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Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I guess I've read a bit of this thread and I'm reading "every place is awesome."

I have FF miles to cash next year sometime and it results in a free trip to Europe (been there, done that a few times) or exciting South America! From what I'm reading, South America is much cheaper anyway and I'd probably spend 3 weeks or so there. If I end up going a month, I'll probably try to see two cities. My dates are relatively open, but I'd likely want to go there sometime between June and August.

Brazil seems like a pain in the rear end, applying and paying for a travel visa. Is Carnival there still worth the pains in getting there? Any other suggestions? I'm thinking of hitting up Cusco for hiking (that alternate route sounded like a deal!) because that's what I like to do, so it would be Cusco and X. What is Cusco like in winter? Money isn't really an issue, but I like to stay cheap. I certainly always spend less than I can afford when out. High-speed internet is pretty crucial. I also like to feel safe. I tend to get incredibly upset when I feel like I'm being hustled or shaken down and do irrational things, starting with not being a punk and not giving them the money. I don't know if that flies in SA. I only speak English and I can't dance, but I'm a 6'2" half-Korean, half-Dutch and have never had a problem finding attractive women who will put up with my miserable dancing.

Thanks!

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 05:57 on Jun 10, 2009

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Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Currently discussing the Inca trail over Christmas with a new lady (oooooooooooooooh). Looking to book earlier than later to secure a spot during our trip with a group. Any recommendations or referrals for the 4-5 day hike welcome.

I would prefer my regular hiking boots that are more than broken in, but they're not waterproof. I see that rain is pretty common during that time. Has anybody done the trail that late in the Summer? Do I need to buy waterproof boots right now and start breaking them in?

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

Tight Booty Shorts posted:

I would just bring a pair of Chacos, it's a rough trail to go over with boots.

I've never done sandals in the rain, but I was in need of some decent sandals anyway and Steep & Cheap had them on sale for $47 this morning so I picked up a pair. Thanks for the recommendation.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Just booked the Inca trail with Alpaca Expeditions for December 21st through the 24th. Flying in on the 18th to Cusco, flying to Lima on the 25th, and then flying back to LA on the 28th.

No specific plans. Probably going to AirBnB it. Curious about staying at the hot springs on the night of the 24th.

Any recommendations or information welcome on either city. Thanks!

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Oct 5, 2014

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Leaving for Cusco/Lima in about 5 weeks to be there over Christmas. For Lima, we're staying in Miraflores right by the water, about 2 blocks from Larcomar.

I'm still looking for suggestions on things to do and places to eat. I'm also interested in people's Machu Picchu experiences. We went with Alpaca Expeditions due to a personal recommendation by an acquaintance. They couldn't get us Huyana Picchu, so they recommended Machu Picchu mountain at a $50 cost. My lady friend and I are trying to figure out if it's worth it, but we're leaning towards saving the money as we will have spent the last 4 days hiking. It's hard for me to conceive that spending more money to hike even longer would be a good value. If we don't hike the mountain, will we have enough to do to fill our time? If we do hike the mountain, will we feel pressed for time to explore the ruins?

Edit: Just a note: holy poo poo, Lima has Uber. It's under $10 USD to get to Miraflores from the airport. I guess this means I'll have to get a local SIM card for my phone.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Nov 10, 2014

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I think we'll be skipping the mountain, then.

I agree with the monetization. They should make it expensive to non-Peruvian tourists. I don't think that people are price sensitive when it comes to Machu Picchu. People are going to go and whether it's $600 or $700 really isn't going to matter to most. It's tough for people just trying just to experience it, but overall it's probably best if they gouge the poo poo out of people while they're in the park.

As for me, I'll make sure to eat a large breakfast before the final leg of the hike and bring in some whey protein bars. Thanks for the heads-up.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

Mortley posted:

Yeah, I didn't mean to sound critical of the decisions that lead to that payment system - I just regret taking the roundtrip train (considering all that money immediately left Peru) and think that people should be aware that seeing MP is not "a lot of money for being a tourist in the developing world" but plain ol' "a lot of loving money".

