Worldwide Walkies

Category: Traveller Tips

  • Traveller Talks: A Debrief on Touring India

    Traveller Talks: A Debrief on Touring India

    India is a privilege. 

    You’ll read and hear both sides of the spectrum. People love India – it’s culturally rich, the people are genuine, the food is incredible, there’s so much variety. People hate India – it’s hot, loud, overpopulated, dirty, smelly. Some people are unsure about India – it is foreign, huge, overwhelming on the senses and the mind. 

    But above all else, it is a privilege.

    In a hugely diverse country with over a billion people, and some of the richest people in the world and a lot of the poorest, you can only expect there to be an extreme range of individual experiences. As a tourist in a place that can feel so foreign it is almost unbelievable, it is most important to keep our perspective in place. The perspective that we are the foreigner; we are a guest in this place; that it is not simply a playground for us to spend our ‘strong’ currency with no regard for local customs or priorities. 

    We feel privileged to have visited, and to have seen so much of this country over three months. It was some seriously challenging travel – the stark difference in cultural practice absolutely takes a toll; most days something would happen to make us feel disrespected, cheated, or misunderstood. But we also experienced incredibly genuine kindness; we met locals wanting to share with us their land and their culture; and holy mcfreaking moly we got to eat some of the most incredible food on the planet. It was really a time of growth, and after a number of months of introspection and reflection we are finally feeling a little bit ready to write about it.

    Keeping it
    short and sweet

    Geography

    India is massive, so it’s got a bit of everything. High mountains in the Himalayas, lush forests in the foothills, the desert of the west, magnificent beaches on the southern coasts, and the jungle inland. One thing that surprised us was how green India is – cities can be fairly concrete, but there’s big swathes of forest.

    Climate

    India’s got the usual four seasons, but they’re a little different to temperature countries, as the tropical monsoons have a big impact. With such a massive variation in geography comes substantial differences in weather cycles regionally.

    .Summer | Mar – May | avoid especially May – the hottest it gets | Monsoon | Jun – Sep | hot and humid | Post-monsoon | Oct – Nov | still humid, but cooler and much more manageable | Winter | Dec – Feb | a good time to visit.

    cultural quirks

    There is so much that feels different about India from the west, but what stands out is the incessant staring, the lack of women in public, especially in Delhi, and the slightly hilarious, slightly irritating habit of asking ‘where are you from’ with no prompting, and certainly no ‘hi, hello’ first.

    costs

    You can visit on either end of the spectrum – spend the big bucks, or take every local route you can to be a real saver. Even on a shoestring budget, you can eat out every meal, though your stomach will need to be strong, but we’d recommend a the slightly more expensive options for travel – the ‘local’ routes in India are not for the faint-hearted, and a little bit of cash can go a long way.

    safety

    Safety varies a lot across India, but in general we felt safe, if not quite uncomfortable. I’d say that for a solo woman, or even women travelling together, a lot more lines would be crossed for the discomfort would be higher. The concept of personal space doesn’t really exist, and, as above, the tendency to stare can make you feel very defensive.

    transport

    The train system in India is well connected, but books out well in advance. Buses are also a great option, with lie-flat bed options. In the mountains, catch shared taxis or jeeps. Flying is a good option; there are lots of airports, and prices are really reasonable (even with bags).

    food

    The food in India is incredible… In the west, we talk about ‘curry’, but the variety is something you can’t access; wet gravy, dry meat, a thick sauce; completely different applications of spices; parantha and thali for breakfast; wazwan in Kashmir, kebab in Lucknow; momos and noodles in the mountains… Pure joy. You won’t find beef or pork; vegetarian, mutton (goat) and chicken are the main options.

    walkies?

    Hell yeah! While Nepal is known for its Himalayas, a good chunk of the lower valleys and mountains are in India, through the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, and Sikkim. These regions can reach high altitudes, so don’t be underestimating it. Our to-do list is below, but we recommend checking out India Hikes for an almost exhaustive list, and they are really helpful if you want to send them an email!

    our stops

    Usually this section is ‘hotspots’, but there are too many to name, so we’ve put in our highlights instead (yes, in order; yes, they don’t make any logistical sense)

    delhi

    We had to, but we would avoid it if we could… Delhi is a hellhole, but it’s got some beautiful monuments and wonderful history.

    ladakh

    An ancient kingdom with customs and vibes that mirror Tibet more than India; a high altitude desert perfect for hiking

    kashmir

    The disputed region of Kashmir has some of the most beautiful and dramatic landscapes in the world – unfortunately, unrest in the region makes it difficult to explore.

    mumbai & aurangabad

    Bollywood and bollywood’s money is evident in the classier side of Mumbai; yet it holds the world’s slum. We headed out of town for a day to visit the Ellora and Ajunta caves – incredibly preserved religious craftsmanship.

    sikkim

    Bordered on three sides by other countries, the beautiful mountains of Sikkim hold of our favourite memories. Gorgeous people, wonderful hospitality, stunning landscapes.

    rajasthan

    If you want a fort, or many forts, go to Rajasthan! Its history of Rajput royalty separates it from the Mughal royalty in the central regions of India. We visited Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

    agra

    Off to see the great Taj! It was really very impressive, and Agra wasn’t as awful as all the reviews describe – though we wouldn’t say ‘visit Agra for Agra’

    varanasi

    The most spiritual place to visit in India. Experiencing night-time pooja on the riverside was spectacular, and taking a walking tour is a great way to understand more of the local perspective.

    lucknow

    Food!! Lucknow is a gastronomical delight with phenomenal specific local dishes, and there are a few beautiful Islamic monuments to visit in the centre.

    where next…?

    We missed all of the hiking in Himachal and Uttrakand, and apart from Mumbai, didn’t even touch the south of India! That’s half the continent left to explore, one day.

    Tell me everything

    We approached India with a languidity born of 7 months of prior travel; while this is a manageable strategy for those with time, it did lead to a fairly rag-tag route. We were heavily impacted by the summer monsoon, so despite an initial determination to spend two solid months hiking in the Himalayas, Mother Nature had other plans. 

    India was a little bit of everything – we went to the limit of our visa, spending 3 months exploring as far as we could. The hiking was meant to begin in Ladakh, then we’d work our way through trails in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakand (the lower Himalayas) as the monsoon eased. Everything got derailed when the monsoon stretched out longer than previous years and was far more devastating – not just in the Himachal, where the road from Leh to Manali got completely washed out, but also in Ladakh itself, which saw unprecedented rain and caused many buildings – not built to withstand the onslaught – to leak. So instead we bounced around – as above – in the most chaotic way possible.

    Interestingly, while it can be very affordable, India is no longer one of the cheapest places to travel, especially if you want a moderate level of comfort. In fact, with the extreme wealth disparity in India there is a lack of infrastructural support that seems mind-boggling, the preference for locals who can afford it is to take private transport, so public transport can be neglected and become overwhelmingly overcrowded for a traveller.

    important note!

    Check your visa carefully! Even though we got a year long visa, it was explicit that with 12 months we could only be in india for 6 months total, and within that, only 3 months (90 days) at a time. We also miscalculated that (3 months doesn’t mean exactly 90 days), so we had to move our flight forward…

    Geography

    The third largest peak in the world is in India, on the border of Nepal (Kachenjunga). It’s got a huge coastline with multiple ports that enabled the trade from East to West – centres of gold routes for centuries. There are natural parks filled with tigers, elephants and other large and small fauna. The Thar desert of Rajasthan borders Pakistan, filled with golden sandstone. To its east is the Aravalli Range, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, a crumbling relic of tectonic movement which holds many forts. It really has it all, with the variety in the population to match.

    Land border crossings in India are generally a no-no – our visa explicitly said that we could only enter and leave by air. Even over the Nepal border (with whom India have good relations), foreigners cannot pass.

    The higher risk disputed regions have a serious military presence. In Kashmir (where there was a terrorist attack in April 2025), there is military everywhere, but we also had trouble with very strict immigration at the airport in Bagdogra (the entrance point to Sikkim), as it is right at the intersection of a number of countries. We had to get permits to travel to places in Ladakh and Sikkim, and certain tourist attractions are too close to the border, so are inaccessible for foreigners.

    From the Thar desert…
    … to lush greenery in Kashmir

    climate

    As the geography varies so much, as does the climate. Every season is different in every region – you could freeze to death in the middle of the day in Ladakh or Sikkim, but in Rajasthan you’d still get a burning sun – though nights are always cold in the desert.

    For the part of the monsoon season we were in India, it really was wet. In South East Asia, monsoon means rain every day, but usually not for the whole day. In India, it was constant – and even in the rain shadow of the Himalayas in Ladakh, the conditions were bad in 2025.

    Even though India is hot as balls most of the year, having skin showing is pretty uncommon for the locals, both men and women. Awal wore a singlet a couple of times and got a lot of attention! You only really see modern western clothing in centres like Mumbai (not even in Delhi). Take light, loose clothing that covers your whole body, and if you’re a woman, try to get it as shapeless as possible – it helps to stave off the staring.

    Costs in 2025

    India is pretty damn affordable. As we said, it’s a spectrum – there are heaps of holiday packages that people take which are all inclusive – 5 star hotel, private transport, no thinking, the guide takes you from the monument to the bar. It’s visit, eat, party (idk who’s doing eat, pray, love). However, if you want to backpack, you can totally do it on a tight budget and a bit of patience.

    Accommodation was usually alright, but really frustrating in Delhi. Most of the hotels and hostels have fake reviews even on booking.com, so they can actually be super terrible – we ended up spending around 2500INR (~50NZD) per night in Delhi to make sure we got a hotel that actually exists. Mumbai was also really expensive – even a dorm room was 1000INR each (~20NZD). It’s really variable per town – but on average, we spent about 1600INR per night (32NZD).

    We cooked one time during our 3 months in India. We ate out every meal we could. Food prices have a massive range – a thali is a great basic meal; dahl, rice, roti, papad, and a curry or two. Sometimes, they’re refillable! It ranges from really cheap, around 150INR for a basic one, to 400INR for a ‘special thali’ with the fancier curries. There’s lots of snacky street food to try that’s around 50INR a pop; sit down meals at local cuisine AC restaurants will be more expensive, maybe 500-1000INR per person. There is literally a menu in the AC room that has different prices to the menu in the non-AC room – but some days, you gotta. 

