Worldwide Walkies

Tag: Backpacking

  • Visiting Sorata and Hiking the Illampu Circuit: Everything You Need To Know

    Visiting Sorata and Hiking the Illampu Circuit: Everything You Need To Know

    We mentioned it in a previous post, but hiking in Bolivia is a little unusual. Poor trail quality, limited information online and from tour operators, human habitation everywhere. However, our experience with the Condoriri didn’t put us off – there is incredible beauty and a spectacular challenge in hiking at altitude in these less-travelled areas. The Illampu is particularly special because it circuits the Illampu mastiff – snow capped mountains are almost always on your right (going clockwise), with multiple peaks over 6000m sitting in the sub-range. 

    The Illampu Circuit itself is particularly strange because much of the trail is now a basic road – nothing paved, and it’s still very remote and with low populations, but we were passed by a few jeeps and a couple of diesel-spewing trucks on day three. It takes away from the serenity of nature when someone honks at you from behind. We understand that the main reason for the road building has been to facilitate mining in the mountains – an unfortunate example of ‘progress’, as in natural exploitation, changing the feel of a hike. While some of the passes are proper Bolivian track (inconsistent, unsigned, beautiful), there is a reasonable amount of walking along the rocky-gravel road. However, with the elevation changes, the gradual incline that comes with the road is quite welcome, and there are very few vehicles overall. And – the views are still incredible.

    If you want something shorter in the range, you can also hike up to Laguna Chillata, which is an overnight glacial lake at the foot of Illampu. This can be connected into a mini circuit if you start at Lackathiya and walk along the side of the range. 

    Even if you’re not looking to hike, Sorata is a lovely place to visit. The town sits in an incredibly picturesque valley, and boasts a few homestays and basic restaurants. The climate far more mild than the plateau, though be warned that the descent into the valley is terribly windy – grab a front seat if you get carsick easily. And watch out for the tiny sandflies – they leave nasty bites!

    Keeping it
    short and sweet

    Description

    Hike 5 or 7 days around one of the highest points and mythic figures of Bolivia’s section of the Andes, Illampu. The classic hike starts and finishes at the village of Sorata, beginning in the humid jungle of the town and ascending through alpine grass into high passes at and near 5000m. There are many hamlets on the route, including the village of Cooco where there are a couple of stores to restock basics. This does mean that the majority of the hike is now connected by road – in particular, the first and final days on the full loop are completely on the road – so we shortened the hike to 5 days by catching a cab, also avoiding about 1500m of ascent and descent. 

    Climate

    Drier, clearer skies in winter (April – October), wetter and warmer in summer (November – March). Starts in humid jungle, quickly moves to alpine walking (above 3500m), therefore very changeable weather. Cool during the day, fairly cold at elevations at night.

    Distance

    69km (110km)

    Elevation

    3480m to 5050m (5 days) (2680m if starting/finishing at Sorata).

    Costs

    None!

    Track

    Predominantly on the road, with sections/options to walk offroad in some places. Non-technical where it is not on the road. Does disappear at times – GPS required.

    Facilities

    None. Bury your poop, filter your water, leave no trace.

    Notes

    Because the track is so well marked, and most of the trail is near roads, we believe there is no need for a guide on this hike.

    Getting there

    The track starts at Sorata. There are collectivos going from La Paz to Sorata all day, though the majority of people will leave in the morning, so that will be your best bet for getting there without waiting too long. Taxi to near the cemeterio general, and tell your driver that you want to go to Sorata. 

    Day 0

    Sorata – Lackathiya (9.4km, 1500m ascent, 330m descent) – we skipped this day, but the track and the road are the same. If you take this route, there is a lot of ascent with a big pack. If you want to skip as we did, the taxi to Lackathiya was 150bol.

    Day 1

    Lackathiya – near Ancoma (13km, 1230m ascent, 1100m descent) where we started – from the village of Lackathiya begin ascending towards to the Illampu pass, initially through farmland, and eventually up a steep scree pathway. If you get good weather, enjoy views of the mastiff the whole way up. Then descend gently through the neighbouring valley, curving to the right as it opens up into a perpendicular valley and eventually meeting up with a road. Follow the road for a few kilometres before turning off into another adjoining valley, and make camp next to the river.

    Day 2

    near Ancoma – near Cooco (14km, 1060m ascent, 1140m descent) immediately ascend the steep wall of the valley to the southeast. This leads to a different gently climbing valley, so follow that until the next pass. The descent on the other side is very steep but the trail is generally well marked. Once at the base, follow the road until the village of Cooco. You can restock the basics here – we bought a little bread and fresh vege for the night. Then, continue through the village still southward – you can walk on the road or divert off onto a slightly older path for three kilometers before stopping for the night. There are plenty of spots to pick from.

    Day 3

    near Cooco – near Abra de la Calzada (16km, 1500m ascent, 660m descent) This is the biggest day for elevation, though the ascent is broken in two. Begin the day ascending to the pass in the current valley, predominantly along the road. Descend along llama tracks and the road (a combination is fastest) until you hit the bottom of the next valley and several farms. Continue south along the flat road, but eventually it starts switchbacking upwards. The best campsite (flattest) is right next to the road.

    Day 4

    near Abra de la Calzada – Laguna San Francisco (14km, 630m ascent, 880m descent) Finish what you started yesterday – immediately ascend to the highest point on the track, then descend gently next to a beautiful alpine lake. After this lake and before the lower, the track diverges from the road and begins to climb again along the side of another hill. Continue climbing into a saddle, then pick a trail until you hit the next ridge. The track descends through another sandy bowl, angle always to west and slightly north until you can see another lake – Laguna San Francisco. Camping can be a bit of a nightmare – or it was for us – as the base of the valley before the laguna is a massive bog. The marked camp spots here are a bit questionable, so you may have to pick your way up the valley (northeast) to a rocky outcrop that is drier).

    Day 5

    Laguna San Francisco – near Millipaya (17km (12km), 410m ascent, 1500m (940m) descent) Our last day – again start with a steep ascent up the side of the valley wall. Enjoy spectacular views to the north of the mastiff. Once the switchbacks of an old road even out, the trail evens out over a low saddle for your last pass. On a clear day, you’ll see Lake Titicaca, and the mastiff on the other side. The next part of the track winds up and down the foothills, changing from alpine grass to real grass, farmland and trees. The path winds fairly randomly (e.g. it’s non-existent – walk where you please) until you hit the road. From there, it’s about 6km of descent until Milipaya, where you should be able to find a taxi, or someone’s yard to camp in. We got picked up by a random couple about 1km down the road, and they served as our taxi back to Sorata. Locals are always keen to help and make some money at the same time so if someone drives past you, wave them down and have a quick chat to see if they’re interested to take you. We got into the tiniest jeep in the world but it worked out!

    Day 6

    near Millipaya – Sorata (18km, 1500m descent) If you decide to hike the whole loop, it’s another big day with a lot of downhill, again down the road. The change in scenery is incredible.

    getting out

    As above, the collectivos run from Sorata to La Paz all day and into the evening. You can get back to the big centre the same day that you finish, easily.

    Tell me everything

    We ended up staying two nights in Sorata before we left for the circuit. Because we were uncertain about the track, mostly misgivings about the altitude, we hired a guide… or tried to. This was a real palava – the three guides on the Sorata tourism website didn’t respond to my Whatsapp messages; there was nobody at the tourism office on the first day; we managed to find someone on the second day, one Don Julio, and all was well for a time. Then after we’d sent a few messages to confirm the route details, Don Julio called back, to check if we had a tent… for him! It turns out that while Don Julio was a local experienced in wandering the mountains themselves, he didn’t quite have the gear to get himself through as we were hoping. It was all in all a hilariously chaotic situation – his strategy was to walk with us to the campsites, then find someone at each of the hamlets that he could bunk with, before running to find us again in the morning. The first day, he actually told us he was just going to head home for the evening. While we committed to the first day of pay and guiding, we quickly realised that we could probably make do by ourselves, and also that the sleeping situation wasn’t ideal for anyone, and excused ourselves of his services for the remainder of the hike. 