Yeah, I appreciate the notice. It's definitely going to help us. I'm already over budget due to some delays in booking, so any place where we can save money is great.

My first thought is that tour operators should be far more transparent with how much money is going towards the cost of entrance, train, etc... When I did the math myself, I was surprised how cheap the 4d/3n hike was.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

Tight Booty Shorts posted:

I went to Peru for a month under $1,000 and did everything I wanted to do without tour operators or travel agencies. What are you even paying them to do for you? Choose your travel route? Feed you?

In short, yes. It's a 4 day, 3 night hike from Cusco to Machu Picchu. They provide the equipment, food, cooks, porters, and guides. We show up and hike. It's a pretty popular way to get there.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

Pretty Boy Floyd posted:

Just snagged a $381 ticket from Dulles to Santiago for the end of January and returns in April. I don't really intend to return in April, I just needed to be able to book the ticket. If I were to return to the states in June, will COPA be willing to adjust the ticket for a fee?

Don't do this if you're not savvy enough to know what you're doing and have a plan. Change fees for established airlines are ridiculous as Juanito mentioned. Also, Copa's customer service is a laughably bad time sink and doesn't offer 24/7 support iirc, so get on the phone ASAP.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Trip Review Cusco and Lima:

1 - Hiking the Inca Trail was incredible, and I was even able to do it on acute food poisoning from something I ate in Cusco. It's not that difficult if you can, say, run 2 miles. Highly recommend Alpaca Expeditions.
2 - Everyone told me to only spend 3 days/nights max in Lima if time was in short supply, and they were correct. We did Plaza Mayor, Barranco, and Miraflores all in that time and we felt pretty fulfilled.
3 - I wish we had an extra day or two in Cusco. Only did 3 days, 4 night there in addition to our Inca trail hike.
4 - The "museums" in Cusco can be skipped, $50 ticket saved. Those weren't worth it.
5 - Copa airlines is the most bullshit mickey mouse airline I've ever flown. I have a few hundred thousand "butt in seat" miles total spread across a handful of airlines, so this isn't my first big trip or anything. I won't fly Copa again. A range of errors, starting with their inability to even charge the right credit card and then straight-up lying about Panama law regarding exit row seating and language. Their customer service is basically non-existent. They just won't respond to you.
6 - First trip abroad with a non-iPhone. Verizon Android phones have bloatware, drivers that will block a Claro sim from being used. The only remedy I could find online was to root my phone and disable the Verizon software. My S5 was useless.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Dec 30, 2014

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I'm frantically searching for chicharron sandwiches in Orange County. I'm addicted. I miss $4 jamon serrano and chicharron sandwiches. I ate them every day in Lima, but it still wasn't enough.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
You can also walk from MP to the Sun Gate if you really want to see it.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Any Inca Trail tour would be booked at this point and passes would be completely sold out (it's a government ticket with your name on it). You can go to Machu Picchu on via bus/train service, or you can do it via some alternate hikes that end at Machu Picchu.

I recommend: http://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/

Good food, prepared, carry something like 7kg for you so you can just daypack everything, and reasonably sized groups.

I found Lima pretty bland for a major city. I spent 4 days there and felt fulfilled. I'm glad I spent more time in other cities.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
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?

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
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. =)

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

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.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Hey, I just bought LAX to Liberia, Costa Rica for me and my girlfriend at the end of April for under $400 combined. Southwest sale plus she flies almost-free with me via the companion pass. Surprise!

We've been wanting to do Costa Rica for a while and all the more adventurous stuff that goes with it-- climbing up waterfalls, ziplining (it seems people have strong opinions on this!), and whatever one can do at the volcano. Maybe even rafting, though neither of us has ever done it. We're both pretty fit, do races and work out. Definitely looking for guidance for anybody who can recommend specific things to do, organizations or outfits to do them with, and places to stay. I'm super bummed that the sloth rescue is on the other side of the country.

Peru talk:

Was super happy with this trekking outfit during our time in Peru. Peruvian owned and the group size was a manageable 9 people: https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/

Our chef was excellent and the staff seemed like they were treated decently, not overloaded with gear. Some other groups there, especially the more popular orgs, were so laughably large that I would've regretted booking with them.

