco?
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Feb 6, 2019 04:50
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What is the State Dept saying about Iquitos? I didn't see anything with a quick search. The other city people go to is Puerto Maldonaldo, farther south. edit: I see they say you shouldn't go to the Columbian border area in Loreto, but I'm pretty sure they would specifically name Iquitos if they meant Iquitos. I think they mean farther north, literally along the border. Kase Im Licht fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 05:32
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George H.W. oval office posted:Going to Peru in early September. Got the Inca Trail on the mind and that’s cool and good but the girlfriend is wanting to hit up some amazon stuff for the week after. She’s a bit hesitant after seeing Iquitos being a no go from the state department. What would be a good alternative from Cusco? In 2014 we used Puerto Maldonado as our jumping off point into the Amazon. Lots of jungle lodges to choose from, day tours, etc. Some really great street food in the plaza as well in the evening. Also definitely ride in one of the motorcycle taxi things. Give yourself time to get your vaccinations done. I think we also had to take malaria pills a few days before/during/after we were there.
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Feb 6, 2019 21:16
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I'm looking for good advice re: Brazil. We will fly to Brazil from Portugal and stay there for 2 or 3 months before heading to Argentina. I was thinking of going to the northeast first, because we're going in July and Rio will be cold, and also because I really want to visit the Amazon. From Lisbon there are direct flights to Recife, Natal and Fortaleza, and they're all similarily priced. We plan on visiting Jericoacoara and Lençóis Maranhenses National Park before venturing into the Amazon by bus and boat. Both places are west of Fortaleza, so that leaves all my options open. What I am trying to google for now is a medium-sized beach town where we can work remotely, relax and eat good food for a few weeks. And then there's the crime. I was reading an article in The Guardian that made Fortaleza out to be a war zone. We don't want to stay in a big city anyway. I trust that the fishing villages are pretty safe?
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Feb 21, 2019 00:09
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Visiting a friend in Chile on the tail end of a trip that started in Colombia, and I fully admit part of this may be because I just spent 30 hours on a bus, but so far Chile is...super unimpressive. Santiago looks and feels like a knockoff US city that you're paying western European prices for, and I might be unlucky but all the food has been dogshit so far. I didn't come here for tourism so I'm not gonna be too disappointed, but after hearing about there being a sizable expat population here I just can't figure out why. It's at least a bit better here than up near the border in Arica, where people were trying to charge $40 for a hostel without hot water lol. Anyone got any suggestions for cool day trips from Santiago? Valparaiso looks kinda neat, but there doesn't seem to be much else around. I'm on a shoestring budget or I'd try to go see Patagonia, but everything I've read is talking about lovely hotels in the area being like $350 a night so I'm just gonna have to pass on that this time around I guess. svenkatesh posted:I'm going to Barranquilla Colombia for a week for Carnival. What are some good things to check out in the area after the parades end on Tuesday? Cartagena and Tayrona national park are both right there, though in opposite directions. Still, if you have a couple days you could easily check out both. If you have even more time you can keep going northeast from Tayrona up to Punta Gallinas, which is beautiful but extremely desolate. The Wayuu that live there are really friendly and interesting if you're at all looking to learn about the indigenous cultures of Colombia, but it's definitely not a cheerful situation considering they're basically facing a genocide that is getting zero attention. Grizzled Patriarch fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Feb 21, 2019 |
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Feb 21, 2019 11:33
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Do an overnight trip to Valparaiso, it’s great in the evening and a hostel shouldn’t run you more than like $30. Santiago is indeed indistinguishable from Dallas or San Diego. Vina Del Mar sucks, I understand why Chileans might like it but it’s just like Ft Meyers or any other boring-rear end Florida beach town. Santiago has a few good restaurants, like Peumayen is great but fairly expensive and you’ll have to reserve. Also ??? to the previous poster at Rio being cold in July although the rest of the thought process seems reasonable. I don’t even think someone from Khartoum would find Rio in July to be cold.