    Because we caught flights for really long distances, our land transport budget was pretty low on average. However, we found it pretty variable, but here are some benchmarks: 

    • Agra to Varanasi |  10 hrs | 2000INR pp | the nicest lie-flat bus we caught by a LONG way
    • Lucknow to Delhi | 8 hours | 1200INR pp | a fine lie-flat bus.
    • Jaisalmer to Agra | 15 hours | 1500INR pp | a fine lie-flat bus
    From modern monuments…
    … to ancient monolithic temples, representing Hinduism, Buddism, and Jain religions

    Cultural Quirks

    There’s a lot going on in India, but we thought to list some of the things that jumped out… and it turns out there are quite a few.

    • Rubbish – okay, we thought the rubbish culture in Bolivia was bad. Nope. You will see people from all walks of life, from wealthy to poor, throw rubbish on the streets.  This is embedded a bit in the caste system, where cleaning is seen as a ‘low caste’ activity, and comes also a bit from the general living conditions – for many people, rubbish is the least of their problems.
    • Personal space doesn’t exist! Of course, in a place with overpopulation, you know that this is bound to happen, but it’s one thing to know it in theory, and another to experience it.
    • Staring is prominent – wherever you are, wherever you walk – especially for women. Staring is not seen as impolite as it is in the west, and even if you glare back, people often won’t care to look away. A smile and wave, will get you one back or they’ll finally look away in some embarrassment, so try that!
    • Dressing appropriately goes a long way to being more comfortable. Long pants, and at least t-shirts will mean you stick out less. Or get some ethnic wear! They’re usually really comfortable and floaty.
    • Something that was pretty uncomfortable was seeing predominantly men in public, especially in Delhi. In places like Ladakh and Sikkim, this was much, much less prevalent.
    • Despite being colonised by the British, the English language is not as common as you’d think in India. Thankfully, Awal speaks Hindi, so we (he) could navigate any sticky situations
    • Don’t expect kindness, but give it out – this sounds really awful, but hierarchy in India is deeply ingrained; service people might be hesitant to engage because they’re used to being completely shat on by locals, so be patient and ask clearly. Also, there’s just a lot of scams, so it’s worth being on your guard.
    • Haggle for everything except cooked meals – I know there is a lot out there that says ‘when your currency is so strong, there’s no point haggling for a couple of dollars’, but this is seriously just the way in India. Everyone will try to charge you at least double once they realise you’re a tourist, Awal could literally hear tour agencies talking in Hindi, asking what they should charge for the ‘white people’ price. If they start at 1000INR, you should start at 200INR, especially with clothing and jewellery (literal advice we received from a local)

    Safety

    As a foreigner in India, you attract a stupid amount of attention. Although we are not white-passing, we still got lots of looks, probably because of our clothing. As with some of the ‘quirks’ above, there are a lot of things which can make you feel really uncomfortable and obvious in India, however in general, we’d say that India feels safe. There’s unwanted attention but it’s generally not malicious, and if it is, there are usually so many people around that you could yell and someone would help you out.

    The biggest thing in India is the ridiculous number of scams that people try to pull. While travelling, it’s often the most fun to go with the flow, but if someone is offering you something insistently, it’s probably good to do a quick check of all the facts that are involved. If it’s too good to be true? Probably is. We came across so many scams that we could make an entire blog post on it.

    transport

    Whereas countries in South America have extraordinary alignment between the needs of the locals and the desires of backpackers, in India it doesn’t feel the same way. The train system is well connected, but popular routes will book out weeks in advance, so it is useless for last minute planning. Additionally, the locals often jump aboard without a ticket, even in some of the higher classes, so you aren’t guaranteed a stress-free ride.

    Buses prices are generally comparable to the trains, and the quality is fairly variable. They do have lie-flat sleeper buses, which are great, but on the daytime or cheaper lines, sometimes the driver will pick up people at any random location and the bus will end up super crowded. Our advice is to pick a top bunk so nobody can sit on your bed.

    In the border regions, bus options don’t exist, but you can catch a shared jeep or taxi. You might be able to find some information online, but often you’ll have to check in with a hostel to get confirmation.

    Flying is really common and really easy in India. There are plenty of well serviced airports. If you don’t have luggage, it can end up cheaper than catching the bus, predominantly because the country is huge, and so some of the distances are ridiculous.

    Tuktuks or auto-rickshaws are the normal way to get around in cities in India; in 2025, the normal going rate was around 100Rs per 10 minutes, but you’ll need to bargain them down. Check Uber prices to get a comparative negotiating point, but don’t order an auto through Uber – you’ll still have to negotiate with the driver!

    yeeewwww we miss the food
    We miss the food so muchhhhh

    Food

    The food… there will have to be a whole post on this, but we’ll go through the basics. Most meals can be eaten at any time – there’s not a ‘set’ breakfast-lunch-dinner spread, rice and roti are for every meal.

    • Paratha – stuffed roti (basically), pick aloo (potato) or pyaz (onion), or both
    • Thali – a complete meal at any time of day, dahl, rice, roti, papad, and a curry or two
    • Curry, roti, rice – if the flavours and gravies you want aren’t in the thali, pick your own.
    • Chai – get your local tea in a tiny cup to start your day
    • Gulab Jamun is incredible, but other hand sweets like barfi had too much ghee for us.
    • Kheer and halwa… my gosh.

    There’s also big variations by region. Lucknow has rich, spicy curries and kebabs. In Rajasthan, there’s a lot more ghee, and a few different desert-specific ingredients in their curry. Kashmir’s wazwan has big, bold, mutton flavours. And up in the mountains, Nepali and Ladakhi cuisine involves momo (dumpling) and noodle soups.

    If you want a break from curry on a budget, the takeaway chinese food is pretty great – noodles are Emma’s favourite food group, so we’re always hunting them down

    A Himalayan valley… grand on a whole different scale.

    Walkies!

    Up and down the Himalayas you could spend several seasons walking. While the Andes were incredible, the Himalayas have a scale that we’d not seen there. It’s actually really difficult to perceive how tall an 8000m+ mountain is from its base, but you can get an idea from the grandeur of the places you walk through just to get that peek of the peak.

    Ladakh | high altitude hiking | dry alpine desert

    • Markha Valley Trek | 4-8 days | Starting from Spiti is an 8 day route, starting from Chilling will be 5 days, all in homestays + one night in preset tents | done
    • Phyang to Hunder Dok | 3 nights | Over a massive 5400m pass, an isolated, incredibly thrilling walk in the mountains | done
    • Rumtse to Tso Moriri | 5 or 8 nights | Take a shorter route by starting near Debring. A wild, windy track over barren highlands | missed because of bad weather, so high up on our to-do!

    Himachal Pradesh | moderate altitudes

    • Hampta Pass | 2 – 3 days | 4200m | A good introductory trek for the region | End point can link up to Pin Bhaba or Pin Parvati
    • Pin Bhaba Pass | 5 – 6 days | 4800m | Longer and beautifully varied, but less technical
    • Pin Parvati Pass |  8-12 days | 5300m | Quite technical with glacier crossings | A guide needed without experience | a real challenge!

    Uttarakhand | moderate altitudes

    • Valley of Flowers | Overnight | Pick your season correctly to get the blooms
    • Bali Pass | 4 – 8 days | 4800m max | A tougher hike in the region

    Sikkim | moderate altitudes

    • Goecha-La | 8 days | Must be done with a guide | No longer going all the way to the Goecha Pass, but still providing views of Kachenjunga – as close as you can get in India | Done with India Hikes
    • Sandakphu | 5 days | Must be done with a guide | Homestays available | Runs along the border with Nepal.

    And a final word of warning for hiking in India: leeches.

  • traveller talks: a debrief on touring colombia

    traveller talks: a debrief on touring colombia

    A place of passion, a country of colour. Colombia is terrific. It has incredible biodiversity, an eclectic mix of culture influences, wonderful people, and a tumultuous history – some of which is very, very recent. While it is very stable compared to some years back, and is pretty safe for travellers, Colombia was the place we felt the most guarded over all of South America. Yet it is also the place we felt the most wowed – the two go hand-in-hand, and you can see how the strength and motivation and pride of the people of Colombia has helped them build a gorgeous place to live, plus a substantial tourism industry.

    Our travels in Colombia took us in a big loop – from Medellín, to the coffee regions, over to Bogotá, up to do some exploring in San Gil, up to the Caribbean coast to see the coastal jungle, 

    We missed a few major hotspots, unfortunately, because they fell outside our budget (and, a little bit, our capacity for heat). We didn’t complete La Ciudad Perdida, a very famous hike in the Sierra Nevada coastal mountain range which takes you to an ancient pre-colombian ruin in the middle of the jungle. It must be walked with a guide, and the fees are pretty high as it’s in demand and on indigenous land – absolutely fair, not in our budget. Tayrona National Park was another one we missed. Supposedly, the most beautiful caribbean beaches, including Cabo San Juan, are only accessible by a hike in the jungle (or a pricey trip by boat), but the entry fee is pretty high, which means it’s only really worth it if you camp a few nights in the jungle, which was something we weren’t super keen on. To be honest, we regret it a little, we could’ve prioritised it more monetarily and got over our perpetual fear of heat and mosquitos to enjoy a little Colombian paradise.

    However, we will return! Also, because we never went further south than the coffee region – we were told point-blank by a Colombian friend that by not visiting Cali, we had not seen the real Colombia. Cali has a reputation, so we were a little to chicken to see it this time, but after the wonderful experiences we’ve had in other places, we would definitely prioritise it next time – just staying sensible at the same time.

    Keeping it
    short and sweet

    Geography

    Colombia isn’t huge, and a large portion of its area is in the Amazon basin, but the geography is super varied. The mountains carve up the mountains into three sections, so you get plenty of regions in the hot tropical zone, but you can quickly climb into cold alpine sections. It makes for a really varied land to explore!