    Don Julio did provide interesting information for the first part of the hike – hiking tourism used to be far more prominent in Sorata, but post COVID (and probably since the roads were built) the allure of hiking and tourism agencies have diminished. He used to be a porter for hikers and climbers in the area, and is a native of the mountains, so was very comfortable with the track we walked.

    Day one started with the three of us taking a very bumpy road for over an hour up to Lackathiya – a small hamlet where there is also an unused tourism office, a relic of previous years. The track ambles over various tracks in farmland to the east for a while before beginning to ascend steeply to the Illampu pass. This used to be the only track to the mines in the mountains – so a highway, essentially. On a good day, there are incredible views of the mastiff, but we only had a few sneaky peaks before the clouds made their bed. Before the road was built, this section was the main connection into the villages in the range – it’s a fairly rocky climb, and if you’ve also taken a taxi, make sure you walk slowly to prevent the altitude from doing anything weird to you. Stopping for lunch at Paso Illampu should give you incredible views, before dipping down the other side through a much more shallow valley. Descend for some time before eventually reaching a perpendicular valley, tracing the valley wall, and meeting up with the road. It’s easy walking along the road for a couple of kilometers until Ancoma, where the ‘track’ dips behind a property and follows the adjoining valley. Walk until you find a suitable place to camp – the trail continues the next morning on the true right of the stream (straight up the valley wall, into a different adjoining valley for the next pass). We camped on the true right in an old stone walled pen, taking off our boots a little early to cross the stream. The weather cleared up a bit, so the view up the valley to the snow peaks was incredible that night and in the morning. This campsite is at 3800m, so it’s reasonably warm overnight, but still high enough to see you hurtling into the tent after sundown to escape the cold.

    Day one’s campsite is at the bottom of the valley, and the track for day two starts by heading up the valley wall – about 100m. This is a rough start to the day, take the time to use switchbacks when you can. Because of the easterly angle of the next valley, you should get sun once you finish this particularly steep bit. It’s then a continuous trail up this new valley for a couple of hours – the path becomes more unclear as the valley lengthens, and is at times boggy, so pick your path. Once we reached the pass top (4400m), we took a break before a muddy descent on the other side. Make sure you descend on the true right of the river for the easiest (and eventually correct) path. A number of switchbacks gave us great views of the valley Coyoco sits in, but it’s rough on the knees. Once you make it to the bottom, follow the road until you reach the town. We picked up some extra bread here, the stores are pretty basic so don’t rely on them too much. After a break and a restock, cross the river at the bridge, following the road to the south. This climbs again with the track remaining as the road, although it splits into the new road and an older one, to the right. The right-hand ‘road’ leads to the campsite marked on the map, and is much more private (the ‘old’ road is eventually blocked for cars). There are a few random houses in this area and plenty of old stone ruins, though we didn’t see anyone around. Despite the proximity to the road, there were some nice grassy areas and a bubbling brook that we pitched up alongside, and we had a really lovely night’s sleep here, at about 3900m. One thing to watch out for is the prickly grassy mounds that exist around this altitude. We initially thought we’d picked a lovely soft spot, but the grass is so sharp it breaks off into anything in touches! Thankfully, we didn’t stick any holes into our groundsheet.

    Day three is rough. Like, insanely so. The day starts with the remainder of a gentle (relative term?) ascent up the current valley. Continue along the old road until it meets up with the new; you’ll have to cross the river at some point, we did so at a vehicle ford. The present pass ends at 4500m, offering some lovely views of the massive valley as you tramp along. The other side descends more steeply – follow a mix of the road and llama trails into the base of the next river valley, about 4000m, then it’s back up again. This whole section is on the road, and is where we were passed by all the ‘traffic’ – a handful of jeeps and trucks. While it’s gentle (with lots of vehicle-friendly switchbacks), it’s a fiendish ascent of 700m until the campsite. We also had pretty average weather coming up here, with the clouds packing it in again and some light drizzle, so it wasn’t a great end to the day for us. The campsite for day 3 is a little strange – it’s a ‘laguna’ on the map but really a bog for the most part. There’s a sandy patch which is nice and flat for pitching right by the road, as you arrive at the laguna. There are a few rocky/uneven spots toward the other end of the laguna, though the running water is closer and it’s a bit more private it would be a much less comfortable sleep. This is the highest campsite – at 4750m – so be prepared for a cold night with frost.

    Wake up the next morning ready to hit the highest point on the track. If you go for an early start, make sure you take care with any frozen poles – they’ll be much more prone to snapping. The highest point is called Abra de la Calzada, after which there’s an opportunity to diverge from the road and wander along the old hiking trail. This whole section has awesome views of the two lagunas below. However, there is a portion which traverses a boulder slope – which had suffered from a slip when we were on the trail, meaning it disappeared and turned into some dodgy path-picking. We had to scramble back up to the sturdiness of the road. And, once we’d got back on the road, it started snowing! Very cute at first, but it quickly became a bit problematic as the wind picked up and turned it into sleet. We hadn’t yet stopped for lunch, and with the sideways cold – now we couldn’t. We then lost trail again as it diverged from the road (cattle, llama tracks are everywhere!), and getting back on it meant sleet straight into our faces. We struggled on for about an hour, but thankfully the weather cleared up for our final climb onto the tops, which meant we could finally have some lunch before the wind picked up and got us moving before freezing. We had some lovely views over the tops, although our reactions were a bit dulled due to exhaustion. As always, the trail appeared and disappeared, but the general direction is clear for the descent into the Laguna San Francisco valley. This particular section on the mountain is very cool – it really feels like remote foothills, as you are finally completely away from the road.

    However, the map had yet to give us the biggest lie! Laguna San Fransisco is a beautiful colour and looks like a lovely place to camp. As we descended, it appeared as a flat grassy old glacial valley, and the map told us the camping spot was right in the middle. Quite exposed – considering our experiences of mountain weather, we weren’t super keen to pitch up in such an open place. Then as we tried to explore the “track” to the campsite, we found the entire valley to be a bog. Fair warning – walking is really tough, and on the far side there are streams which can make your track impassable. We aren’t sure if it’s because we were so close to the rainy season, or if it’s always like that – but in our opinion, there was no way we could pitch up anywhere in the middle. Both sides of the valley were steep and full of thick alpine grasses and a variety of nettles – there’s an old stone hamlet on each side, but there’s no flat ground in either. It was one of those times where we were exhausted, underfed, over-altituded and filled with decision fatigue. Eventually we made our way further up the valley, after crossing, to a rocky outcrop, and were lucky enough to find a grassy spot (without bog!) to pitch up at. 5:30pm pitch and 6pm sunset meant a rushed dinner and a short evening to relax. If you’re doing this trek, learn from our mistakes! Head straight across the bog, don’t muck around with the map campsite, and head up the valley – the rocky outcrop is obvious from the top valley wall. There’s also a tepid stream (termas) on the way.

    The final day begins with another ascent to the final pass. Head right up the valley wall along a mixture of old road and wide trail, and finally a gentle ascent through alpine grass. The pass is marked with a cairn shaped like a fullah with a hat on, and on a clear day you can see the spectacular blue of Lago Titicaca ahead, and the peaks on the right. The rest of the track descends randomly through farmland which gets progressively greener. Llamas turn into sheep into cattle as the pastures become lush. We lost the track a lot, ended up in several bogs, and generally were a bit irritated from exhaustion. However, luck stroke only a couple of kilometers after we reached the road. We were planning to walk to Milipaya, to then catch a taxi to Sorata, to then score a collectivo back to La Paz. However, a couple drove past us and offered us the lift to Sorata (for ‘un rojo’ – a 100 bol bill), saving us the 6km of walking down the road. So this walkie ended, with the kindness – well, opportunism – of strangers, and the chance to gaze at the changing scenery from the comfort of a seat rather than our two feet.

