20120120 – 20120126, 20120203 – 20120207 (13days) Chile

Chile is also a high living spending country. I did not go to Atacama Desert and Easter Island. I just went to Pucon to climb the active volcano and Patagonia. But in Chile I had a wonderful time with my couchsurfing host in the capital. They are so nice! Also the cultural of art made me think a lot.

Chile:
Curreny: 1US: 490Peso (2011)
Hostel average: 12US per night
Eat average: 5.5US per meal

Schedule:
Santiago->Pucón->Bariloche (Argentina)
Puerto Natales->Calafate(Argentina)


Santiago
Don't ever bring fruits into Chile, you will get fined. It took time to get into area of Chile, immigration staff checked thoroughly the bus and everyone's luggage. Lastly, after 2 hours, I arrived at Santiago.

South America Trip

20120110-20120119, 20120127-20120202, 20120208-20120221 (31days) Argentina

Compared to Bolivia, the daily spending in Argentina increased a lot. It is just like heaven and hail. Especially transportation fee, it is 3 times more expensive than Bolivia's. Dining out is also expensive, that's why I cooked or bought the bread for meals. Once there was a Singapore couple telling me that if they could save, they would save, I also had that in mind. What I mostly ate outside were chocolate and ice cream. Eating ice cream was because it was cheap, eating chocolate was because it was famous. Lastly I spent 31 days in Argentina,
In between I traveled to Chile also as Patagonia region is on both of the countries. You need to travel like Z path in order to travel through Patagonia. In Argentina, I got money from ATM for five times. Every time the processing fee was HKD$30. As the bus tickets are expensive, as soon as I get my money out from ATM, I spent almost all of it to buy the bus ticket...But there are some must go places here, I think they are the most beautiful places in South America that I have traveled - El Chaltén and Iguazu.

Argentina:
Curreny: 1US: 4.3Peso (2012)
Hostel average: 12US per night
Eat average: 7.5US per meal

Schedule:
Salta->Cafayate->Cordoba->Mendoza->Santiago (Chile) Bariloche->Calafate->Puerto Natales (Chile) El Chaltén ->Puerto Madryn->Bahia Blanca->Bueno Airs->Iguazu->Ciudad del Este (Paraguay)

I went to the border of Villazon, Bolivia to Argentina. Don't buy the bus ticket at the border, you don't need to be hurry to buy any ticket before reaching the bus station at Argentina's side (15 minutes walk after passing the immigration). I bought and it was expensive, a good punishment for me to remember. If you are going to Salta you shall not buy the direct bus ticket. You shall bought two, from here to Jujuy then change another bus to Salta. The guy sat next to me was going to capital Bueno Aires. He also changed bus at Jujuy and said it was much cheaper to do that.



Arrived in Salta. There was not much to see, just a city. Saw some mounted police and understood more about this place.

South America Trip

20111225-20120109(11days) Bolivia

The daily spending here is very low, exchange rate with Hong Kong is almost 1:1

Bolivia has the highest capital in the world, La Paz, 3,675M. Meaning of La Paz is peace in English.

I loved the pureness and simplicity of people here. Also the silence and comfort. The most unforgettable thing is, of course, the famous spot Salar de Uyuni. It is really awesome. I believe I will come here again in the future.

Bolivia:

Currency: 1US: 6.9Bolivian (2011)

Hostel average: 4US per night

Eat average: 1.7US per meal

Schedule:

La Paz->Cochabamba->Oruro->Uyuni->Potosi->Tupiza->Salta(Argentina)

La Paz

The first stop in Bolivia is the capital. I lived in a hostel and met a man called Christian who worked at there. He was hilarious and even came with me with his friend to help me in buying a new camera. They said if I went and bought myself I will get an unreasonable price. 

The thing I was drinking was called batido de bicervecina, an alcoholic drink ~0.7US.

There were a lots of slope in La Paz. The dormitory I lived had 20 beds, which was the most so far (May be because I did not travel much :P)

South America Trip

2011112-20121224 (43Days) Peru

Peru, a place that we all anticipated with. Apart from its well known spot Machu Picchu, it is also because its history can be compatible with China’s. Every dynasty has its own culture, costume, wisdom and funeral sacrifice. If you really want to know the whole history, you need to stay a long time here.I love Peru, people are nice, they have Chinese food chifa, they have traditional dish ceviche, they have special drink chichi morada, quinua, champus…Though my camera was stolen here, I wished the one who stole my camera is Chile, which he claimed that he is. Else he will ruin the image of Peruvians.After climbing up to a 5 thousand meters snow mountain, I started my own journey. From a moment of feeling frightened, to a moment of feeling relaxed and enjoyed.

Peru:
Currency: 1US: 2.6Soles (2011)
Hostel average: 5 – 5.5US US per night
Eat average: 2.5US per meal

Schedule:
Mancora->Chachapoyas->Cajamarca->Trujillo->Chiclayo->Huaraz->Barranca->Lima->Pisco->
Nasca->Arequipa->Cusco->Puno->LaPaz (Bolivia)


Let’s introduce Peruvian soft drink inca cola. It tastes like cream soda and is made in Peru. I also bought a t-shirt with the logo, love this logo~

South America Trip

20111025-201111(18 days) Ecuador

Ecuador- the capital gave me the feeling of danger, my camera almost got stolen at there. For boys, my impressions all are having short curly hairs with their glasses on. The most memorable city is Otavalo, an indigenous village. You will feel the culture here. People living there wear indigenous clothings, and they have special facial contours too. There is also a newly built modern museum surrounding by cultural architect, it is a special one.

Moreover, there are a lot of souvenirs to buy, awesome!Cuena is also a city worth going, it is an artistic one and there are many museums there. Go and feel it!We played canopy at Ecuador. It was cheap.Eat, live and transportation are cheap here, there are also some snow mountains, you can climb if you have time.

Ecuador:
Currency: US (2011)
Hostel average: 5-7US per night
Eat average: 2US per meal

Schedule:
Otavalo->Quito->Banos->Reobamba->Alausi->Cuenca->Mancora (Peru)



Otavalo is a good place to buy souvenirs. There are many to choose and they are all cheap. You do not need to go to Bolivia to buy souvenirs. They will just continue to lower the prices themselves as you wish. Sometime they will ask you how much you want to pay.

South America Trip