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Feb 21, 2019 20:49
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Just got back from Guadalajara. One on hand, what a great city -- amazing restaurants, bars, museums, etc... barely even managed to scratch the surface, and I met some really cool people there. On the other hand, I saw a dude get no-bullshit whacked outside a shopping mall, so, you know, mixed feelings about the city overall. I still think I'm probably going to go back sometime.
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Mar 13, 2019 17:42
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I don’t think we have a Mexico thread but goddamn did I ever like being in Mexico. A couple of my coworkers are ducking down there for one of their birthdays and they’re going to Puerto Vallarta, which I truly do not understand. They’re gonna go sit on some beach when for less money they could be getting lovely drunk in Mexico City and having the best time of their lives. I want to be in Mexico City some more. I was only supposed to have a four or five hour layover there, so my buddy hit up this cabbie he knew from a previous day long layover where he had a great time. We call dude, go eat some birria and blue tacos with him, head out to Teotihuacán, best day ever. After the ruins we’re drinking some micheladas with the dude (always get your cabbie loaded) and I notice we’re supposed to be at the airport in about as long as it took us to get out there. I bring this up, the driver and my buddy are like “oh yeah good point,” they sit a little while longer, and then the cabbie goes and takes a poo poo for like half an hour. What ends up happening is that my buddy can’t get on the plane because he didn’t have a boarding pass and the time we needed to make that happen was spent waiting for dude to stop making GBS threads, I don’t want to abandon my friend, and so we end up spending the night in Mexico City. Almost couldn’t find a room due to day of the dead festivities (which apparently lasts like a month), got our flights cancelled, and ended up taking a bus down to Oaxaca and back and buying a new return flight for a couple hundred bucks. All of this because homeboy needed to take a poo poo forever. I’m not even slightly mad about it though, because that city is about as good a place as I’ve ever seen. People were almost aggressively kind to a couple non-spanish speaking moron gringos, they have tacos as fine as any you’ve ever eaten available at five AM in front of the loving bus station (and people come on the bus to sell you turnover-like empanadas filled with mole chicken), they have a street food innovation that’s a corn dog but with Oaxaca cheese instead of a hot dog, everywhere sells 40s and will michelada them up for you in a 40 ounce styrofoam cup for no additional charge, there’s Lucky Strikes with filters that come twenty five to a pack for like four bucks, it’s hard to overstate my affection for Mexico City based on the little time I got to spend there. It’s the big rock candy mountain down there from what I can tell, and I need to go back. Real Mean Queen fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Mar 14, 2019 |
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Mar 14, 2019 06:50
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My wife's birthday falls within a week of Valentine's day and we both love to travel, so it's become an annual tradition to spend Valentine's day/birthday week in Mexico City, go to the hyper posh part of town, get flaming cow ribs at the fancy restaurant, go day drinking every day etc etc and still only pay about $120/day all in, in entertainment. Doing something like that in San Francisco or Los Angeles would be closer to $250/per person, easily. Plus Airbnb has some insane penthouses for $120/night. Flights that time of year for whatever reason are $200 round trip from northern California and it's always 70F and sunny. A+ will go to Mexico City every year forever Oaxaca is pretty fantastic too, gorgeous city
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Mar 14, 2019 07:26
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Agreed. Just spent a weekend in Mexico City and it was dope. Ate tacos and blue corn tlacoyos everywhere. Drank endless aguas. Got lost in and around La Merced for 3 hours, walked around Roma Norte at night, can't wait to go back.