    Climate

    Colombia has two monsoon seasons!: wet (Apr – Jun & Sep – Nov) & dry (Dec – March & July – August). However, it’s always hot on the coast, and always cool in Bogota & other high altitude places.

    cultural quirks

    Tipping! We hate tipping! But in Colombia it has become a common occurrence in a certain type of restaurant.

    costs

    It’s economical, but less so than other places in South America – being close to America and loved by ‘digital nomads’ and rich immigrants, tipping culture is big and the safe areas are often gentrified.

    safety

    Colombia has a reputation (or, lack-thereof) for safety and you can definitely feel it. Check with your hostel, stay inside at night, and stay in recommended areas in cities.

    transport

    Colombia’s bus system is not on the same level as other places in South America! We took some really uncomfortable buses (narrow, poor recline, no footrests!), and the scheduling is pretty whack – on short journeys we’d arrive a few hours early (e.g. overnight = no sleep), and a couple of times we got stuck in mad traffic and spent extra hours on already long journeys.

    food

    Food in Colombia is awesome, and there is SO MUCH CHEESE. It’s got insane fruit variety and plenty of creativity in frying items, so always get on the look out for snacks.

    walkies?

    Yes, although unfortunately not unguided 🙁 Most of the national parks can be hiked, to some extent, though some are more accessible than others.

    hotspots

    We started in Medellín, but had done some poor planning and had to return to see the flower festival, so we visited Colombia in a loop! However, we did hit most of the ‘popular’ places on a Colombia itinerary.

    medellín

    Other than the flower festival in Medellín (highly recommend if you’re there in early August), Medellín has some popular suburbs around town for exploring, and a few walkies in the valley, great nightlife and beautiful streets. The metro is great for getting around.

    Guatapé

    A day trip from Medellín but worth an overnight stay. A beautiful lakeside town, with a big-ass rock that you can climb – it’s a cool staircase up, and the views from the top are pretty swell.

    coffee region

    South of Medellín is the coffee region with plenty of cute little towns – we visited Filanda and Salento, where you’ll also be able to see the tallest palm trees in the world in Cocora Valley.

    cali

    South of the coffee region and Medellín, head to Cali, for the dancing and the nightlife and a different type of Colombian culture.

    Bogota

    Instead we travelled to Bogotá to experience a little more altitude in the capital, and to visit some museums, including Botero’s wonderful collection, and learn more about the history of Colombia

    san gil

    Adventure capital San Gil sits at the centre of a few old colonial poblados, offering some gentle hiking, swimming holes, and some high-adrenaline activities over the canyons if you’re looking for it.

    Santa Marta

    Santa Marta is a display of Carribean influence. We were there during the city’s 500th year anniversary, so there was a mini carnival and lots of partying going on!

    minca

    Minca was one of our favourite stops in Colombia. This small jungle town has been gringo-fied in the central streets, but is still remote and beautifully natural outside the centre. Walk in the jungle, find waterfalls and watering holes, enjoy the peace!

    palomino

    Then we took a turn for the worse, as Palomino was meant to be a beachfront paradise but turned out to be be less than what we wanted – the beach was rough and windy and a bit dirty, and we don’t like to party, so we didn’t take advantage of what some would think is the saving grace! Other beaches up the coast may be better.

    Cartagena

    Our final stop was Cartagena – despite low expectations after being warned it was overtourised and expensive, we adored the vibes here! It’s full of colour and we only had lovely interactions with people (probably partially luck).

    Tell me everything

    Geography

    The variation in the geography is outrageous in Colombia – from the temperate hills in the coffee region, to cold days and colder nights in the heights of Bogotá, over to an absolute sweltering tropical Carribean coast, coated in humid jungle. Not only that, but the Andes splits into two sub-ranges, the Occidental and Oriental, which makes traversing the centre of Colombia by road really windy in a lot of places.

    Even without recent events, the border with Venezuela is passable but seems a bit dodgy – we had a mate who crossed over in 2025, and he got absolutely scammed by the border police there (eventually, another border control officer got him sorted, but it sounded like a fairly awful experience). Unfortunately, Venezuela is probably not super high on the ‘to visit’ list for a lot of people at the moment.

    The crossing through to Ecuador is doable, and is part of the normal backpacking route, but there is a lot more drug and human trafficking along that border. So take more caution than normal and read a few others’ experiences to know confidently where to go and where not to go.

    Out of interest, there is no land border crossing to Panama – it is only possible to do so by boat. The region between Colombia and Panama is dense, mountainous jungle, supposedly full of guerillas and traffickers. Sufficiently dodgy!

    climate

    Colombia was the first place we’d been in South America where we felt hot… and there were a lot of mosquitos everywhere again. In the valleys, it is pretty consistently warm all year around, so it’ll take some adjusting if you’ve come from somewhere cold – we struggled, and even more so on the Carribbean coast, where it’s consistently around 30degrees. Fair warning that some of those jungle treks which are so popular will be through those same conditions – that was enough to make us second guess it.

    We were in Colombia in one of the dry seasons, spending most of July and a little of August there. However, it is tropical so there were still storms every now and again. Our interpretation is that the ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ seasons are a guide, not a rule. Expect rain all year around, though it was never for more than a couple of hours.

    Costs in 2025

    The Colombian peso operates without cents, working in the thousands (mil in Spanish). When we travelled, 1NZD = 2320 pesos.

    In Colombia the menu del día is less common in all areas, especially in more tourist-heavy locations where restaurants focus on local specialties. The ‘normal’ local restaurants need to be sought out, and it seemed like the cheapest menu del día would be around 20K peso pp. 

    For a really cheap lunch or breakfast, we would usually go to a panadería (bakery), and pick up a few fried snacks, around 10K peso pp. 

    We probably averaged a sit-down meal once a day to try a local dish, and we cooked for other meals. Even so, on average, we spent more on food in Colombia than anywhere else in South America.

    Transport cost was quite variable. We took two 12 hour overnight buses, one cost 50NZD pp, the other 80NZD pp. And the 5 hour bus from Medellín to Salento was 35NZD pp (and a really terrible bus).

    Private rooms in basic homestays and hostels cost us between 50k – 100k pesos depending on location; our average was 80k per night.

    Sweating at the football game.
    Bandeja Paisa – a feast!

    Cultural Quirks

    Unfortunately, the American tipping culture has made its way here. In restaurants it’s expected to tip 10%. In traditional establishments, the menu del día type, it seems less common – it’s predominantly the gentrified and touristed areas have picked up the habit. Honestly, we hate this so much, it’s so annoying to have to add on the extra cash when it could just be built into the cost. 

    There is a lot more English in Colombia than other places in South America, as there is a lot more tourism from the US, but it’s still important and helpful to know basic Spanish.

    Safety

    As we said, we felt substantially more uncomfortable in Colombia than we did in the rest of South America. Hostel and hotel staff consistently told us not to walk around after dark, and to take a taxi, even in suburbs that we felt should be quite safe at all times. It is just safer to trust the locals, though on a couple of occasions we did walk home – it just feels like such a waste to catch a cab for 5 minutes.

    During the day, it is safe to walk around in most tourist places; of course, keep your wits about you, and if someone tries to mug you, just give them your stuff… it’s not worth any injury and certainly not your life, and that’s why you get your insurance sorted (DO NOT TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE, WALKERS). 

    We felt the most uncomfortable in Santa Marta – it’s a bigger city, and we were there during the 500th anniversary celebrations, so it was constantly busy. However, there were a huge number of buskers, hustlers, beggars, and generally people peddling stuff in a way that sometimes felt too insistent. One guy followed us down the street seemingly friendly, before try out the baby formula scam – it’s just frustrating!

    transport

    We travelled by bus, which is, as always, the cheapest way to get around. In saying that, flight prices aren’t as outrageous as in other South American countries – Cartagena and Medellin both have well serviced airports, being popular destinations from the USA, and of course Bogota is the capital, and is also well connected. Some routes are better than others – the best company was Berlinas del Fonce

    Although buses are the cheapest way to get around, the pricing model was unpredictable. Different routes with similar distances & times can be wildly variable. We got scammed in person once (double charge babyyyyy – we should’ve known we were getting hussled), but aside from that, we saw the differences in the online Redbus prices, which was quite odd. If you’re tight on the budget, it is probably worth doing a bit more research in advance to find the most economical route, as it may not be what you expect.

    Flowers!
    More flowers!

    Food

    Ahhh Colombianos know how to eat! Almost all the snacks are fried, meals are big and hearty, and the fruit is gorg.

    • Arepas con queso – corn meal and cheese snack. The best version is the one with the cheese melted in the middle, though I’m not sure on the terminology because sometimes a bit of cheese is just slapped on top.
    • Buñuelos are super spherical deep fried balls of the most incredible dough. Get them with arequipe (dulce de leche), chocolate or cheese.
    • Snack on empanadas or papa rellenas Colombian-style – deep fried.
    • Bandeja Paisa is the trophy winner plate. Fried pork belly, mince, sausage, egg, beans, plantain, avocado, one full as puku.
    • Search out Patacones in the hot regions – unripe plantain fried with toppings. So YUMMY.
    • Try Ajiaco in Bogota or around the mountains – it’s a warming soup classic to the mountainous regions.
    • Chocolate con queso – hot chocolate with a slice of cheese on the side. Gotta do it.
    • Coffee in Colombia is actually quite terrible, despite it being a coffee growing country – but of course, all of the good stuff gets exported.
    • Try mangosteen and rambutan if you haven’t been to Asia, and of course the mangoes are heavenly.
    From the rock – Guatapé

    Walkies!

    There are options, but the information is not always clear, it changes often, and generally cannot be done unguided. Almost every national park requires you to be guided, which is actually quite expensive, and you cannot stay overnight in a number of them. It seems to be a combination of factors: there’s no search and rescue, it’s not a popular local activity, and safety as there is still guerilla presence in some parks. And, of course, to increase the monetary output of tourism… Nevertheless, here are a few options that we found, but mostly uncompleted due to the guide situation.