Lima was fine. We stayed in Miraflores on the beach and it's South American, for sure, in surroundings but also very much like any other nightlife area in the world. Definitely glad we went, but also glad we didn't spend a week there. If you like post-punk and are staying in Lima, I have a club recommendation for you!

Edit: The loving ham/pork sandwiches man. Lima knows its loving sandwiches. I loving think about those sandwiches every couple months.

http://www.elchinito.com.pe/carta.html - Chicharron
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294316-d2708680-Reviews-Sangucheria_la_Lucha-Lima_Lima_Region.html - Jamon

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Jan 17, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I looked at Nicaragua and flights there would cost us at least a day of time (out of our 3 full days down there) and ~$350 each, so that trip will have to wait for another time. Thank you for the recommendation, though.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Yeah, this is a quick trip because it's so cheap for us to fly in and we have various reasons as to why the trip has to be so short.

We're not really resort people, but money isn't the primary factor when making decisions as to what to do. The price of the area is unfortunate but not going to prevent us from having fun. We're probably looking in the ~$75 (the type of place where I'm comfortable staying) to ~$200 range (the types of places she prefers to stay) for hotel per night and spending anywhere between $50 and $150 per day for activities and food. Yeah, it's a wide range. It's not so much as to what something costs, but the value extracted from the experience in relation to cost.

Diamante seems like a reasonable place to start for the high-end on that spend, and if we find cheaper/better things to do we'd probably slot them to replace some of the Diamante stuff.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Jan 18, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

TheImmigrant posted:

It's two hours to the beach areas around San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua) from the airport in Liberia. Around San Juan del Sur, you get incredible deals on accommodations compared to what you can find in Guanacaste. Beaches are less crowded and developed, people are friendlier, and you won't feel like you are in a machine designed to separate you from as much money as you have. I think you're less likely to be the victim of petty theft in Nicaragua than you are in Costa Rica too.

Costa Rica is the Absolut vodka of Central America - savvy marketing and PR, without a whole lot of substance. Costa Rica has no colonial cities, no indigenous ruins, and no distinctive cuisine. It's marginally less crowded, expensive, and developed than, say, Florida's Redneck Riviera. That said, it has nothing to offer that neighboring countries don't have better. Ruling out Nicaragua in favor of Costa Rica, especially when you're flying into a place as close by as Liberia, is like an order of diet mashed potatoes, hold the gravy.

Yeah, I'm not happy about it but I'm traveling with my SO and it seems she's really set on staying in Costa Rica. If I was going solo, I'd definitely push through the bit of headache that it took to get to Nicaragua. Unfortunately, it's not something she's going to compromise on.

Saladman posted:

With such a short trip, Diamante might be too far from other stuff you want to do (waterfalls / canopy tour / etc). Their ziplines are awesome but they only have one days' worth of activities, and there's nothing else nearby--like the rainforest or mountains are ~1.5-2 hour drives away, each way. The Buena Vista lodge in Rincon de la Vieja might be more up your alley ( http://www.buenavistalodgecr.com/ )-- they have enough variety there for three days of activities, and it's central to all of it so you don't have to do long trips to get to/from the things to do. I spent a day up there and didn't stay at the hotel itself, but it looked nice enough and not too nice to be out of your price range. (Edit: Looks like it's $70–$100 a night depending on which type of room you want.)

Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. Their website seems like it wasn't updated for the last year or maybe a bit more. Information is pretty sparse as well. How did you book your time at the adventure park? I've gathered from this forum conversation with everyone that transportation is expensive. How would you recommend getting to the rafting part of the country? I see it's about an hour drive south of Liberia, 90 mins from the Buena Vista Lodge.

Edit: It looks like renting a car isn't prohibitively expensive, especially if we can do an economy car. What's driving like in Costa Rica? Do we have to get a 4WD auto or is a small Toyota fine?

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Jan 19, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
But... I want to keep digging!!! ;)

Ok, so car rental is out. What's in?