  • Essential Guide to the Condoriri Trek | 5 Day Trek [2025/2026]

    Essential Guide to the Condoriri Trek | 5 Day Trek [2025/2026]

    Hiking in Bolivia is… chaotic. It’s not an activity that’s popular amongst locals, and travel agents aren’t very forthcoming with information on how to navigate tracks unless you pay them for a guide. Trails aren’t marked, the paths that you may find are probably made by cattle, and will probably disappear after five minutes. People and their livestock live everywhere in the mountains, so you’ll likely be walking on someone’s land (even though they may not be nearby to care). It’s certainly not a hiking experience of isolation and peace, but there is still a lot to be enjoyed and incredible beauty to experience.

    Since we’d arrived in Bolivia, we’d chickened out of multi-day hikes in both Sucre and Cochabamba, but La Paz is perched on the edge of the major heights of the Andes, and we were set on our first foray into high altitude hiking. We’ve had a taste of altitude sickness before, in Ecuador in 2022 where we took a tour up to Cotopaxi base camp (4900m). It was only a day, we didn’t even summit, but we’ve experienced the nausea and lack of focus that altitude can cause. We thought we knew what to look out for, but the Condoriri means five days of walking, eating and sleeping up high – the lowest point is right at the start at around 4400m, but you never sleep lower than 4600m, and the high point at Pico Austria is 5300m. It’s only 43km, but we’d read other blogs & AllTrails reviews saying to do it over 5 days – which seems ridiculous! But it is completely reasonable. We’d spent four days in La Paz acclimatizing, but nothing really prepares you for sleeping at 4600m four nights in a row. Every day was a struggle – sleeping was freezing – the trail was fairly non-existent on the first two days – and we both got mild altitude sickness.

    For anyone else who’s trekking for the first time at altitude – or for the people who’ve done it and want to relive their first experiences – we think the key aspect to monitor at altitude is a lack of appetite. It’s easy to identify acute altitude sickness. If you’ve got serious nausea and certainly if you’re vomiting, get out of there. Dizziness, headaches, are normal for mild sickness – but the lack of appetite is the absolute kicker. The effect is twofold: not eating means you won’t have enough energy to tackle the remaining hiking. It also means you aren’t reducing your pack weight like you planned, so you’ll just lug around (already feeling drained) an extra few kgs until the end of the trek. To be fair, stuffing yourself doesn’t really work, because it brings on the nausea (worse). A shitty solution is having foods that are more bland – anything that’s easy to consume without thinking too hard.

    Don’t let the warnings put you off. We seriously think hiking at altitude is some of the best. It’s an incredible challenge that is so satisfying to finish – hitting heights that you haven’t before, pushing through lower oxygen and steeper hills. And of course, being in the mountains – walking under snow-capped peaks, past massive mirrors that are glacial lakes, and amongst rocky outcrops and alpine grasses is all part of the beauty of the landscape.

    Note: AllTrails does have reasonable trail descriptions in Bolivia, so you can use this alongside WikiLoc to gather more up to date information.

    Keep it Short & Sweet:

    Description: A high altitude three or five day hut-to-hut (with prior booking only) trek between glacial lakes and under the peaks of the Andes. The glaciers have mostly melted, so the lakes have been dammed for preservation. Unfortunately, this means there is a lot of debris from construction along the hike, and you’ll see many hamlets and sections which are connected by road. The trek is part of a greater trail that runs along the sub-range between Illampu and Illmani, and can be linked up with a summit of Huayna Potosi, if you have time to acclimatise.

    Climate: Drier, clearer skies in winter (April – October), wetter and warmer in summer (November – March). Alpine walking (above 4000m), therefore very changeable weather. Cool during the day, fairly cold at night.

    Total Distance: 43km

    Elevation: Highest point 5300m at Pico Austria (slight detour), otherwise ~4400m – 5100m

    Costs: On day 3, before ascending Pico Austria, you need to pay if the collector arrives before you leave (this is the starting point for many day hikes). May need to pay fees to camp on other nights if there are shepherds/land owners around (very variable, we didn’t encounter anyone on night 1 or 2). If using refugios, fees vary.

    Track: Non-technical, except for some of the rock scrambling around Pico Austria. Unmarked and inconsistent track. GPS essential. Some places require very steep ascents to make up ground if you lose the track. Many animal tracks make the path confusing. Each ‘campsite’ is at a hamlet of some description, so you’ll always be around some evidence of humanity.

    Facilities: Hand-pour flushing toilets at the refugios (the refugios & toilets may be locked – see below).High altitude makes ascending more difficult than usual.

    Notes: Always carry small change on these types of treks. If anyone wants to charge you they will not (or, they will say they do not) have change. Be mindful of your body with the altitude at all times. While a guide is absolutely unnecessary on this track, get in touch with an agency to help you book the refugios (or at least open the toilets for you if you’re happy to camp).

    Getting there: Taxi to the north side of the Cemeterio General; take the bus going towards Cochabamba (20BOL pp); disembark at Palcoco (~1 hour); take a taxi to the trailhead (150BOL to Condoriri (2N 3D), ~300BOL to Laguna Karakota (4N 5D) (~1 hour for either)

    Day 1: Laguna Karakota – Laguna Ajwani (10km). After arriving (probably around mid-morning), at the end of Laguna Karakota, ascend with the ridgeline. The path is not clear – pick your own way. At some point a path should appear and will turn eastward after about 3km, around the curve of the hill. The path continues into a bowl between the mountains, before reaching a high point and descending into the neighbouring valley. There is a road and a small settlement. Cross the stream at an appropriate place and then ascend steeply up the opposite side until about 4500m, then follow the elevation. The trail should eventually turn to the right, alongside a small stream. You may need to pass across a fence to reach a few deserted buildings and a dam. There was a number on the outside of a dorm room here: 71268235, but it and the bathrooms were locked.

    Day 2: Laguna Ajwani – Laguna Juri Khota (8.3km). This day is more marching through a combination of dry alpine grass, across gravelly tops, and also through boggy wetland. The elevation is similar – ascend to start, drop down into the neighbouring valley, cross the stream, and head up the opposite side to the next laguna and your dam and campsite. This one had an unlocked toilet, a big locked new dorm, and some old concrete dorms which were unlocked. There was no contact number, but someone came the next morning to charge us for the Pico Austria walk.

    Day 3: Laguna Juri Khota – Laguna Chiar Khota (6.1km+1.3km to Pico Austria). While the distance is small, do not underestimate this day. The highpoint of the trail is 5100m, but Pico Austria is at 5300m, and walking gets quite hard at that altitude. The trail is well marked with cairns as you ascend into the rocky saddle of Pico Austria. There are a couple of sketchy bits of moving around rocky ledges, so take your time and possibly rethink it if it’s rainy and certainly if it’s icy. The descent on the other side to the refugio is a very easy trail. Because Pico Austria is a popular trek, this refugio appears to always be open, so you should be able to get a mattress inside if there is space (20bol per person). If doing the 3-day trek, you can start with this day, or start at Laguna Chiar Khota (possibly leaving bags at the refugio) and climb Pico Austria as an out-and-back trail. This one-day ascent of Pico Austria is quite popular.

    View from Pico Austria

    Day 4: Laguna Chiar Khota – Unmarked Refugio (12km) There are a few options on this day for both camping and trail. We ascended via Paso Condoriri, then skirted around the next pass (trekking adjacent to Laguna Pouchinta, rather than upwards). There is a hamlet at Laguna Sura Khota, but no clear refugios which were open and no nice camping spots (a lot of rubbish). We continued up the hill, through a fence and along another road to find another refugio at a very small hamlet (halfway to Maria Lloko), where another group were staying – so we were able to use the facilities. Mario Lloko is at a higher altitude, and the campsite didn’t look amazing.