    • From Medellin, there are day hiking areas to the north – Parque Arvi has lots of tracks, or try Cerro Quitasol.
    • Los Nevados National Park connects up to the trails from Cocora Valley. We completed a 3 day hike unguided, staying in homestays in the mountains, although we did leave early to avoid any awkward questions at the entrance. We’ll put details in a different post, but start from Salento for the easy options, and consider a guided hike from Manizales for a traverse of the range.
    • In the areas around San Gil you can complete the Camino Real, an old path which connected several colonial towns. We only walked a day hike, but it can be done over three days, staying in homestays.
    • El Cocuy National Park – there was once a 3 day hike through this park and it looks beautiful! Since COVID, you cannot camp in the park, and to complete dayhikes you must take a guide. It ended up well out of budget from the reviews we found. El Cocuy town is the place to book your excursion. Unsure if this compulsory-guide-situation may change, so it’s worth checking if you’re keen to walk.
    • Minca has plenty of day-walk options. For many of them, you can catch a moto part or all of the way, but the roads are very walkable and you’ll still see wildlife (saw howler monkeys one day, and there’s lots of birdlife, especially in the mornings). Marinka waterfall was one of our faves; there’s lots of spots along the river you can bathe in; or you can overnight at Moncho Hostal to see the sunrise at Cerro Kennedy
    • As mentioned, there is hiking in Tayrona, though the fee is a bit extortionate. It’s probably worth it if you’re planning on spending a few days in the jungle, but hiking in 30 degrees with a full pack sounds rough.
    • And of course, Colombia’s biggest walking drawcard, the 4 day lost city trek, La Ciudad Perdida.
  • Traveller Talks: A Debrief on touring peru

    Traveller Talks: A Debrief on touring peru

    The famous lands of the Incas have captivated travellers of all backgrounds, but it’s a country that’s greater than its history of empire, and that has so much to offer other than Machu Picchu. 

    Visiting in June 2025 marked our second time in Peru – with Machu Picchu done and dusted in 2022, this time we decided to excuse ourselves from revisiting the ancient ruins (and the massive detour that Cusco presents), instead focusing a neat line up the coast, inland to Huaraz’s mountains, then back to Lima. There were some key things that drew us back to Peru – aside from it being the next obvious step in our journey through South America. The most prominent of those was the Huayhuash, an 8-day trek around a sub-range of the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz. We’d heard wonderful things about the trek in the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. And last time, we’d only spent a couple of hours in Lima while transiting buses, so we wanted to experience some of the cuisine that Peru’s capital boasts.

    Our first piece of advice to someone visiting Peru is: do not underestimate how long and how mountainous this country is. The first time we visited in 2022, we learned this the hard way. Having entered Peru at its northernmost point from Ecuador by road (the worst border crossing we’ve ever done, to date) and with a mere 2.5 weeks to explore, we picked a few key locations to hit – Huaraz for the mountains, Cusco for Incan history and Arequipa for the canyon and colonial beauty. While that doesn’t feel like an unreasonable amount of time for only three places, starting at the northernmost part of Peru added in two days of bus travel – and choosing to bus from Huaraz to Cusco (via Lima) is also nearly a two day journey. Don’t underestimate Peru!

    Even without the allure of trekking to ancient ruins, Peru has some of the most incredible walking in the world. There are uncountable unreal vistas around Huaraz and through the Cordillera Blanca, with an offering of both day walks and multidayers. Although Machu Picchu is the main attraction in Cusco, the walking in the Andes of that region makes a definite mark, too.

    Keeping it
    short and sweet

    Geography

    The geography is crazy; don’t underestimate how long this country is and don’t rush. Across the country, Peru has coastal surfing, massive dunes, incredibly high mountains and also dips into the Amazon basin – really a bit of everything, and the activity variety to match.

    Climate

    Peru only has two seasons: a wet summer (nov – mar) & a dry winter (may – aug)

    cultural quirks

    You’ll see plenty of trash on the roadside, people throwing it out of bus windows, though it’s not as pervasive. Basic Spanish goes a long way, even though there’s a bit of English spoken.

    costs

    It’s economical, but not incredibly so – tourism booms in Cusco, but the effect is felt throughout the country and gringo and immigrant prices will catch you all around the country. On a backpacker budget, you won’t be eating out every meal, and you may have to skip some activities. Guided hikes are pricey.

    safety

    We felt Peru was quite safe where we visited and stayed. However, Lima has a reputation for violence in many suburbs. Keep your street smarts on and always check in with your hostel for their recommendations.

    transport

    Peru’s bus system is very good, reliable and safe – though the quality of the buses does vary (the 2-1 seat layout is far more comfortable than the 2-2 for overnight rides). Flights between Lima and Cusco are regular, but not cheap.

    food

    Food in Peru is varied over the regions, and it probably has the most interesting cuisine across all of South America due to more international influence. Fruits are also plentiful and delicious.

    walkies?

    Hell yes, both around Huaraz and around Cusco. Going without a guide can be tough work with the altitudes involved; get fit, get acclimatised, and be prepared for some serious cold.

    hotspots

    Machu picchu

    While it was easily sorted only a few days in advance in 2022, in 2025 Machu Picchu sounded like a shitshow – be prepared to drop some serious cash and book well in advance.

    the amazon

    Take a multi-day river adventure to arrive in Iquitos, then explore the Amazon. Or head to Puerto Maldonaldo for a good chance to see Giant Otters.

    The capital

    Get gastronomical and learn of Peru’s complex history in Lima. Take your pick of museums, ancient sites, or modern parks.

    Arequipa

    Explore Arequipa to see more of how colonial architecture is preserved in Peru, visit the Colca Canyon, and summit a mountain while you’re at it!

    Northern Beaches

    Try your hand at surfing or get partying in the northern coast, like Mancora, if you’re visiting in summer.

    Huaraz

    For some world-class hiking and mountaineering, or just to get some clear air, head to Huaraz

    Nazca

    If your budget allows, take a plane tour over the Nazca Lines and admire the work of the ancients (aliens?!?!)

    Huacachina

    Check out Huacachina, near Ica, for an oasis town and some massive sand dunes – a place for a little bit of adventure by sandboarding or hire an ATV.

    paracas

    While the town-side beaches won’t amaze you, visiting the ‘Poor Man’s Galapagos’, the Ballestas Islands, is a great way to spot some marine wildlife.

    Tell me everything

    Geography

    You could pass months in Peru feeling like you’re moving into different worlds. Hit the beach one day, climb a 6000m peak the next, hop on a slow boat to cruise along to the Amazon basin as the recovery. Hence, prepare for crazy bus rides, both in length and road quality. Pack clothes for all temperatures; it’s cold at altitude but you’ll melt in the rainforest no matter the time of year.

    The border from Bolivia was a breeze to cross – Bolivia and Peru have good relations.

    We crossed over from Ecuador in 2022, it was unbelievably awful. We can’t offer updated information, but we’re a little traumatised.

    We also crossed into Chile in 2022, which was pretty smooth – we got in a collectivo to head there from Tacna, arrived before the gate opened – and there was already a line. So it seemed like it’s best to try to get over there first thing in the morning. Best to check a more recent experience.

    It’s also possible to cross into Colombia via boat from Iquitos, at the port of Leticia. It’s a real adventure, and we were considering doing this, but ended up prioritising time elsewhere.

    climate

    Being coastal and inland, there is definite variety in the ways the ‘dry’ winters (May-Oct) and the ‘wet’ summers (Nov – Apr) present themselves. On the coast, there’s a definite temperature difference across the two seasons, and the dry winters tend to be foggier (hence, ‘Lima the grey’). The temperature is more stable in the mountains, only varying by a few degrees between the two, and in the rainforest, the humidity will knock your socks off.

    In addition to all temperatures with the different geographical regions, prepare for all levels of precipitation. Even if you’re travelling in the dry season, there’s always a chance of rain; it’s not a drought season.

    Costs in 2025

    The Peruvian Sol is one of the most stable currencies in Latin America, despite political instabilities. It is also one of the strongest, making Peru a more expensive country to travel. When we were there, 2 sol = $1 nzd approx

    In 2025, a menu del dia cost 8 – 15 sol depending on your region (4NZD – 8NZD); we tended to eat out once or twice a day, and cooked for the other meals. It was economical, but not incredibly so; you might need to shop around for the best price.

    Transport is generally good quality and so a little pricey. An 8 hour bus cost about 100 sol per person (50NZD),

    Private rooms in basic homestays and hostels cost us between 50 – 100 sol depending on location (e.g. Huaraz vs. Lima)

    A Picanteria meal.
    Chicharron!

    Cultural Quirks

    Rubbish is in a lot of places, and the locals aren’t concerned about it – while it’s not the worst place in the world, you’ll likely see your share of people dumping rubbish in the gutters, out of bus windows, and along highways, especially in the desert, it just blows all about the place. If you’ve been to Bolivia first it won’t be a surprise, but it’s certainly a difference if you’ve come from the West!

    Despite being very popular with tourists, there is not a lot of English spoken throughout Peru. It is well worth brushing up on your basic Spanish to get the best experience.

    Safety

    We felt safe in all of the places we visited in Peru. While there is some instability in the region, tourists are generally not the targets in most cases. 

    Lima has neighbourhoods that are very unsafe, as do all cities so large, although if you are a tourist there is no reason for you to go out in those directions. The centro historico is more unsafe & scammer heavy than immigrant-dense suburbs like Miraflores and San Isidro.

    Cusco has a growing reputation for unsafety, partially due to gang violence and partially due to overtourism creating local dissatisfaction. When we visited in 2022, we felt no insecurity, but check recent updates – protests are regular, and there is increasing discontent which commonly affects holidayers.

    transport

    The bus network is excellent in Peru. Some people swear by PeruHop as a method to get around, but using an app like busbud or redbus is cheaper and is still easy to use. Booking directly via WhatsApp or in person should be a little cheaper because they avoid commission.

    Note that the journey from Lima to Cusco takes around 20 hours by bus; it’s a big journey inland, which is why many people will fly. For the remainder of the main tourist route, there are plenty of stops up and down the coast which should max out your journey at 12 hours.

    Views from the National Park near Paracas.
    The coastline in Lima.