Thanks so much for all the help on this. I feel like I can usually do so much more on my own when planning trips, but the online resources just aren't as robust for this location as they are for others. I guess that's one of the reasons it was so cheap to fly there ^_^

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
GF decided she wanted to change our trip to flying into San Jose and going to Lake Arenal / La Fortuna April 16-18 with the day before and after being travel days. Again, just a quick trip away-- which it turns out is our 1 year anniversary. Happy accident!

So far, the plan is to do one weekend day at Mistico Park. Looking for lodging and other activity recommendation in La Fortuna-- so far, our lodging plan is the Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort at $141 which is towards the top of our range, but reasonable. The general plan for the 18th / Monday is to enjoy a morning in La Fortuna eventually head back on over to San Jose and experience an evening in the city, but I see that Monday is the day the entire country shuts down? Is there anything worth doing on Monday? Should we just spend another day in La Fortuna? We will eventually have to get back to San Jose for our flight the morning of the 19th.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Feb 23, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I looked a little into Poas and I read the same thing-- if there's fog, and there's probably a 30%-50% chance of fog-- you can't see anything. It seems reasonable though to get us closer to the airport. I will definitely take a second look at it for our Monday night. We have to end up some place closer to the airport to make our 8 AM flight out of San Jose.

To note, my girlfriend's plan is to rent a car/truck for the weekend. Yup, it's shoulder season. Yup, the roads are poo poo. She's determined. I'm hoping the rental agency doesn't force us to buy their insurance. Go go Chase Sapphire Preferred primary insurance!

quote:

E: It's not comically pathetic enough to warrant going there though.

I appreciate the clarification. I am totally the type to go someplace just to see how much it sucks. By the by, I cannot recommend enough the Coca museum in Cuzco to anybody visiting. The absurdness kept building and building until it climaxed in one room where if it was possible to die from laughter, I'd be a loving ghost right now.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

TheImmigrant posted:

The thing about San José's suckage is that it's boring. Some places suck because of horrific pollution or ugliness or danger - San José can't claim any of this. San José is the shabby capital of a middle-income country devoid of historical landmarks or urban attractions. Going out of your way to visit the place is like deciding to vacation in a suburb of Dallas.

For sure. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I am the type to go someplace that sucks if it's entertaining-suck, not if it's suck-suck. For example, I don't enjoy trips to the Midwest because it sucks, but in a depressing "there are no jobs and none of these people will ever leave these bullshit towns" way. The coca museum in Cusco is very much the fun-suck.

So far the plan is Mistico and this: http://www.desafiocostarica.com/tour/arenal-mambo-combo-tour-rappel-raft/ or http://www.viator.com/tours/La-Fortuna/Sarapiqui-River-Whitewater-Rafting-Tour-from-La-Fortuna/d821-6833SARAPI

I will happily warn everyone of how much Costa Rica sucks once I get back. Again, luckily we flew in for like $250 each thanks to the Southwest companion pass or else I'd be asking myself why we didn't just fly to SE Asia or some other country that's competitively priced.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Feb 24, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Well, yeah, the price is definitely part of it. For many of the half-day trips, it is within the range of prices I'd pay to do these activities domestically. Yeah, poor me; white (enough) American bouncing around the world like it's my playground. Sure. But, it's still kinda annoying when quoted $180 for like a 2-hour shuttle or $120 for a few hours of zipline.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I'm now $160 richer

https://www.bubblear.com/argentina-suspends-reciprocity-fee/

Edit: Tell me how crazy this is considering that Chile/Argentina transportation infrastructure is pretty loose and that doesn't even consider the weather

12/7/2016 Leave LAX
12/8/2016 Arrive Buenos Aires between 8 and 11 AM
12/8/2016 Fly to El Calafate, arrive mid-afternoon/evening
12/9/2016 Take bus out of El Calafate, arrive in Puerto Natales
12/10/2016 Leave PN, begin Torres Del Paine 5-Day W hike
12/14/2016 Final Day in TDP, Direct Bus to El Calafate arrive late PM
12/15/2016 Fly out of EC to Ushuaia - Arrange for first flight out at 12:10 PM
12/16/2016 Cruise - Boat leaves at 6 PM
12/27/2016 Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, spend 2 days in the city
12/29/2016 Buenos Aires to LAX, fly out 11:45 PM arrive 2 PM on 12/30