    Day 5: Unmarked Refugio – Road End (6km). The advantage of continuing further the previous day is reducing the distance on your final day – and therefore how early you need to wake up. The trail follows the road for a few kilometres before starting up the hill and towards the final pass. At the other side of the pass is a road, and the end of your trek if you’ve arranged a ride. Otherwise, you’ll need to continue another 6km down the hill until you reach the main road between Huayna Potosi and La Paz.

    Getting out: Pre-arrange a taxi from the closest road end, get lucky and meet a group trekking alongside you and jump in their car, or walk all the way to the main highway between Huayna Potosi basecamp and La Paz. For the last option: you must arrive before 11:30 to have a good chance of getting in a returning vehicle with one of the tour groups. After midday most of them will have departed.

    Tell me everything:

    As noted above, getting information about hiking in Bolivia is a bit of a nightmare. There are no hiking guilds, no government departments, and it’s not a super popular activity with the locals. There are plenty of agencies in La Paz who will offer you packages, but there is no need for a guide on this hike, unless you are interested in chatting to the guide while walking, and you’re in a big enough group to make the guide and cook fees worthwhile. It is worth noting that the hike will probably be more difficult than you expect – only because of the altitude. Keeping a light pack goes far in having a good time, so if you want to go unguided but are worried about gear, you should try to book refugios to save on tent and mattress weight. The travel agencies in La Paz can be a bit cagey, but if you ask directly and with confidence (there should be enough information here for you to know what to ask for! If not, leave a comment) for the refugio owners’ numbers, we assume they would be more forthcoming. 

    It’s also pretty cold at night at the altitudes you’ll be sleeping at, so having a refugio is a nice way to get another barrier between you and the frost. We actually slept inside 3 nights out of 4 – on the first night, none of the facilities were open, but on the second night, the doors on an old concrete dorm were only tied shut (rather than padlocked), and the toilet was open for use. We ‘pitched’ by setting our groundsheet down in one of the dorms, and our mattress on top – being in an enclosed space kept the warmth in much better. On nights 3 and 4 the refugios were open, and we paid a few bolivianos for our own room and a straw mattress each – and an extra blanket to throw on top of our sleeping bags. So cosy!

    Getting to the start of the Condoriri requires a few different modes of transport, but the most annoying part is bartering with the taxi drivers once you arrive at Palcoco. Our hostel was very helpful in getting us this information – of course, you could take a private taxi to the start of the hike (as you’ll need to taxi at either end, anyway), but you can get a fair way via bus, which should cut your costs down. First taxi to the north side of the Cemeterio General; tell the driver you want to go to Cochabamba (also – take this bus if you want to go to Cochabamba, they’re cheaper than the ones from the main bus terminal). It should be about 20BOL per person. Tell the driver you want to go to Palcoco for the Condoriri trail. When you get off, you’ll be on a random bit of highway, but there should be a few taxi drivers waiting around. Now, these guys are used to taking people to ‘Condoriri’, which is the trail for Pico Austria, but if you are doing the 5 day hike you want to go to the far end of Laguna Karacota. It really is about the same distance from Palcoco, but because the latter is less popular (I guess from the Condoriri they can score a return ride) they tried to charge double to get to the Laguna. We spent a bit of time haggling but eventually settled on 220BOL. We arrived late morning, around 11am, to a construction site.

    In this part of the Andes there used to be a great number of glaciers. Because of rapid global climate change, they are melting off, but the lakes that they form are essential to the lifestyle of the people in the valleys below. As part of maintaining the landscape, unfortunately, the government has had to build dams along the range. This means there’s a lot of really ugly concrete amongst what was once beautiful and untouched lagunas. However, it seems necessary for the lives of the local people. At any rate, the start of the hike was, for us, in the middle of a construction site, which also made us a little uncertain. We eventually found the trail, and although it didn’t appear for a while, the initial ascent provides increasingly incredible views of Laguna Karakota. We had incredible weather for this whole hike – very lucky with blue, blue skies and little wind. Once the trail appears, it’s reasonably easy to follow across the saddle and down into the next valley. Then it disappears again as you cross the base of the valley and begin ascending, just keep an eye on your GPS and it should reappear eventually. The last ascent takes you next to a small stream and into a property of some kind – we think it was an old dorm designed to house workers who built the dam (it was certainly abandoned), and a refugio. The number for the refugio was scrawled on the wall, and both the refugio and the bathrooms (down the hill) were locked up tightly. We slept in our tent outside the refugio – not the best place, but at least the ground was flat. We both had a bit of altitude sickness so had a really small dinner, and crawled into bed as soon as we could to ward off the bitter cold!

    Day 2 is pretty similar to day one – up to the next saddle, down into the neighbouring valley, across a stream, and then back up the other side towards the next laguna and your campsite. However, for us it was a little less straightforward. As we climbed to the first saddle from the campsite, we had a little mishap with the reading of the map and getting our bearings, and ended up well to the right of the track. While we could’ve doubled back a little, we could see a track in the distance, and decided to go with it. Instead of skirting around the right of the main peak, we walked further to the north, walked up a different scree saddle, and ended up having to make a very sharp descent into the valley. We probably were on a random llama trail – a classic mistake, but thankfully we were still able to get down on the other side. It didn’t add too much time but it was a little stressful – better practice reading topo lines a bit more.

    Another thing to note in the wet areas near the river – there are lots of hairy caterpillars! They’re weird little guys, but their crawling is a little creepy and they look like the type that would give you a rash if they touched your skin. Thankfully, they aren’t near the campsites, only in the low areas.

    Once you’re out of caterpillar world and up the ridge, the next campsite awaits – this one is situated next to a stunning long lake and really gives you the idea of sitting at the foot of mountains – you’ll be able to see tomorrow’s challenge, Pico Austria. The campsite had a new big refugio (locked), and a small concrete dorm which was unlocked. There was a bathroom behind the main dorm which was only covered by a curtain, so I assume it’s always unlocked. We were a bit whacked by this point – having had the extra km or so with the detour, and generally being fatigued from the altitude and lack of food. However, we still arrived pretty early, set up in the open concrete area with our groundsheet, had a nap to stave off the altitude headache (it’s kind of like a hangover), enjoyed the sunshine, and tried to eat a decent meal before the sun set. The only problem with this campsite – was there was some asshole animal (rat or fox – who knows) who decided to scrape around in the discarded metal outside in the middle of the night, which woke us up a few times. 

    Day 3 started in a less-than-ideal way; Emma found that the zip holding her pack frame closed had burst, making the whole thing a lot less stable. While not a trip-ending event, it’s pretty annoying to have a 4-month-old 500NZD Osprey Pack break mid-hike, so we had a slow and unsuccessful morning while we tried to get it back together. This was also the first morning we saw anyone else interested in hiking – first of all, a fellow arrived on a motorbike, and once we were done with our pack disaster, came over to say hello and ask for payment for a ticket for the next part of the trail – we paid 20bol each. Once we got started, it turned out that he was probably there to get payment from a van of other hikers, so if we had’ve been a bit earlier in getting our shit together he probably would’ve missed us altogether!

    This day really is a stunner, but it’s tough. At barely above 6km (7km, including the summit of Pico Austria), it’s short day in theory, but you’ll be hitting the highest altitude on the track today – so take it easy and take it slow. Eat and drink often. Today’s the only day it gets a little technical – it gets a little steep on the scree ascending to the upper lake (note, on the map it says you can camp next to this lake – but the campsites are tiny and it’s very rocky, so it might be a tough pitch. Past the lake, there is a little bit of rock climbing and scrambling – keep your cool and get your hands and feet set before you move too fast (especially with weighty packs!). Keep an eye out for cairns on this section of the track, as there’s no path to follow. It is, however, an incredible day. Once you get to the lake, you can see Condoriri and the snowy peaks to either side. The trail up to Pico Austria is tough but getting a true view of Condoriri (with the birdlike perspective!) is awesome. You’ll also get your first shot of Huayna Potosi, on a clear day.