    Food

    Food in the south moves more around picanteria culture, which is an experience we love. On the coast, ceviche thrives, and the fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine is super popular. In the mountains, potato, quinoa and maize rule – a carb-heavy diet is what sustains you at altitude. Lima is a place for gastronomical tourism, with two restaurants in the top 10 of the world (mad), but also incredible food in markets and from street vendors.

    • Like much of Latin America, the menu del dia is a lunch staple and the easiest way to get an economical meal. Expect a soup and a main, and maybe a dessert or drink. 
    • Also head to local markets at breakfast and lunch for economical, fresh and local meals. Just be prepared for all the aunties to yell you over to their stores! To be honest, it’s a hilarious and really fun experience.
    • Chifa is the Peruvian interpretation of Chinese food – a bit of fusion, and a great way to get a cheap meal or a big fancy one – family style.
    • Japanese influence is also seen in Nikkei restaurants, which are particularly popular in Lima. Be prepared to part with a pretty penny, though!
    • In the highlands and parts of the south, you will also find picanterias, which we highly recommend; traditional Peruvian food in relaxed, family-friendly locations.
    • A few other dishes to try include: chicharron in a sandwich (breakfast), ceviche (as long as you’re by the sea! Don’t eat it if it’s not fresh) and llama or guinea pig (cuy) as part of a meal.
    Laughs on the Huayhuash!

    Walkies!

    There are two key hiking hotspots in Peru: Huaraz and Lima. Both offer tough, high altitude Walkies bound to leave you awestruck. The following list isn’t exhaustive, but should give you an idea!

    Huaraz (full post coming):

    • Huayhuash | 5 or 7 nights
    • Santa Cruz | 3 nights
    • Paso del Zorro | 1 night
    • Day hikes | Laguna Churup | Laguna 69 | Laguna Paron |

    Cusco:

    • Inca Trail | 3 nights | guide compulsory | ending at Machu Picchu
    • Salkantay Trek | 4 nights | ending at Machu Picchu
    • Lares Trek | 1 night
    • Day hikes | Rainbow Mountain

    Near Arequipa, try something more relaxing with the Colca Canyon (1-3 nights), or for something less relaxing, summit the nearby Misti mountain (guide required, 1-2 nights)

  • Travelling to Bolivia 2025/2026: Everything you need to know!

    Travelling to Bolivia 2025/2026: Everything you need to know!

    Bolivia is a seriously underrated destination. We were just planning on ‘passing through’ and ended up spending 2 months there. It is filled with an incredibly special culture, marked by a strong blend between pre-Hispanic indigenous groups and Spanish, catholic influence. Pachamama is as important, as figures from the bible; pagan rituals are as impactful as Sunday mass. The mountains and the jungle are sacred in many areas, with tribes continuing on with their traditional rites. Communities maintain strong bonds, celebrations are common, and the people are so varied – from the altitudes of the altiplano to the heat of the jungle plains, ways of life change immensely. It’s a country that has so much to offer, but that is best explored with time and plenty of patience.

    Many travellers don’t dedicate a lot of time to Bolivia – they’re in and out with a few key sights – Salar de Uyuni, Death Road, La Paz’s night life and teleferico, maybe a quick stop at Copacabana and Isla del Sol on the way to Peru. But there is so much to see in Bolivia, with some truly awe-inspiring mountains, so many quirky cities, a really pleasant climate (god, we miss the cold), and an incredible culture.

    We’ve read some blogs that interpret Bolivianos as colder, less welcoming than other South American countries. We think that this is a miscommunication. Across the board, our feeling is that Spanish is a language of love, of welcome, of hospitality. But so often our sense of warmth is linked to a feeling of hospitality, and that can really be a Western Thing – experiences in the traditional settings of cafes and hostels and restaurants. But Bolivia is far from the Western World – and more so than its neighbors. It receives less tourism, and it’s less influenced by international parties. Its indigenous roots have more of a say in the overall country of the culture. It’s different. And a western mindset is different to the people – maybe it makes them uncomfortable, maybe it makes them shy. Understanding that and being open to that is important to making yourself recognize the hospitality in Bolivia. Making all efforts to speak Spanish – visiting local markets with real local people – being respectful of people’s dress and culture – there are a myriad of ways to engage in a scenario where you are speaking to a local as an equal – rather than as a foreigner.

    Hands down, the kindness, smiles and hospitality we received in Bolivia was second to none when compared to the other beautiful south american countries we visited.  

    Click here to take you to short and sweet that summarizes this blog post

    Tell Me Everything

    Altitude & Coca Leaf

    One thing that can really mess up your time in Bolivia is the altitude. If you are coming by land via Brasil or Argentina, you should be travelling a route that ascends gradually – this is perfect for acclimatizing. If you come through Peru, Copacabana and Lago Titicaca are high, but if you’ve already been to Cusco or Huaraz, you should be somewhat acclimatized. If you travel across the desert from Chile – well, that’s a high altitude journey in its own right, so take care. And if you’re flying directly into La Paz, don’t forget that you’ll be resting in the world’s highest capital city. Seriously – altitude sickness feels shit, can ruin your trip plans, and, worst case, genuinely cause fatalities – so don’t go messing around when you first arrive! Our advise is to take 2-3 days walking around the city, drink lots of water and eat alot during the day. Your body will be working on overtime as there is less oxygen in the air so you need to fuel it properly. Dont try walk superfast up the hills, listen to your body and try keep your heart rate in zone 2.

    Coca leaves are the Bolivianos’ answer to the altitude. Coca tea, coca leaf for chewing, coca lollies – all are widely available and are touted to be an excellent way to stave off altitude sickness. While we’re not sure at the effectively against altitude sickness, there is no doubt that coca leaves have a real impact on your system, and it’s a huge part of the local culture (there is even a specific coca museum in La Paz!). Purified cocaine is made in a pretty complex process from the plant, but the leaves themselves have only a small amount. Consuming coca leaf is similar to drinking coffee – it helps you focus, keeps you more awake, leaves you on a little buzz. It also tastes fantastic! It’s easy to spot locals munching on leaves – the normal thing to do is to shove leaves into your mouth (don’t chew them too much), until you have a little ball in the side of your check – 10-20 leaves should do the trick. Then you just… leave them there, letting the coca-juices mix in with your saliva and slowly make its way into your system. Don’t swallow the leaves!

    Pro tip from Awal: If you’re feeling a bit tired on a hike, put some coca leaves in your mouth and watch the magic happen. I dont know if this was placebo but i was boosting up the hill for several hours.

    The Blue Dollar

    Up until at least August 2025 (as of writing), Bolivia’s economy is a bit… fucked. In the same way that Argentina had the Blue Dollar rate for many years (the ‘tourist rate’), Bolivia now faces the same situation. Today, the Bolivian dollar is officially valued at 7Bs per USD – but to someone in Bolivia, the dollar is actually for 13.5Bs. Why? Some weird economic thing, where the trust in the Boliviano currency is so low, the locals tie it instead to a cryptocurrency. Awal can explain… 

    But while this is rough for locals, who are constantly seeking USD to exchange, it means that as a tourist – you have a real advantage. Bringing in physical USD (or euros – there is also a Blue Rate) will mean you can exchange your cash at any casa de cambio and more than double the official value of your money. Official exchange houses may display the official dollar – but if you enter and ask, they will give you the blue dollar rate. There are plenty of people exchanging cash on the roadside too. This makes travel in Bolivia at this time incredibly cost effective. Double your money – half the cost of everything. This is a major reason we could spend so much time in Bolivia; we could do so much, for sure good value.

    Its important to recognize that although this is incredibly advantageous to yourself, locals do not feel the same way. Its important to remain respectful towards locals, especially with regards to comments made. Saying things like ‘omg thats so cheap’ is incredibly disrespectful when general locals are really struggling to make ends meet and can only earn in BOL. This topic is the top of every locals mind and once you get to chatting to a couple of locals, the topic will come up.

    A scenario to explain how this is impacting the locals is to use your hostel for example. Booking.com will take a cut from the booking made, the price advertised on booking.com will likely be bolivianos, even if it is advertised in USD, the hostel will use a conversion close to the official exchange rate, something like 7-9bol max. This means that when they pay their commission to booking.com, they will pay in USD, which they can only exchange at a rate of 7bol, when compared to the 14bol you exchanged for. YES, this is an unrealized loss, but the feeling of ‘missing out’ when you’re trying to run a business is a tough one!

    Accommodation:

    Your best bet for booking accomodation is to message the hostel directly on whatsapp and locking in a price in Bol. The last thing you want to do is book on a platform like booking.com, show up and have a disagreement on the exchange rate used. You will definitely feel like you are getting ripped off even if the hostel is using a slightly higher rate than the official rate as their standard practice.

    In our experience, booking through what’s app gets you a better price anyway as there isn’t a 10% commission added on top, with regards to these booking apps.

    Safety

    We found Bolivia overall to be incredibly safe. People were welcoming or shy and very rarely did we feel watched. Homelessness and substance addiction wasn’t prevalent in the places we stayed or explored, even though it was readily available. Obviously, this is our personal experience – the political climate can change drastically over the months and years. And we travel as a couple – which generally makes a lot easier, we know. But truly, the most concerning thing in Bolivia is the number of stray, feral dogs. The dogs around towns and on the surrounding hiking tracks can be a major issue – having a few rocks in your pocket (or a pair of hiking poles) is the best deterrent, as unfortunately they seem to only respond to aggression.

    Climate

    The altiplano holds the major part of Bolivia’s main attractions, and many more besides, High altitude means freezing nights, cold days (even with sun), and a much higher chance of sunburn. Lots of layers and good sun protection is important. Don’t expect to walk about in your shorts and jandals – your gringo ass will stick out like nothing else.

    While still on the altiplano, towns like Sucre and Cochabamba are in valleys at far more reasonable altitudes – and to match, there is more mild weather.

    Bolivia also stretches out to the east into the plains towards Brasil, and north into the Amazon. These regions are hot, humid and full of biting things. 