Edit: Could also do LAX > Santiago, Chile > Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales but tickets from Santiago to Arenas are $_$

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Mar 26, 2016

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Costa Rica Trip Review
Landed at the airport, immediately zerged by touts and taxi car drivers. Find the "official" taxi car stand and the guy seemed pretty indifferent, but eventually we get in a reasonable cab to our ALoft. ALoft is as one would expect, above average breakfast.

Rent our car from Poas/Vamos, which I highly recommend. I didn't feel strong-armed into buying extra insurance, and they were pretty casual about everything. Communication leading up to the rental was spotty, but eh. $170 for 3+ days rental is worth it.

The drive to La Fortuna are pretty crappy once we got off the highway. Single-lane highway means one has to roll the dice a bit when stuck behind slow trucks, and everyone in towns just kinda walks in the path of traffic as if it's no big deal. The quality of the road was decent, though one can't really zone out since it's curve after curve.

Get to our resort, Los Lagos, which was fine. I paid about $140 a night, which seemed reasonable considering what they offered in hot springs and decent breakfast. No way I'd pay the $300+ what some people were paying to stay there. We were able to get a glimpse of the volcano with clear skies, so that was great. Downtown La Fortuna isn't good, nor should anybody expect it to be. It's pretty clear that the resorts are good at keeping visitors on-property.

Our tours were all above average, albeit somewhat expensive. The ticos we met were genuinely the nicest people I've ever met while traveling. We did rappelling, hanging bridge tour, and rafting. I wish the water had been higher, but that's what I get for booking in April. Transportation seemed to be the big surprise cost in most of the tours, so having our own car was very helpful with some of the tours. The food was US-priced (we tend to eat at nicer places than your average traveler) but quality was good both on and off resort. That was one of the nicer things about traveling here-- no worries about bad food or bad water.

Drove back to San Jose, which again was pretty crappy. All it takes is one beater truck going 20 km/hr under to jam up traffic for a long time.

Overall, what people said was kinda true-- it is the Absolut Vodka of tourism. But, that comes with some good upsides-- no worries about dirty water, relative safety, a good experience when traveling with someone who appreciates the ease of which everything is done and isn't very concerned about cost. I'd actually recommend it to anybody traveling for the first time or traveling with a significant other. It's very much easymode abroad, so it's a great starter country that comes at a bit of a premium.

Saladman posted:

Good news for you: the Panama City airport is very modern, developed, and absolutely had AC almost everywhere. Whoever wrote that either had a bad day or was there prior to their major renovation 10 years ago.

I thought the duty-free and like shops were good, but the dining options were pitiful. IIRC, one terminal has a Subway and then three round-high tables that haven't been cleaned in a few hours. Did I just miss something last time I flew through there?

The really nice part is that I think anybody can get to anywhere in the airport within 5 minutes.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

THE PWNER posted:

So I want to move to Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador or, failing that, Argentina, permanently in the pretty distant future (at least 2 and a half years).

I'm wondering what visa options there are for a dumbass like me who's not going to start a business, doesn't have a passive income, etc.

Currently the only realistic option seems like going to Chile on a working holiday visa (which I'll sadly have to skip postgrad for since I'll be 29 by the time I finish my degree and to be eligible and you need to be under 30), and then using that to apply for permanent residency, with which I could start applying for jobs that are actually within my field but which require a visa. Uruguay and Argentina have working holiday agreements with my country (Australia) as well, but they require ridiculous amounts of savings (10k+) while Chile only requires $5000 USD.

Pretty solid option, but I'm wondering if there's another way beyond getting a job offer before entering the country in any of these places? Any that will allow you upgrade a tourist visa to a work visa while already in the country? My first choice is Bolivia, but there is understandably little demand for English-speakers there, and second is Peru but they're pretty strict on immigration requirements.