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Mar 14, 2019 14:05
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Mexico City, Querétaro and Mérida are next on my list, probably in that order. Mexico is pretty great, I just wish they'd get the crime and corruption situation a bit more under control. But I wish that about the US too, at least the dude who got shot fifty feet away from me apparently had it coming, and wasn't just one of many poor fuckers who picked the wrong night to attend a concert on the Vegas strip. Vallarta is a shithole*, but it has daily flights from Calgary (CDMX is a seasonal destination only) on three different airlines, so it's a bit more convenient than having to clear US customs just to connect to wherever. Honestly, it's not extremely awful if you pick up a cheap hotel and get out on your own a bit, but I do wonder what the logic is with having five lovely malls all within one kilometer of each other. At least the Carlos 'n' Charlies died the ignominious death it so richly deserved. But lmao if you buy a lovely all inclusive package -- those resorts are making a mint off that poo poo. * It turns out it's literally a shithole at the moment, too, there was a sewer line break and it's not presently safe to go in the ocean. The mayor is putting heavy pressure on people to make sure this is not reported in international media, to the point that a lot of the gringos I spoke to didn't even know it was going on. Should we have a separate Mexico thread here, or is it cool if we keep discussing it in this thread?
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Mar 14, 2019 16:35
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Let's keep Mexico talk here, imo
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Mar 17, 2019 03:24
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Well, Brazil dropping visa requirements (for US, Canada, Australia, Japan) effective June 17 is good news.
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Mar 20, 2019 14:11
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About to go to Peru/South America for the first time. I don't speak Spanish, except a few basic phrases, but will that be a problem? Rough itinerary (most everything has been booked already): April 13-14: Lima April 15: Paracas April 16: Huacachina April 17: Nazca April 18-22: Arequipa April 23-28: Cusco April 25-26: Machu Picchu April 29-30: Lima Taking the Peru Hop bus, mostly staying in airbnbs. We'll be swimming with sea lions, sandboarding, flying over some Nazca lines (still need tickets for that), celebrating Easter, going to some museums, the two day Inca trail, and possibly going to Vinicunca. Not going to make it to the Amazon or Lake Titicaca unfortunately. Is there anything I'm missing that could reasonably fit within that itinerary? I'd also appreciate any recommendations for some places to eat or explore in Lima, Arequipa, and Cusco.
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Apr 3, 2019 18:41
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Unless this is your first international trip I would skip Lima entirely. I spent about 6 daylight hours there plus an overnight hotel stay and that felt like plenty. Lima is like the Houston or Cincinnati of South America. Cusco is neat, you can easily burn three days there poking around town I would trade some of your extra days in the cities for a 3-5 day sherpa hike to Machu Picchu, that hike is 80% of the reason to head to that part of the world. I did the train due to scheduling issues and really regret not doing more hikes in the area, it's completely stunning Food in Cusco is standard tourist fare, if there is anything noteworthy in that town then I missed it. Lima will probably be your foodie destination for this trip. I'm not a seafood person so I can't speak to Limas restaurants Hadlock fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 20:14
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I did PeruHop last year, it was good. In Lima I'd recommend Museo Larco if you're into history, Canta Rana for ceviche (although you can get good ceviche in many places in Lima), and Sanguches Monstruo for a chicharron sandwich. I had some amazing cake at El Bodegon. All of those restaurants are in Barranco. I never found any amazing place to eat in Arequipa because I was only there briefly around my Colca Canyon hike, but the Convent is a must-see. I also recommend visiting Yanahuara, there's a hilltop park there with great views of the volcanos, and several queso helado vendors. The one day tour in Cusco that you might not otherwise find is the Ccocchahuasi Animal Sanctuary. They take you inside the condor enclosure where they have like 12 condors and they fly very close to you, it's insane. There are plenty of decent restaurants in the tourist areas, but the food markets in Cusco are great and accessible for tourists. I also like a coffeeshop in San Blas called Siete Angelitos, but the food is not at all local cuisine. I didn't stop in Nazca except for the viewing tower, Huacachina sucks rear end aside from the dunes, Paracas has poop rocks and 2 dozen indistinguishable seafood restaurants. Have fun! E: Hadlock posted:Lima is like the Houston or Cincinnati of South America. False btw, it's a lot more like Los Angeles - desert city, great food scene, not a great place to be a tourist. Sao Paolo is the NYC, and Quito is Seattle. Buenos Aires is probably the Houston Something Else fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Apr 4, 2019 |