    This section is quite busy with day hikers, but the funniest thing (if you’ve got your big backpack on) is how interested and impressed all the guides are – every one asked us where our guide was, realised we were carrying all our own gear, and made a whole lot of impressed noises – hilarious, but also a great way to make a good impression (and some chatty friends!) fast.

    View from Pico Austria

    The track down to the refugio from Pico Austria is easy, with a well worn track, but longer than you’d expect. The descent can be tough on the knees so if you weren’t convinced by poles we would say 100% yes right about now. The refugios here are busy – there are a few different buildings – and lots of overnighters or day trippers or people heading up to Condoriri (at the laguna above) in the high season pass through here. We were able to snag a room with a couple of mattresses, and have a cosy night cooking and eating inside. We were absolutely stuffed after this day, so we were in bed very early – and seriously considering taxiing back the next morning.

    We started day 4 slowly, uncertainly, but once a tour group of four, who had been staying in the same refugio as us, started up the trail to Paso Condoriri, challenge mode was on. It was actually an excellent decision too – the track up to the pass was icy and filled with mischievous llamas, and the views over the mountains on the way up and at the pass were incredible. The descent on the other side got a bit muddled, as (again) there are plenty of animals tracks mixing and mingling. The trail will cross over the river at the bottom, and we scrambled up the ridge to meet up with the road (we aren’t sure, but we think you can skirt around it and still meet up with the right place – it’s probably easier). The trail continues along the road for a while, before turning off and passing by the small Laguna Puchinta. There’s an alternative route that continues upwards, runs up to another saddle, and meets up with a big descent on the other side. We were able to see the track from the laguna, but decided that was a biiiiig no. The lower track is reasonably well marked and follows the curve of the hill, sometimes on quite loose scree. It ascends a bit, before dipping back down towards the Lagunas Sura Khota and Wichu Khota. There’s a hamlet between these two lakes, and we’d read that there are refugios here too; however, nothing was open, even though one local pointed us in the right direction. There was flat ground, but the vibe was a bit weird, and there was no running water. We were pretty keen to continue on to somewhere nicer, but we weren’t convinced by anything the map was telling us now.

    Yet we were in luck! We didn’t realise, but somehow we’d overtaken the group of 4 and their guide and cook. As we sat at the ‘refugio’, a bit desolately, we spotted them coming down the hill. Not that we were waiting (we were waiting), but instead of turning towards us they continued along the other side of the lake. In comes a bit of hope and the smell of a little opportunity. We picked up our weary bodies and followed – under the pretense of walking toward the next campsite on the map, Maria Lloco, but really with the hope that they might stop at another refugio with a spare room. We eventually caught up to them, and we just want to acknowledge – we have really got so lucky so many times on this trip. We had a friendly chat about the track, the refugios at the lagunas, the general scenery… and their guide (our new mate Vladdy), who recognised us from the day prior, said we’d be able to stay in their pre-booked refugio – and that they’d have space for us in their vehicle going back to La Paz the next morning. An absolute stroke of kindness and good timing – we have been so thankful for such people!

    We again got our own room at the refugio, comfy straw beds and an extra blanket. This refugio was next to the road, halfway between the lagunas and Maria Lloco (see the image of the map for the marking). We don’t really know who to contact for this one, but there are a few houses around here so you might just be able to knock on a door and ask to stay. The refugio is in a gorgeous spot surrounded by snow capped mountains and right next to a burbling stream. The tour group actually caught some trout for their dinner with the help of the refugio owner, which was a hilarious scene.

    Refugio for our last night

    The great thing about the stay at our random little refugio was the proximity to the road. We still had one more pass over 5000m to walk over (normal by this point – how did it end up like this?!), but it was only going to be 6km, and now we conveniently had a guide to follow. The track followed the road for the first few kms, before starting to ascend (a bit randomly) up the side of the mountain to the pass. Although the group had acclimatised a couple of days less than us, they also weren’t carrying anything, so we struggled a little to match their pace. However, it was totally worth it – where we were intending to walk all the way to the main road (another 6km) to wave down a taxi, the vehicle was waiting at the road right on the other side of the pass. The group of four were actually using the 3-day Condoriri to acclimatise for Huayna Potosi – so we first drove to basecamp, waited for the day’s hikers to return, then got back in the van back to La Paz. We ended up heading off at about midday; it’s really early, but we really recommend if you don’t have a pre-planned ride, try to get to the highway by midday at the latest – all the hikers get down at about the same time, and if you can’t get on one of those vans it’s really hard to find another shared ride.

    We ended the hike still with half our food – a solid 4kgs or so of uneaten food, just weighing us down. Even though we’d worked through the appetite struggles by night 3, there’s only so much you can consume during the day. But what a learning experience it was – with stunning mountains and weather, friendly people and overwhelming kindness. While it’s not the most disconnected hike out there, it’s beautiful and it’s tough and it’s so very Bolivia.

  • Everything you Need to Know About Exploring Southern Bolivia: Potosi, Sucre AND Cochabamba

    Everything you Need to Know About Exploring Southern Bolivia: Potosi, Sucre AND Cochabamba

    Two essential pieces of information for this post: first, that the currency in Bolivia is going through some crazy times, so visiting with foreign currency in hand means that everything is half the price*. Second, that we absolutely adore eating. Here we have cheap cafes, markets and restaurants, and two hungry kiwis who’ve spent the last 2 months cooking for themselves almost exclusively in Argentina and Chile. 

    Across our next three stops, PotosI, Sucre and Cochabamba, we didn’t do a lot. Although there is a lot to be done across all of the cities, we mostly enjoyed just being present. Visiting markets, wandering streets, appreciating the performances of marching bands that seem to be a constant in Bolivian life, and nibbling on food in plazas or cafes. 

    Bolivia is full of complex and sometimes uncomfortable history. Potosi and Sucre are two places where the Spanish were particularly present, which has impacted the development of these cities and its people. If you want to understand more about Bolivia, taking walking tours and visiting museums in both of these cities is a must. 

    * See our general post about Bolivia for a full description on how the currency discrepancy works.

    Keep it Short & Sweet:

    Potosi: Now a small town with a decreasing population, Potosi once fueled the Spanish presence in Bolivia through the richness of the Cerro Rico silver mine. The town exists with incredible, if disturbing, history. Take a walking tour (Mariam from Koala Tours was excellent) for a detailed, local view. Many tourists take a tour through the mines of Potosi – now bereft of silver, local workers still try to exploit it for less valuable metals. Conditions are still pretty dire and while companies claim to give back to the community and the families of miners, many are questionable. We were not convinced that this is a good way to support, and if you’re interested in doing this kind of exploration we urge you to complete research thoroughly.

    Sucre: Bolivia’s capital, nicknamed the White City for the preservation of its historical centre in traditional colonial white, is a beautiful place to park up and take a break from constant travel. There’s not a lot to do here, but the vibes are great, there are plenty of lovely hostels to pick from, and if you have the time, it is an excellent place to take a week or four of Spanish classes. The quality of classes in Sucre are really high, there are plenty of schools to pick from, and the prices are much better than other places in the country. There’s a sizable rich immigrant population, and the large number of gringos has led to considerable gentrification of the centre – take your pick of cafes to complete your homework.

    Cochabamba: ‘Cocha’ has a little bit of everything, but is prized as Bolivia’s gastronomic centre. The country’s third-largest city has a large, fun historical centre, with multiple markets to explore, and a beautiful plaza to hang out in. The city sits in a valley of towering peaks, so there are a few high altitude day hikes that you can tackle. Easier to achieve but also enjoyable is the walk up to Cristo de la Concordia, a massive monument to Jesus with incredible views over the city. Cochabamba is a good base to visit Torotoro and the national park there, or the Canyon Tuta Wallpas (though we didn’t make it to the latter, it seems to be growing in tourism but is still off the beaten path!)