    Being near to the tropics, Bolivia experiences a pretty mild temperature change between summer (Dec – Feb) and winter (Jun – Aug), but the more distinct difference is the amount of rainfall. The summers are wet and the winters are dry. The shoulder seasons are the best for the Salar – getting a combination of wet and dry across the desert gives you the best of both worlds (although – when it is completely full of water, it is a real spectacle). The dry season is the best for hiking, and although it will be a little colder it’s always tit-freezing cold on the mountains, so it’s no big deal.

    Getting Around

    Bolivian bus terminals are an experience. There is no quiet terminal; upon entry you’ll be assaulted with the cries of sellers and their wares – namely, the titles of cities that companies run to, at full volume. This can make it easy to find the company you need, but always check around the terminal (or on an App like busbud, although it may not have all the optional) for the closest leaving time – and to check you aren’t getting a cheeky tourist tax throw on top. Because of the Blue Dollar, we definitely recommend buying tickets in person or via WhatsApp rather than reserving and paying online. All Bolivian terminals also have a fee associated with them, so you’ll have to pay a few BOL as you leave the terminal. This also means that the bus will stop a minute outside the terminal to pick up locals who don’t want to pay the tax – fair warning to take scheduling in Bolivia with a grain of salt.

    Overall, buses are the way  to go in Bolivia. Flying around is always an option, but it’s pricey, and the bus system is great. Even the bus we took to Rurrenabaque (often travellers’ ‘worst bus experience in South America’) was reasonably comfortable, although it was delayed a few hours due to awful roads. The buses consistently have fold out leg rests, even if they’re older, which makes a huge difference to comfort. Most of them don’t have seat belts… but that’s just the culture. We met one traveller at the terminal in Potosi who said he will only go on a bus with seatbelts, I think the brother is still looking for that bus!

    We’ve heard that there can be blockades which can really mess with your travel plans, usually in major cities like Cochabamba and La Paz. We didn’t experience this at all, but that’s pure luck. Keep up to date through your hostel.

    If you’re planning to drive through Bolivia yourself – fair warning that the fuel situation in Bolivia is complex and rather dire. The supply of gasoline is inconsistent and seriously inhibits foreigners, both in terms of price and availability. The locals will get served first and only if there is more to go around, foreigners will get fuel at an inflated price.

    Taxis are a fine way to get around in Bolivia. Uber isn’t really a thing, but with the Blue Dollar again – taxis are fine and economical. Just check with your hostel or a friendly local what the price should be, and try name your price rather than letting the driver do so. Never ask ‘how much?’, always say the price and then stick to it. Because youre a tourist, you will likely pay 10-20% more – if you are good at haggling – so just take it.

    Food

    Bolivian cuisine may not be the most inspired – but there are some gems out there to be found. 

    If you’re on that shoestring budget, finding a menu del día is key – ask your hostel for the economical options in town (we learned not to use the word ‘cheap’ – it doesn’t have the same connotations in spanish), or spend some time wandering the streets. Google Maps will often not show you what you want! They’re also rarer in the night, it’s more commonly a lunchtime offer.

    If you want to cook (although, it’s often just as economical to eat a menu del día), the quality of produce is excellent, and the markets in Bolivia are so so fun. We’d definitely recommend picking up produce and staying in a hostel with a good kitchen for at least a couple of nights, to make the most of all the amazing fruits and veges to eat.

    We’ve got a few core memories of Bolivian foods: namely, Saltenas, Bolivia’s greatest gift to the world. Saltenas are a Bolivian creation; while the name alludes to the Argentine city of Salta, the story goes that the creator moved from Salta to Bolivia, and the idea was first birthed in Bolivia itself. I don’t think there’s much of a contest from Argentina for the rights to a Saltena (they seem to prefer their empanadas), but my god – a Saltena takes the crown on all stuffed pastries. The filling is sweet, spicy and liquidy – the act of eating a saltena successfully is honestly an art, and if you’re not careful you’ll lose all the tasty juice and burn your hands while you’re at it. The pastry is short, not puffy, but also a little sweet, and pleated like a dumpling or curry puff to make a cute wee package. 

    Other outstanding foods that come to mind include papa rellenas (stuffed, deep-fried mashed balls), charqukan (a dried meat typical of the altiplano, served with mote and chuno), and anticuchos (pieces of heart skewered and cooked over a grills). Both papa rellenas and anticuchos can be found in Peru, although the style is slightly different. 

    Soups are another staple of Bolivian food culture. With your menu del dia you’ll receive some soup to start, most often with pasta (fideos) or quinoa. However, our personal favourite is Chairo, which is a rich beef stew. 

    Another major, major prevalence in Bolivia – potatoes. There are so many different varieties of potato in the region. We think that the most curious one is ‘chuno’, which is a potato that’s dried to last multiple seasons. They must be rehydrated for hours before they can be eaten, and this results in a really curious texture but a lovely flavour. They’re also black – which is kind of wild.

    I wouldn’t say that we’re connoisseurs of fried chicken, but I think we’re pretty close – and the quality of the dirty bird in Bolivia is OUTSTANDING! Whether youre buying it from the side of the road, from a chinese restaurant or a chicken shop, Awal will be the first to tell you that Bolivia has consistently the best fried chicken in the world. It’s consistently fresh, crispy and never too oily. Chicken shops are everywhere, and our favourite thing about it was something we’ve affectionately named ‘the holy trinity’ – with your chicken, you’ll receive fried rice, some noodles (well, pasta), and fries. It’s a meal that’s cheap, massive, delicious and an absolute recipe for gaining some weight. 

    The last point on the food list is an honorable mention; not Bolivian cuisine. We spent two weeks in Sucre, and so got to know it’s cafe scene pretty well… and we’ll never forget SOMOS, a cafe near Parque Simon Bolivar which served excellent coffee and the most exquisite cinnamon rolls – as i said, not a Bolivian staple, but a pastry that i will dream about my whole life. Don’t miss it if you’re there!

    Availability of International Goods

    Because Bolivia had no port and a fraught relationship with the USA, many international brands simply cannot be found in Bolivia; or if you can find them, they’re hellishly expensive. Expect to live without a few of the classic haunts, and don’t plan to do any branded shopping in Bolivia.

    Navigating While Hiking

    Tracks are not well defined in Bolivia – trail management is not a thing. This is an iconic part of the Bolivian trail experience, but don’t let that put you off. A bit of bush bashing or back-tracking never did anyone any harm! Mostly…

    We also found that (at least in the altiplano), the ‘tracks’ that we walked tended to be near mountainous settlements. People live traditional lives all over the place in Bolivia, so you’ll never be far from a random homestead… or a misleading cattle track. Our best advice is to check your GPS regularly, and trust your trailfinding instincts a little less than usual – cattle, sheep, goats, llamas – they’re all out there walking tracks that will not take you where you’re planning!

    Rubbish

    It’s not the worst place in the world, but Bolivia, like many places in South America, does have a considerable amount of rubbish that piles up around the place. While there are often signs which state ‘no botar basura’, it is not followed or punished. There isn’t the culture in the local populace to maintain the environment trash-free.There’s not much that can be done, so fair warning.

    Keep it Short and Sweet

    • The altitude is no joke – take it slow and always listen to your body.
    • Make sure you know if the Blue Dollar is operating when you leave; bring in physical cash accordingly. Check our budget post for an ideal of how much you might need.
    • Always make your own assessments and read the latest political news, but in our opinion, Bolivia is a safe place to travel.
    • Take clothes for all seasons – but mostly for the cold! The altiplano is frigid att night.
    • You could travel by plane, but the bus system in Bolivia is great and works fine.
    • The local food can be tasty! It’s generally not full of flavours – spices are lacking! – but they do the basics well and there’s definitely stuff to appreciate. If you’re vegetarian, it’s a little difficult…
    • Hiking is amazing in Bolivia, there are so many mountains and gorgeous views. However, the tracks are not necessarily easy to follow, and we didn’t come across any trails where you actually completely avoid people – there are people living all in the mountains.

  • Patagonia Travel Costs and Itinerary: What You Need to Know

    Patagonia Travel Costs and Itinerary: What You Need to Know

    Logistically, this part of our journey was not well planned. As Worldwide Walkies, you can guess why we were in Chile in the first place – for Patagonia, and its wealth of trekking destinations. We wanted to do the whole honky – south as south goes, the big treks with big names, and anything we could fit in between. We knew it would be expensive – but just how expensive? We didn’t get to that level of detail, and we ended up with a number of shocks to our system (and the budget spreadsheet)!

    You can definitely complete Patagonia on the cheap, don’t get us wrong. There are always options to cook in your hostel, to avoid the expensive tours, or to walk everywhere you conceivably can. However, there are three things which really contribute to a full ‘Patagonia Tour’ being very expensive, despite being in countries which are traditionally considered cheap.

    Distances, Weather and Isolation

    The Patagonia region is nearly 2 million km^2 of the world’s southernmost countries. Most of the places that offer the best hiking (and therefore receive all the tourism) are along the spine of the Andes, which are a substantial roadblock in any easy travel. The western side is peppered with fjords and mountains that are beautiful but basically uninhabitable. Most of the civilisation on the Chilean side lies along a single, dead-end road which traverses 1240km of Chilean Patagonia from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins. This is the Carretera Austral. There are a few crossover points from the Carretera Austral into Argentina, but it is an extremely isolated route – and half of it isn’t even paved!

    The eastern side of the Andes slowly flattens out into an arid plain that alpine grass and nothing else grows on. Roads (and ferries) do connect the southernmost point of Argentinian Patagonia to the northernmost, but the next consideration is the weather. Ruta 40 runs adjacent to the Andes and connects up the popular tourist towns of El Calafate and Bariloche, but the road is not passable in the winter, and can be questionable in the shoulder seasons. For the perspective of our kiwi readers: Stewart Island ends at about halfway down the Carretera Austral, and it’s another 900km South to Puerto Williams. That’s pretty far south.

    So we have – towns that are connected by one road; roads that close in the wintertime; sub-Antarctic weather patterns all year around – which all in all, smells like true isolation. That’s part of the beauty of Patagonia – a real sense of being far, far away from anything else. Sure, there is still normal infrastructure in the towns, but just out of them, you can get a sense for how wild the countryside really is. That beauty just comes at a cost – and the costs are your groceries, which can be up to double the price that you’ll find in the northern regions of both Chile & Argentina.