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Apr 4, 2019 08:49
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Something Else posted:False btw, it's a lot more like Los Angeles - desert city, great food scene, not a great place to be a tourist. Sao Paolo is the NYC, and Quito is Seattle. Buenos Aires is probably the Houston My personal preference for large South American cities is something like (as a tourist) Buenos Aires Medellin Montevideo Rio Bogota Cartagena Lima I've traveled through Sao Paulo but never actually stopped there so can't say personally. Maybe Lima is good for foodies, I wouldn't know, not a foodie and I strongly dislike seafood
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Apr 4, 2019 19:32
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How about worst cities/towns in Latin America? interpret this question however you want (eg overrated, tourist trap, dirty, general shithole, etc). My wife was super sick there, so my view is colored, but Puno, Peru seemed like a dump with nothing going on. I ordered a burger somewhere and they brought me a single, unadorned patty on a plate. I still don't know if it was an intentional insult/scam or a weird miscommunication thing. Due to the illness we couldn't see the floating islands, which is the whole point. As in Puno, towns that serv other attractions tend to be real holes. Agus Calientes aka Machu Picchu Pueblo was a ridiculous tourist trap. Potosí, Bolivia has sort of an eerie charm with dilapidated Spanish churches but is pretty depressing (most people want to see the death mines). I'm told Uyuní (for salt flats) is similar. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is another one of those big cities that only worth a day, imo Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Apr 5, 2019 |
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Apr 5, 2019 03:47
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Yeah Puno sucks major rear end. Very weird place. Aguas Calientes at least has a really interesting sense of verticality to it that makes it fun to walk around.
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Apr 5, 2019 04:10
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I thought Tena, Ecuador was pretty lovely but then again I had a cold and the change in pressure from driving over the mountains while congested gave me the worst headache of my life. We got in at like 9am and the pickup to take us into the jungle was at like 4pm. That day sucked.
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Apr 5, 2019 10:47
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My partner and I are going to be in Ecuador for 6 weeks this summer from the first week in July to the third week in August. General plan is a few days/week in Quito, hiking the Quilitoa Loop, a few days in and around Cotopaxi (possibly trying to climb it), a few days in Cuenca, a week in Galapagos, then either the beach or the jungle. My question is that last week or two where we can choose between some beaches along the coast or try to do a trip into the Amazon, any recommendations either way or any suggestions/advice? Additionally anything big I am missing or things we should do or just general advice?
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Apr 5, 2019 16:39
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Swarmin Swedes posted:My partner and I are going to be in Ecuador for 6 weeks this summer from the first week in July to the third week in August. General plan is a few days/week in Quito, hiking the Quilitoa Loop, a few days in and around Cotopaxi (possibly trying to climb it), a few days in Cuenca, a week in Galapagos, then either the beach or the jungle. I really recommend the jungle option, in particular Cuyabeno Lodge. I spent 5 days there in 2014 and it was one of the most incredible wildlife-oriented trips I have been on. It is a great deal and if you like the outdoors and animals you will have a blast. If you Scuba dive, I also recommend the dive boat Galapagos Sky. It is very expensive, but it is an absolutely top-notch operation. If you don't dive, the Galapagos may not warrant an entire week; there's not that much going on topside. Oakland Martini fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Apr 5, 2019 |
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Apr 5, 2019 19:41
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I really like Lima. The food scene is amazing and the geography is interesting, the sea cliffs are insane and I’ve never seen anything like that in a city with stuff built on it or even inside it (some modern shopping mall in Miraflorws is partly inside the cliff). The ancient pyramids are incredible and no one ever talks about them ever, and the old city center is moderately interesting. I thought Vina Del Mar was pretty terrible, although not in the same way as Uyuni, but like in the way "why would anyone ever recommend this" like recommending Pensacola or whatever to a European traveling through the US.