    Tell me everything:

    Potosi

    We travelled to PotosI immediately from Uyuni – as we mentioned, Uyuni is very much a tourist town, with people visiting almost exclusively to see the Salar. We read it’s pretty seedy and there isn’t a lot to do other than the Salt Flats – so we were straight on the next bus, along winding roads up to 4000m and PotosI.

    PotosI is centred around an old, Spanish centre. The plaza is lovely, with an ancient cathedral and old government buildings surrounding the corners. Because of the historical concentration of wealth in the town, there are plenty of fancy facades to admire, and historical names have resided in many unassuming buildings. The streets are narrow and winding in this mountainous town, which makes exploring a breathless exercise – again, the altitude here can mess you up, so take it easy! 

    The best SalteNas in Potosi can be found at la SalteNeriael Hornito. Get in early as they are super popular, and do sell out. They are spectacular. Also try the K’alaphurca, a local delicacy of beef & corn soup – what’s special about it is they throw in a fire-hot rock in before serving, which initially keeps the soup splattering all over you, but does ensure that it doesn’t cool down too fast in the freezing air. We ate at Restaurante Tambo SeNorial, which was a lovely traditional restaurant with a cute vibe.

    We stayed at Hostal Los Faroles – a really lovely homestay with a delicious breakfast and large, comfortable rooms. It’s really well placed (right next to the market). We took our walking tour from Koala tours, with Mariam – she was so awesome, even though it was just the two of us and her, she was really detailed and when we started asking questions about food she got us a few treats to fuel us on the way. We really recommend asking for her if you are in Potosi!

    It’s popular to take a tour of the mines in PotosI – we didn’t think this was a super ethical thing to do, so preferred the Walking Tour only, although Koala Tours has great reviews for the mine tours, you can never be 100% sure where your money is going. If you’re going to take one of these tours, make sure you do your research before, understand the history of the mines and the current working conditions, and make sure you are comfortable with the impact you’re having.

    We also visited the National Mint of Bolivia, where the silver collected in the mines was minted into coins during the Spanish rule. The tour was really interesting but in Spanish, so we missed quite a lot of content – there was meant to be an English tour, but it never happened and we just got lumped into a Spanish one. Still – worth it for the history!

    Because PotosI is in the mountains, you can imagine that there should be some nice hikes to gorgeous viewpoints. There are, although the ‘niceness’ of the hikes seem debatable, as PotosI is an industrial/mining town outside of the city centre, so the walking is mostly along rough roads. However, on these hikes you have to be super, super careful of dogs, which can be really aggressive in this area. We met one guy who actually got bitten on the way to Laguna Kari Kari, and Emma was exploring PotosI a few blocks to the east of the city centre, and got barked at (almost to the point of snapping) by a dog. It was totally out of nowhere – I was stopped on the roadside, there were other people out, I was checking my phone – and this dog wandered out of the corner of my eye and turned on me – at least it was a busy road, so I could run behind a moving car, but it was so bizarre and pretty scary!.

    We spent a couple of days in PotosI – eating treats and exploring, before moving on to Sucre. This trail also takes you down more of the historical trail of the Spanish. The altitude of PotosI makes it a pretty undesirable place to live; it’s cold all year round, and bitterly so in winter. Sucre, sitting at about 2800m, is much more mild, with cool nights but warm days, and consistently pleasant weather. It’s also still close to PotosI (today, only a 4 hour bus ride), so the Spanish had much of their government working here.

    Sucre

    In Sucre we were planning to finally take a bit of a break – we could stay in affordable hostels, do a mix of home cooking and eating out cheaply at the market – and most importantly, we could finally, officially learn some Spanish. We’d both been learning haphazardly on the road, using reels, podcasts, conversations and Google Translate to pick up words and grammatical structures, but really nothing beats some structured classes. There are plenty of Spanish schools in Sucre – pick based on your preferred style of learning and the Google reviews, although almost all are favourable. We decided to go with Spanish Friends School – they had a good deal including a private room and the private classes for a week, and they were one of the few schools which offered a focus on speaking rather than technicalities and grammar – which is exactly what we were looking for. While initially, Awal wasn’t super interested in the classes (as he’d been leaving the learning and talking mostly to Emma), the price was so reasonable that we decided ‘why not’, and doing a class together (and having shared homework) is always a fun way to bond.

    Unfortunately, we also both got food poisoning during this week. Emma was first, and was up all Monday night, and was totally wrecked on Tuesday, so we had to postpone the day’s classes until Saturday. Awal’s reaction was more mild, but lasted longer – he felt ill, though never actually threw up, throughout Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. What’s more – we were cooking for ourselves at the time, so it was our own fault that we got so sick! 

    Classes were in the morning until 1pm, so we had the afternoons to ourselves – more practice, or feeling unwell, eating, and a little bit of exploring. In total, we spent two weeks in Sucre – a few days before the classes, and a few days after. The Freedom House National Museum is a great place to visit for some history. There aren’t a lot of plaques, so make sure you take a guided tour – they have them in English in the afternoon, though it’s best to check in person when exactly they run. The Mirador de la Recoleta is a great place to visit for stunning views over Sucre. Adjacent to it is the Museo de Arte Indigena – also a really cool museum which focuses on detailing, preserving and revitalising indigenous art forms. There’s a store out the front with beautiful works of art from the artists participating in the revitalisation, particularly of weaving, and you can have a complimentary tea in the garden afterwards. It’s a great spot.

    While we stayed at Spanish Friends School for the classes, we preferred staying at Hostel Pachamama – we got a room on the top level of a three storey complex, with a lovely view over some of the city, in a beautiful courtyard filled with blooming flowers. The family living there was incredibly lovely and welcoming, and we were always stoked to hang out with Mango the dog!

    Special food mentions in Sucre:

    • Wawa Pizza for affordable, delicious pizzas
    • Bienmesabe for really flavoursome, healthy Venezuelan-style arepas. Really great for post-food-poisoning stomach.
    • The Mercado Central for all the different typical local foods – they aren’t as cheap as if you find a small specialty shop, but the convenience is worth it.
    • SalteNeria el Patio – delicious SalteNas and an amazing setting to eat them in! Don’t spill the juice!
    • Cafe Mirador San Miguel – have a drink at the top of the bell tower at sunset for a stunning view. The cakes are pretty tasty.
    • And of course, SOMOS, our favourite cafe and consistent haunt in Sucre. Get a cinnamon roll! We’re still dreaming about it.

    Our favourite experience in Sucre was a totally random one. Our friend Guilherme was also in Sucre learning Spanish. He was immersing himself properly, going to community events wherever he could find them, and kindly invited us along to a painting workshop at the cafe at the Mirador de la Recoleta. We learned to paint with instant coffee, practiced our Spanish and met some other locals – one of whom, Elida, invited us over for coffee the next afternoon. We were a little hesitant – without Guilherme, whose Spanish was already skyrocketing, we were both a little shy and uncertain in casual conversation. But politeness and a desire to connect pushed us through the nerves. We turned up with some treats to share, and ended up having an incredibly lovely afternoon. Elida’s two dogs were hilarious – a silly boxer and a big german shepherd – her son was hanging around as well, and he had a little english, so when our Spanish fell short we could use some Spanglish. We had Colombian coffee and cake and chatted about our trip and life in Bolivia. Eventually, Elida’s granddaughter woke up from a nap, so her daughter brought her down to say hello – and then another of her friends came over, just to visit. It ended up being eclectic, wholesome and such a lovely time – one of those unexpected interactions that makes you love a place so much.

    Our two weeks in Sucre came to an end – our Spanish was better, we’d met lots of new people, made some amazing connections, eaten incredible food, and in general had time to recharge and relax from constant movement. Our next stop – Cochabamba, Bolivia’s gastronomic city.