    National Park and Camping Fees

    In Aotearoa, you pay for huts and the occasional campsite – and nothing else. Paying to enter a national park is a concept that was entirely foreign to us, although we have since heard it is common in many parts of the world. It seems like every National Park across Chile & Argentina have fees to enter, ranging from 10USD to 50USD – and it varies to pay by entry, and to pay by day. What really caught us out is that the fees in Argentina were introduced at the start of the 2024-2025 summer season and without warning – so just before we started travelling, but well after we’d done all of our research. For this very reason, we did not visit Tierra del Fuego National Park in Ushuaia.

    Camping in Patagonia is also not always cheap. We paid, at maximum, 40USD per night per person in the O-Circuit in Chile – sure, this was in a campground with running water and hot showers, which was a pleasant surprise, but still a hell of a price to sleep in your own tent! In Los Glaciares in Argentina, campgrounds wanted to charge 15USD per night plus $45USD per day to enter, with the absolute bare minimum of facilities (long drop & no campers shelter). It seems crazy to us that we could be so self-sufficient and still be charged so much money!

    The Cheap Countries are No Longer Cheap

    Chile’s economy has been stable and strong for some time, so prices steadily increase over time as tourism and infrastructure develop. To be honest, the work of CONAF in a place like Torres del Paine felt genuine and really positive; despite the heinous amounts of tourists, we thought that the rangers were honest hard-workers who care about the diversity and conservation efforts in the park.

    The major spanner in the works is Argentina. In 2022, people were travelling to Argentina and living like Kings and Queens. Argentina was renowned for its “Blue Dollar Rate” – an unofficial exchange rate (although, sanctioned by Western Union) of USD into ARG which could (at one point) double your pretty money. In 2024, inflation was 200% – the stability of the dollar compared to the chaos of the peso drove the blue dollar rate. However, the more recent political party has stabilised the inflating economy, which has resulted in the Blue Dollar Rate closing into the official rate – using Western Union still gives a better rate than the official, but only by about 10%. It also means that the cost of goods has increased dramatically, all over Argentina but felt even more strongly in Patagonia, where as above, distance and isolation further drives up the costs of goods. Talking to Argentinians living in Patagonia was rough – the wages of the local people haven’t increased with the record inflation, so the cost of living for the locals is sky-high.

    Tell me everything:

    What we did:

    As per our previous blog posts, before descending into Patagonia we thought we would take a break and enjoy the north of Chile. This meant we’d been through Santiago de Chile, Pucon, Valdivia, visited Chiloe before flying out of Puerto Montt. If we hadn’t had the O-Circuit booked in our third week of travel, or maybe if we’d just thought a little harder, we would’ve decided to do a more efficient South > North route (or vice versa). 

    Our route, briefly, was as so – including the key trekking points:

    Puerto Montt > Puerto Natales (plane) – Torres del Paine NP & the O-Circuit

    Puerto Natales > Punta Arenas (bus)

    Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (plane) – the Dientes de Navarino

    Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry) – Tierra del Fuego NP & other hiking in the surrounds

    Ushuaia > El Calafate (plane) – Perito Moreno Glacier in theory, but it was too expensive for us

    El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return) – Los Glaciares NP

    El Chalten > Bariloche (plane) – Nahuel Huapei NP & other hiking in surrounds

    Bariloche > Puerto Varas (bus) – to collect our gear!

    That’s four flights, and a whole lot of doubling back and forth on ourselves. Looking at how to travel through Patagonia is confusing – there are buses, but some aren’t direct, or your sequence of stops is important to ensure you can bus from place to place. To top that off, some of the buses (looking @ El Calafate > Bariloche) can be far more expensive than flying – we booked our plane ticket 4 weeks in advance and saved around 100USD (with checked baggage!).

    One thing that we do regret is flying from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams. Apparently, the ferry is beautiful – 30 hours on a boat, but you’ll sail through the fjords of Patagonia, seeing wildlife and glaciers for the whole time. Apparently it is also very common to get all the seasons in one day 🙂 So if you’re travelling and you’ve got the time, we would definitely advise the ferry over the plane. For us, the decision was made because flight was slightly cheaper, but we definitely think that the ferry sounded worth it.

    In hindsight, we have two routes we’d advise depending on whether you start in Argentina or Chile, minimising your time on the bus or the need to catch so many flights!

    From Argentina:

    Buenos Aires > Ushuaia (plane)

    Ushuaia > Puerto Williams (ferry)

    Puerto Williams > Punta Arenas (ferry)

    Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus) 

    Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)

    El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)

    El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

    From Chile:

    Santiago > Punta Arenas (plane)

    Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (ferry)

    Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry)

    Ushuaia > Punta Arenas (bus, which will get on a ferry!)

    Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus) 

    Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)

    El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)

    El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

    ArgentinaChile
    Buenos Aires > Ushuaia (plane)Santiago > Punta Arenas (plane)
    Ushuaia > Puerto Williams (ferry)Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (ferry)
    Puerto Williams > Punta Arenas (ferry)Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry)
    Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)Ushuaia > Punta Arenas (bus, which will get on a ferry!)
    Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)
    El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)
    El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)
    El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

    And if you want to do everything at once – instead of returning to El Calafate and continuing onto Bariloche, you can cross back into Chile from El Calafate and hitch-hike or bus up the Carretera Austral! Buses are available in some sections, but we’ve heard that in particular the southern section is very quiet, so you’ll need to be happy to chill out and spend some time waiting for a mate:

    El Chalten > Villa O’Higgins (bus, ferry, hike/bike – this crossing sounds awesome, albeit a little complex. There are pletny of blogs out there with detailed descriptions, and we met lots of people who did it, it sounds amazing!)

    Villa O’Higgins > Puerto Montt (hitch, bus)

    Puerto Montt > Puerto Varas (bus)

    We believe that both Puerto Varas and Bariloche are worthwhile destinations, of the lake districts of Chile and Argentina. There’s a lot to do in the Lakes Districts of both countries – we’ll cover the details (and the details of each of the different locations) in different posts!

    Also just a random aside – the Andes are renowned for being high altitude – the highest capital, the highest lake, etc. However, the Andes in Patagonia are not high altitude. The maximum point above sea level would only be around 2000m. That doesn’t mean you don’t do lots of elevation when you’re hiking – just that your starting elevation won’t be adding in an extra factor of difficulty!

  • A New Start in 2025! Planning for a Year of Travel

    A New Start in 2025! Planning for a Year of Travel

    Hola hola! Blog post number 1!

    This is Worldwide Walkies, the travel & trekking blog for Awal and Emma’s big 2025 adventure. Since the 1st Jan 2025, we’ve been in South America, walking and eating, learning and exploring, and generally trying out a life that’s a bit different for us. This is our little corner of the internet where we’ll be keeping a diary of our journey – sharing the experiences of the sunny days, but also the ones that are full of mud, rain and gale force winds. We’ll describe towns that capture our hearts and the ones that we couldn’t wait to get out of. We’ll note down our favourite itineraries, and the ones that, simply put, went to shit!

    Maybe you’re here because you’re our mums (hi ma <3), but maybe you’re here because you’re keen to explore some of what South America has to offer – maybe you’re here because you also love to walk internationally and think we could offer a bit of guidance – or maybe you’re here to live vicariously (this was us! years in the making!). Whatever the case – thanks for stopping by. So let’s set the scene…

    Click here to take yourself to ‘Short and Sweet’ at the end of the page that summarizes this blog post.

    Tell me everything:

    Why (and why not) South America?

    We were inspired to return to this massive continent after a mini-adventure in 2022, where we spent 5 weeks tripping through Ecuador and Peru (and a tiny bit of Chile). As it turns out, five weeks was only enough for a taster of South America. We fell hard for the landscapes, the food (read: potatoes and corn), and the breadth of culture. We knew we’d be back, with a few key things to either hit or revisit.

    The key attraction should be pretty clear: walkies, walkies, walkies. The Andes provide the ultimate stomping ground for trekking, through mountains and valleys, alpine forest and desert, through snow into blistering sun. From the southernmost tip of the continent up through to the transition into Central America, the Andes create a dramatic landscape that has plenty to offer those who love to walk. Patagonia is the obvious example of South American hiking, but mountain range carries stunning opportunities right through to the north of Argentina, and across Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

    The alternative landscape is the jungle – although, the hot, humid landscape doesn’t sound quite as appealling for multiday treks, the Amazon offers opportunities to experience nature in unique and exciting ways through tours and – the biodiversity is a huge draw card for the region, and the natural experience is a stark contrast to the high altitudes of the Andes. The most popular places for tours are Brazil and Peru, but we’ve researched some opportunities across Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.

    Backpacking for a year requires a certain price band – either taken from your belly & activity count, or taken from the currency of the countries you pick. South America can be a reasonably cheap place to travel, specifically through the northern countries. Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela offer awesome bang for your buck, although the latter two tend to have issues with safety, and it’s important to remember than any place super touristic will change the money you spend. Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina have more productive economies which have led to higher prices (to us, comparable to Aotearoa in many ways). They are especially high in the far reaches of Patagonia – so it’s important to keep the variation in mind when budgeting.

    We’ve felt that South American cultures are truly genuine and unique, and in some cases untouched. From pre-Incan through to post-colonial South America, the history is fascinating and inspiring, horrible and bloody, and in some places, still strongly represented. The indigenous people of South America retain a strong presence in many countries, through villages, markets and traditional dress. There are opportunities to discover these cultures for yourself by taking a responsible tour, or simply being present in the moment and willing to have a new conversation. Every country has a different story to be heard, a dance to be learned, or a belief system to understand.

    Part of that culture is, as always, food. We love to eat, and we’ll always find something that inspires us – but we know that South America is probably not the place for every foodie. With the exception of Lima in Peru taking on a more international influence, the traditional foods are rooted in their many types of potatoes and corn, with fewer fresh vegetables and deeper flavours. Homely meals are the core of South American cuisine, and they don’t have the breadth that you may find elsewhere.