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Apr 5, 2019 21:45
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We recently got back from a cruise through the beagle channel (Punta Arenas Chile to Ushuaia Argentina) and it was awesome. A++, would cruise again. We spent a night each in Punta Arenas - great food and craft beer (who knew?!) and Ushuaia - surprisingly touristy. We spent 2 nights at the Park Tower in Buenos Aires and I was blown away at how much I liked BA and Argentina. I didn’t know about their currency devaluation, but that helped when we were there!
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May 1, 2019 01:56
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My partner and I are traveling to CDMX next week and we’re getting hung up on how to find different music and art events happening then. The usual suspects (FB, Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, etc) seem to be used less there, so I’m just curious what the DF equivalent of those would be.
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May 13, 2019 22:50
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In Costa Rica. Is it really going to rain every loving single loving day?
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May 31, 2019 23:59
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Otis Reddit posted:In Costa Rica. Is it really going to rain every loving single loving day? Yes.
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Jun 1, 2019 01:59
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PT6A posted:Yes. Same experience. The good news is that the humidity is 100% so it doesn't really matter that your clothes are sopping wet. They don't call it a rainforest for nothin'
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Jun 1, 2019 02:13
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Curious to know if anyone here has much experience with driving in Mexico? Thinking of doing a road trip probably around the centre and south and wondering what the driving conditions (particularly other drivers) are like. I've driven in some moderately crazy places before (Sicily, Greece, Romania, Naples), so I'm OK if Mexico is on that level. Just want to make sure it's not on the Egypt/India level of insanity.
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Jun 2, 2019 13:40
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webmeister posted:Curious to know if anyone here has much experience with driving in Mexico? Thinking of doing a road trip probably around the centre and south and wondering what the driving conditions (particularly other drivers) are like. What's "south"? Yucatan driving is about as tricky as driving in Texas or California. I guess you mean more like Oaxaca though? I haven't been there and I imagine it's not Yucatan by any stretch, but I've driven around a fair amount of Latin America and almost all around the Mediterranean and found driving in Southern Italy to be unambiguously more challenging even compared to Nicaragua or Cuba... mainly because there's a poo poo ton more traffic in Naples. I guess the only more challenging aspect is you have to worry more about hitting pedestrians or people going the wrong way down streets on scooters which rarely happens in Mediterranean Europe, but I wouldn't psych yourself out over it. FWIW driving in Egypt is not particularly bad, except for Cairo. Just use the general "avoid driving outside of cities at night" advice because of the pedestrian/donkey/whatever-on-road issue. E: Ha, literally the first place I dropped a Google streetmaps pin in Oaxaca was of a couple stopped cars due to a guy driving a herd of like 50 cattle across the street. In general even the mountain the roads look wide and of pretty good quality; random sampling looks better than most of the non-main-artery mountain roads I've seen in Greece. Saladman fucked around with this message at 14:08 on Jun 2, 2019 |
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Jun 2, 2019 14:04
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I took a bus from oxacaca to DF, and then down to the Guatamala border. seemed like any rural highway in Texas or Louisiana. The poor there might be brutally poor but Mexico has a population half that of the US in maybe a quarter the landmass. Their transport network is very adequate. The highway system in Costa Rica on the other hand is absolute garbage, we drove halfway across the country in a rental at night and it was loving awful, bunch of local roads strung together under one name too represent a national highway While I'm on the topic of Costa Rica, that whole country was such an overpriced poo poo show we put off getting engaged until getting back to the states rather than stay one more day in lovely Costa Rica. We live in the downtown area of a very expensive city and Costa Rica was actually more expensive than our own overpriced home town which is pretty impressive as at least once a week I read an article about how expensive it is to live in our city.
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Jun 2, 2019 14:49
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