    Cochabamba

    Cochabamba was a bit of an unknown to us, but we luckily picked an awesome hostel called El Pueblito – owned by Sergio. Sergio was a real king – he let us check in at 6am, and gave us sooo many tips on how best to enjoy Cochabamba. Cocha is a newer city – think upmarket restaurants, big boulevards, malls. There’s still a real sense of Bolivia as you know it in the historical centre – tight streets and a chaotic market spread over several blocks. But modernity is prevalent. One of the benefits of this is the bike path, which extends over much of the city, including past the iconic monument of Christ and around Laguna Alalay. Renting a bike or spending a few hours walking (or running!) along the bike lanes is a great way to see some of the city safely and without worrying about traffic. 

    If you’re looking to do something more active, there are a few day hikes in the hills surrounding Cochabamba. The city sits in a valley at about 2500m, but the surrounding hills rise up to over 5000m. One peak that you can climb is Tunari, to the north west of the city. It can be reached via public transport by taking a trufi to Quillacollo, and then another minibus to the trailhead, going towards Piusilla. We didn’t end up completing the hike, but it sounds like an awesome adventure for a day – even if you don’t make it to the top (with that altitude, watch out!), the adventure of getting there and back is definitely worth it.

    There are some other treks in the area too. We’d read about the Circuito de 20 Lagunas, an overnighter to the north of Cochabamba, but getting there required a taxi and was a bit pricey. We’d also read that some of the trails are now mostly mountain roads, rather than tracks in the hills. Instead of exploring this area, we decided to move on to Torotoro – a small town with an increasing popular national park, a couple of hours (and a very windy road) away from Cocha.

    When we stayed in Cochabamba, there was actually a real lack of hostel options – there only seemed to be El Pueblito and another in the middle of town. This should give you an indication of the number of backpackers this town sees. However, despite not being a popular tourist centre, as above there is still a bit to do – and it’s a great launching pad to get to Torotoro if you want to explore canyons and caves.

    Torotoro exists as a tourist location to service its National Park. In the way that these things go, this means it’s a little bit of a tourist trap, but we do think that the excursions are pretty cool and it’s worth a visit (especially in the current Bolivian economy). The National Park access system is a little strange. It’s impossible to enter without a guide – which makes sense, as the two main tours are canyoning and caving. You must get a group together before booking a tour – splitting the tour cost across your whole group. If someone wants to join after you’ve signed the paper and paid, it’s strictly not allowed. Staying at a popular hostel is your best bet for meeting a group – or finding some people in Cochabamba before you arrive. Of course, people will always be on the lookout, so you can loiter outside once the offices open to try find some random friends.

    On top of the tour/guide payment, you must pay entry to the national park – which is 100Bs pp, although the ticket lasts four days, so if you are planning to take multiple tours you won’t have to pay again. The tour guide office and the ticket office are adjacent to each other, and you can get all the information you need there.

    As mentioned, the two most popular tours into the National Park are a hike into the El Vergel CaNon, or a caving experience in Umajalanta. We only did the former, as we are both a little claustrophobic, and we’d read a few things mentioning that the quality of the guides is quite varied – not what two first-time, nervy people are keen on. The hike to El Vergel was a half-day activity, but we really enjoyed the wander round the park, and then the descent into the canyon, jumping across rocks, and finally the view across the canyon – it was a really enjoyable morning. The tour cost 250Bs for the group. The caving tour cost 700Bs, but it is more of a full day excursion. For people who are hoping to cram both into a trip – catch an early collectivo from Cochabamba to Torotoro, drop your bags off at your chosen hostel, and head to the offices. Head out on a tour of the canyon that afternoon. That night, meet some people at your hostel who are keen to jump on the caving tour the next day. Book the tour the next morning – spend the day squeezing through little holes and having a real adventure – then return to Torotoro. Either stay another night, if you’ve got time and prefer to relax, or jump on the next collectivo back to Cochabamba, as they run pretty constantly. 

    From the collectivo stop at Cocha, we walked straight to the bus terminal and booked our bus onwards – our next stop would be La Paz, the highest capital in the world!

  • 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.

  • An Essential Guide To Hiking in Northern Argetina: Tilcara-Calilegua Traverse (4 days)

    An Essential Guide To Hiking in Northern Argetina: Tilcara-Calilegua Traverse (4 days)

    This walk was a lesson in “if you’re willing to wing it a bit, it may just surprise you”. The Tilcara Traverse was a trail we picked based on a hasty search of Wikiloc, after a hot minute of deprivation from trekking (okay it was maybe three weeks… but it felt like months since Patagonia!). We weren’t certain what the hiking would look like in Bolivia, so we were willing to try something out before crossing the border. 

    We knew that we were going to be walking on paths less trodden by tourists, as all of the recommendations were by locals with local guides (and there were no blog posts at all!), but the kind contributors to Wikiloc had left great detail. The paths would still be well trodden, as the route we were going to take is one used by the people who live in the mountains – the range is dotted with pueblitos, so they need ways to connect to their neighbours, and to the roads for supplies. While the crossing from Tilcara to Calilegua is one of the most direct ways across the range, there are plenty of small trails that veer off to other villages and individual homes along the way. It’s an insight into a totally unique way of life in a really special part of the world; being able to see it first hand is a true privilege.

    It was also technically the ‘low’ season for this part of Argentina – being so far north, the summer/winter seasons are more like wet/dry, and of course hiking in the wet season is never ideal! 

    Click here to take yourself to short and sweet where we summarize this blog post.

    Tell me Everything

    Because the trail runs between villages, and actually amongst a lot of private land, the trek is a homestay to homestay number. We camped nights 1 & 3, and stayed in beds on night 2 (the weather was rubbish and the price was great… who were we to say no?), but even on the nights we camped, we were on someone’s property and were able to use a flushing (!) toilet and a makeshift shower. The relevant people can be contacted on WhatsApp before; this is most important for night one as the Yuto Pampa is not a village, but is a loose collection of houses – other homestays may be in the area but it’s not clear.

    Our original plan was to hike from Tilcara to Molulo, then return by the same route to Tilcara – because the trip back to Tilcara via road is so convoluted, and there are so many buses to catch, we were a little hesitant to waste a day or two travelling back around when we wanted to get to Bolivia (read: had meant to be in Bolivia two weeks prior…). However, the first two days were so spectacular (and we had descended SO much), that we decided to continue in the spirit of ‘just wing it’, and figure out the buses as we went along. And well… read on to see how that went!

    Day 1: Tilcara to Yuto Pampa (7-9hrs)

    It was not a good start. Our hostel host had organised a taxi pickup at 8am to the trailhead, which is at Casa Colorada, with an agreed price of 35000ARS – which was on the limit of what we were willing to pay for a 50 minute taxi. Halfway through breakfast our host burst in to inform us that the taxi was actually only going to take us to La Garganta del Diablo for 35K (a 30 minute drive, but the day before we’d walked it in one hour!) – and if we wanted to go to Casa Colorada, it was dependent on the ‘condition of the road’ (the weather had been perfect) and was going to cost us 50K! Clocking out at nearly 75NZD just to start our hike was an absolute no-go for us, and we were pretty upset as we felt like our host had been untruthful and it was feeling really, really scammy. We told him we couldn’t catch a taxi for that much and he got pretty mad – in Spanish, so unintelligible to us – and pretty much stormed out of the dining area while saying we had to follow up our end and take the taxi regardless of the cost.

    That was a pretty bad vibe – we had been planning to leave our spare kit at the hostel, but we really couldn’t afford to take this taxi, and we didn’t want to leave our stuff in the lap of someone who was potentially going to be looking for revenge. When the taxi arrived, we had a conversation about the mishap – the driver was very amicable, and relaxed about letting the job go. Nevertheless, with a few angry WhatsApp messages waiting on the phone, we shot out the door with all our things and spent the next 30 minutes finding a new hostel to book a room post-hike to secure our bag storage.