I'm not going to have any in-demand professional qualifications so I think my chances of enticing an employer to go through the trouble of sponsoring my visa before I go are very slim, unless a by-the-books English school gets really desperate for a native speaker with a random degree. Any input would be greatly appreciated. My field is Latin American Studies which I am certainly not going to get employment with without postgrad, unless I get very lucky and find an NGO or other such humanitarian organisation that's recruiting. I'd want to get consolidated and then finish my studies in the country I immigrate to, or finish them at home and then travel (but my field is so narrow that I probably won't find a job from outside the country anyway)

There is no way this is real.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
loving Aerolineas Argentinas. They keep canceling my USH to BUE flight and pushing me to another one. Anybody have a read on what's happening? Does the company list a bunch of flights and then cancel the ones that nobody's buying? The weird part is that new flights seem to be popping up after the cancelled ones. I can't complain too much as my current flight is the best one in terms of time, but I'm definitely weary of having to call in and wait 30 minutes each time they cancel and they don't even email me when my flight times have changed.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I'm trying to book a ticket for hiking the W in Torres del Paine from Dec 23 - Dec 27. I would prefer to go by myself with no guide and sleep in my tent on my own, so I don't want to book with a tour company. I registered on https://www.entradas.parquesnacionales.cl/ and checked availability on the Torres del Paine part of the website. I saw [995] for each date in green, which I assume is good and means there are passes available.

I then clicked to buy the tickets and I received this message: "Área protegida no tiene habilitada la temporada" on the site. Is registration not available yet for the 2018-2019 season?

Also, if people have done it, I'm looking at doing this itinerary because it seems like the one I could most reliably book in terms of getting campsites! http://www.fantasticosur.com/en/summer-1718/1-w-standard/

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Thanks. It took me a long time to work around Vertice and Fantastico locations being all sold out for my chosen dates, but I was able to put together:

Dec 25 Enter Park to Grey
Dec 26 Paine Grande (allows a half-day on the glacier)
Dec 27 + 28: Frances
Dec 29: Las Torres
Dec 30: Back to Puerto Natales

If I can get a spot on the 27th at Italiano when registration opens up, I'll probably replace my first night at Frances. I'll also see if the Torres Ranger Station is open this year, but man, Frances to Torres Ranger Station seems like such an rear end-kicker of a day.

Overall, trip is me going solo and the following dates:

Dec 19 Arrive in Santiago
Dec 20 Santiago
Dec 21 Santiago
Dec 22 Santiago to Punta Arenas
Dec 23 King Penguin Tour
Dec 24 Puntas Arenas to Puerto Natales
Dec 25 - Dec 30 [Backpacking]
Dec 31 Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas to Santiago
Jan 1 Back to LA

I plan to stay at La Chimba in Santiago as that seems to be the best option for a party hostel (goddamn do I wish I could incorporate BA and Millhouse instead of Santiago) while still not having recent complaints about bed bugs. If anybody has recommendations on where to stay in Santiago, Punta Arenas, and Puerto Natales, I'd love to hear them. I'd also appreciate any recommendations on things to do in Santiago or experiences people have had in hiking the W as well.

Thanks again!

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
HOLY poo poo

I just emailed a transportation company at 3:40 PM local time on a Saturday and got an instant response with accurate information.

Shoutout to Bus-Sur. That's the least South American experience I've ever had with a South American transportation company.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
I’m going to Santiago for 4 days and my only expectations are to party at the hostel and see Valparaiso for a day before hitting Patagonia, and even then I wish I could just be in BA partying instead. But, that would’ve cost me about $700 extra in airfare. So 🤷‍♂️ Low expectations!

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Why am I getting such wild differences in temperature in Torres Del Paine, Chile?

Weather app tells me it’s 37F, Google search Widget is telling me it’s 42F, ok sure... and Weather.com is telling me it’s 56F. AccuWeather says it’s 55F.

Note that the Weather app and Google search widget are both pulling from Weather.com.

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Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
Two things I had forgotten about South America—
Nightlife starts at midnight
Start times (other than flights and poo poo like that) are soft

Chile is aptly named. Super chill.

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