    How does a year of travel begin?

    It took a hot minute to get our things in order but eventually – savings, friends, family, frisbee (totally Emma’s fault) – all aligned and gave us the opportunity to quit our jobs and exchange a cosy Aotearea life for something a bit more unknown.

    The experience that we gained on our first trip to South America made the decision easier. We had a reasonable estimate on budget (three months in, and it’s going about as well as planned!), we’d already done a fair bit of research (a massive and overwhelming task for the size of the continent), and we were already confident that we would absolutely love the cultures and experiences. 

    As mentioned – South American countries have a wide range of budget types. For example, a ‘shoestring budget’ – the cheapest hostels, home-cooked meals, free activities, limited tours – will look very different when you cross from Chile into Bolivia. For example, we hardly ate out in Chile (less than 10 meals over nearly 7 weeks), but in Bolivia it is almost cheaper to eat out. This does mean that South America has something to offer every budget type, and every length of trip. Besides home cooking, we think there are two key factors to travelling cheaply – travel slowly and hike a lot. Travelling slowly almost always ends up being more economical – less time paying for transport, more time to spread activities over multiple days, more chances to visit a region in its off-season. Hiking is truly a great shoestring budget activity – if you’ve invested in your own gear, you’ll only be paying for transport (or just hitch!) park entry, and possibly campsites. 

    We budgeted a year of travel based on our monthly spend in NZ, with a cross-check from the spend of our last trip, which ends up being about 1000NZD a week (500NZD each), which at the time of budgeting was about 600USD (300USD each). Now it’s more like 550USD, but that’s an economics gripe for Awal to tell another time! We then budgeted a bit extra – if you know you’ll be going to places like Patagonia, the Amazon and the Galapagos, you know those will be bigger chunks out of the budget. We’ll post more details on cost breakdown per country as we go along.

    Planning for a year is a weird sensation. We are both very structured people, so we knew we should take this year-long opportunity to be more open-ended. However, the purely care-free, ‘let the adventure find you’ outlook generally leads to a massive problem – spending a disproportionate amount of time stuck in your hostel room, rushing to complete that research on your phone! There’s a balance to be struck to provide freedom and flexibility. For us, that meant a key question – “what matters most?” – well, clearly it’s Walkies. That gave us a framework – knowing that there are certain multiday hikes that we want to hit provides us the countries we wanted to visit. Having a general idea of what your key spots are helps that structure. Maybe it’s the most beautiful locations for photos; are you a birder or after a particular animal sighting – are there certain dishes you’d love to eat – maybe you want to learn the choice slang from every dialect of Spanish across South America – do you want to explore the best nightlife? Any of these could give you a starting point to plan your trip; maybe you aren’t sure, but picking one to begin can really help focus your planning!

    While planning out a whole year is weird, packing for a whole year is even stranger. This is something that we do not have nailed down!! Packing up your whole life into a bag each is hard, but what’s harder is carrying the weight of something you don’t use often enough. Time on the trail will tell you what’s essential and what’s not – our best advice for now is that you will overpack. As our priority was hiking, we have big packs full of all of our own gear – tent, sleeping mat, bags, liners, and a full set of hiking clothes. To be fair, everything else is excess – but it’s nice to look cute in a city, and it’s hard to start a blog without a laptop! We’ll make another post one day (if we ever figure out a system that actually works…)

    Where do you start?

    From New Zealand, “where do I start” has an easy answer – the only place you can fly direct is Santiago de Chile (although – we flew via Melbourne as it was somehow considerably cheaper). So at 8am on the 1st January 2025, we left NZ and at 11am we arrived in Santiago! 

    Now Santiago… honestly – not the greatest place to start a journey. Since our visit in 2022, Santiago has seen some tough times, with regular protests and changes to population demographics, many neighborhoods have become quite dangerous, even in the day, and there’s a definite uncomfortable feeling in 2025 that we didn’t sense in 2022. It’s a shame, because we knew it as a cool city – with museums and cheap food, tidy cafes and funky suburbs, cool traditional mercados and a metro to boot! Not to mention the walkies – at the foot of the Andes, it’s got some awesome treks nearby. It was almost a culture shock to return and find it in its current state.

    Thankfully, we didn’t have much time planned in Santiago – just enough to ride the teleférico and purchase some new clothes (not something we love doing, but LATAM lost our bags for 4 days…). Unfortunately even getting out of Santiago was a dodgy affair – the Bus Terminal for southern buses (Terminal Sur) is in a renowned bad neighborhood, with poor security around the terminal. Get out of your taxi and get in the terminal ASAP was the advice we read, and it worked out fine. It is not advised to walk to this terminal, especially in the evening!

    Where next: From Santiago down into Patagonia, we would advise two main routes: you can either go down through Chile and back up through Argentina, or travel right to the bottom and make your way back up, crossing the borders as you need (or vice versa). We’ll put a bit more detail in another post, but either is manageable and gives you opportunities to get plenty of walking in! From Patagonia – just don’t forget that it is a huge continent. Fitting everything in is a tough ask. Chile is long, Argentina is long and wide – so hitting the key spots in both would take a long time, on a lot of buses. We nearly spent three months just across the two countries, and didn’t see any of central Argentina.

    From either Argentina or Chile, you can cross over into Bolivia, then through to Peru then Ecuador and Colombia pretty smoothly. This route works both ways – starting in Colombia and working your way down, although in that case you’re working from cheapest to most expensive countries – so keep that in mind on your budgeting!

    The elephant in the room: we’ve missed a big contender. We are not travelling through Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela or Brazil. The former two are cited to be quite similar to Argentina, in culture and price. Venezuela is not a very safe place to travel, so it’s off the list! As for Brazil – we would love to, but it is just so massive. We’ve heard it is a cheap place to travel, but is intimidating in its enormity (and neither of us speak a word of Portuguese!). We decided to not bite off more than we could chew – and one Brazilian chap that we met confirmed our suspicions by saying we’d need at least two months in Brazil. However, we did do some research: all the potential routes mentioned above are in the maps below.

    Peep where we took this screenshot. See the two starting locations for Patagonia ($$$$), vs. starting in Colombia ($). The following maps are annotated by starting in BA or Santiago, but run in a single direction, so starting in Colombia & going in reverse works too!
    Starting with Patagonia, then moving up through either northern Argentina or Chile to move into Bolivia. This misses east Argentina, and all of Brazil (Portuguese is scary!)
    Starting with Patagonia, then moving up through Argentina into Brazil. Hitting the top of Chile and Argentina becomes a bit tough.
    A Few Extra Thoughts and Considerations

    Even though Santiago didn’t work out the way we hoped, there were a few things that didn’t surprise us (thanks to a combination of previous experiences and research) that are pretty key elements of travelling to South America. Some of the points below might give you an insight into some of our decision making as our trip goes on.

    • Travel time – the continent is huge, the Andes are hard to cross (if you’re going over the mountains, your bus will not be on time!).
    • Spanish – there is very little English spoken, even in some touristic areas! Get practicing early, talk to yourself if you don’t have a buddy, and consume lots of audio content for listening practice!
    • Spanish – the Chilean accent and vocabulary are crazy, so if you start there prepare to say ¿que? a lot. The variations in accent across countries can also throw you – the Argentinian ‘sh’ noise for a normal ‘j’ or ‘y’ was confusing as hell for us.
    • Brazil – it is enormous, and they speak Portuguese, not Spanish! We think we’ll return one day, but for now it was too complicated to include – so don’t expect any Brazil advice, sorry (for now)!
    • Danger – safety is not assured anywhere in the world, but we’ve always felt pretty safe in places in our travels. However South American countries tend to see more unrest than, for example, South East Asia. Be sensible, read reviews and message your accommodation in new towns, and always trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel safe to you, it’s probably not!
    • Age group – we’re in our late 20s, and so are most of the people that we meet. The higher price and higher danger probably contribute to this, but it is not the same very youthful age group as South East Asia.
    • Seasons – Chile and Argentina are sub tropical and so align with Southern Hemisphere seasons – Dec – Mar Summer, Jun – Aug winter. This is super important to consider if you want to visit regions of Patagonia, because it is very far south – even if you’re there in summer, you can get snow, and the shoulder seasons can be rough. The dry regions of Central South America follow the wet-dry seasons (and it’s always hot and humid in the Amazon!).
      • Bolivia & Peru dry season: April – October
      • Ecuador dry season: June – September
      • Colombia dry season: December – March, July – August

    So… is it living up to expectations?

    Yes yes, and yes again. Not every day is amazing, or goes the way we plan, but we’re making sure to soak up every moment. It’s taken us nearly three months to get around to working on this blog, but that just means that every post is a chance to reflect and do a little more processing, to take a moment to go ‘oh wow, that really happened’. We hope you’ll enjoying these ‘ah-ha’ moments with us. Catch you on the next one!

    Keep it Short & Sweet:

    Why (or why not) South America?

    • The Andes – walkies, walkies walkies.
    • The Amazon – jungle walkies & biodiversity
    • The Prices – cheap-ish, but caters for many budget types.
    • The Culture – a hospitable melting pot of Pre-Incan to post-colonial mindsets.
    • The Food – gems to be found, but few and far between..

    What does a year of travel look like?

    • Budgeting – it doesn’t have to be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be cheap. Think locations, seasons, activities.
    • Planning – can you pick a focus to help guide your travels?
    • Packing – you will overdo it! Part of the process is detaching (so maybe don’t bring your favourite handmade sweater).

    Where do you begin?

    • Santiago de Chile – but get out of there, fast!
    • For Patagonia – border hopping or down through Chile, up through Argentina.
    • For the continent – Patagonia first, Colombia last (cheap to expensive); or vice versa if you can plan that well!

    Extra Considerations:

    • Time – the continent is huge, the Andes are hard to cross.
    • Learn some Spanish – very little English is spoken!
    • Danger – it’s not unsafe, but it’s not the most stable place in the world.
    • Age group – more late 20s, rather than early.
    • Seasons vary across every country.

    If you found this post helpful and have any questions about this or any of our other blog posts, then feel free to contact us!