    In hindsight – we do think it was a genuine mistake by the host, and not that he was in kahoots with the taxi driver – partially because we walked past the taxi stand on the way out and checked their (always inflated) prices. The language barrier is always tough with this kind of thing. We spent the rest of the day to-ing and fro-ing – we were in the right, we were in the wrong. But at the end of the day it was done, and we had an extra 600m elevation and 6.5km to tackle!

    From Tilcara village, follow the track to La Garganta del Diablo. Without packs, this takes an hour – with packs and a burning sense of injustice, it also takes an hour! Continue along the road for another hour, climbing steadily, until you reach Casa Colorada. When we passed by, it seemed deserted; we had contacted them on WhatsApp for room prices out of curiosity, but there was no response at all, so we aren’t sure what the deal is there. Either way, it’s the last place you’ll find real shade the rest of the climb – so take a break!

    The road then continues on vaguely, but eventually peters out and becomes a normal track. The trail really just is switchbacks, cactus, and views over the valley until you hit the saddle. We were incredibly lucky with a cloudless stunner of a day but with a decent breeze, so we never got too hot. At beginning of the saddle, there’s a small river crossing via rock bridge, and then you enter a flatter valley filled with flowers and lush grass that rises to the maximum point of the hike, before descending somewhat to Yuko Pampa and El Cokena Refugio for the night.

    We would love to tell you that the views are gorgeous, that the descent into the pampa is magnificent – and while we’re sure it is, we have no clue personally, as the weather completely clouded over for us before we even reached the high point! We reached the refugio damp from cloud, rushing from impending rain, and feeling a little off from the altitude. It’s an important point to consider – even if you start from Casa Colorada, it’s a massive gain, and you’ll be sleeping quite high. We’d messaged El Cokena’s owner in advance, so they knew that we had our own gear – we guess that was why there was nobody there to greet us, and why the dorm rooms were firmly closed & locked. They don’t seem to live in or near the refugio (again, visibility was terrible, so we could have missed something), but there was a flushing toilet (that is, a toilet designed to flush, with big buckets of water to flush it yourself! No plumbing needed) and shower under a concrete shelter which were open to use. We had a bathroom, running water, and a flat space to pitch up – what else could you want!

    With the altitude playing tricks on our appetite, it was cookies with nutella and peanut butter for dinner, and an early night.

    Day 2: Yuto Pampa to Molulo (5-7 hrs)

    Day 2 also started a little miserable – the cloud hadn’t cleared, so we woke up fairly damp and still without a view. The altitude sickness was still playing on us, and who wants to cook breakfast in misty rain, so it was a quick pack down and off we went. The track continues to descend into a valley – and with this descent, we finally got some clearing clouds and some very cool sights of red clay against green hills, with horses and cattle peppering the hills. Down it goes (and down slips the hiker!) until the river that carves out the valley, and then it’s back up the other side. The track is not entirely clear in this section due to the livestock, so check your GPS regularly. The trail then winds around the tops of this part of the range for some time, which we think would give incredible views on a clear day – maybe even all the way to the yungas forest from certain points. We were lucky enough to see sporadic vistas of our close surroundings – little hamlets would appear randomly at the base of the ridge we were walking; peaks would suddenly loom out from across the valley; sunlight would peek through to warm and dry us off for a few minutes. Not quite knowing what we were walking through really added a layer of mystery to the journey. 

    Yea, couldn’t see nothing!!!!!

    The track eventually leads you into the village of Molulo. Here, there is a school and a little hospital, and a collection of houses and two or three homestays to pick from. The popular refugio in the pueblo is Refugio Lo de Lili (according to Wikiloc), but we found an alternative called ‘Mi Esperanza’ – and we couldn’t have been happier with our choice! The area is generally quite muddy, there’s not a lot of grass, plus we’d been walking in rain all day, so we elected to splurge for the night on a dorm bed each – 15K ARS each, about 21NZD. The family we stayed with were so kind and welcoming – plenty of chooks, a couple of friendly dogs and a tiny wee puppy wandered the yard, and along with Soledad, our host, there were four relatives of varying ages. They were all a little shy (except for the youngest – she was so curious, of course!), but we felt very welcome. The accommodation was basic, a mixture of traditional adobe and concrete, but so comfortable. Another ‘flushing’ toilet, too! They gave us some space once we were settled in by heading out (to a market, or a friend’s place – we weren’t sure), so we cleaned up and relaxed in the common area, had a hot drink and finally got set on cooking a hot meal!

    By the time our host Sole and her family returned, we were feeling pretty chuffed with our decisions and comfortable and warm inside. We knew a good night’s rest was just around the corner. We also knew that if we followed our original plan of an out-and-back, we were going to spend tomorrow hiking up all the downhill we’d just trekked down… so we decided to continue down the trail to Calilegua. We toyed with the idea of walking all the way out the next day – but Sole laughed at the idea, telling us that while she could walk all the way out in one day if she needed to, there was no way that us gringos would match her mountain pace! Our plan the next day would be to head to the next pueblo of San Lucas, and stay the night at Sole’s recommendation of Refugio Montana Ramona. 

    Day 3 :Mololu to San Lucas (6-8 hrs)

    We woke up early, (just in case we made good time and could make it all the way to the road) to clear skies on day 3. With a quick breakfast we began the trek down to San Lucas. The first part of the day was unbelievable – Molulo sits tight up against the hills facing east, but the refugio itself was tucked in behind some trees, so we couldn’t see the sun rising. However, once we were out of the village and onto the trail – the vistas were insane. We finally got the full picture of where we were walking. The track is reasonably flat to begin with, cut into the side of a hill. An alternative track runs along the ridgeline above you, if you want to start the day with an ascent to see a different view, but there are plenty coming. Our initial views were just across hills of alpine grass, but as we continued we got an idea of where we’d come from – even higher hills – and where we were going. The yungas were covered in cloud, as rainforest is so commonly, but the sights of the yellow-green of the pampas graduating into verdant forest, which quickly disappears into a blanket of cloud as far as the eye can see – well, it’s a pretty humbling perspective. 

    The track follows the sights – the rough alpine plants were replaced by bushes, then eventually trees began to surround us, and suddenly we were back amongst humid clouds. The altitude is still reasonable at this point, so it’s not hot – yet. The trail is pretty well worn and clear for this section, and the whole section is mostly downhill – but it still requires concentration, as it can get very, very slippery, especially on sections where the red clay is the prominent. There are a few small uphill sections, and throughout the trail enjoy the variety and beauty of the jungle growths.

    Walking into Refugio Montana Ramona

    Coming into San Lucas, the track widened out into a grassy area, with horses popping in and out of the bushes. Refugio Montana Ramona is well signposted and is the first dwelling in the village proper. The Refugio is run by two kindly old sisters; we arrived as they were doing some building work in one of their rooms – the language barrier meant we didn’t quite know what, or why, but we were eventually able to communicate that we just wanted a spot to pitch our tent, and we didn’t need food – it seemed like they weren’t keen to take dorm visitors and didn’t have the time to ‘host’ properly. Once they realised we weren’t going to be a hassle, they were happy for us to hang out. This refugio was so lovely. As it’s the first property in the village, it sits at the top of the hill with a great view of the valley. There’s an outdoor undercover space to hang out in, with a big table to sit and cook and eat. There’s only enough lawn to pitch one or two tents, but as we were the only ones there, it wasn’t a problem. And there was a proper flushing toilet, and a hot shower if you were feeling fancy! There are lots of other homestays in San Lucas, as it’s a reasonably big mountain village, but if you can get a spot at Ramona we would highly recommend it. 

    We had arrived quite early, so we spent most of the afternoon lounging, drying off our gear, playing with the kittens and the dog (or watching them get uncomfortably close to our tent), and generally enjoying life. Eventually the views turned to rain for the evening, so we were very happy with some shelter from the rain.

    Day 4: San Lucas to Pena Alta (2.5-4hrs)

    We woke up before sunrise to get on our way. We’d done some research before we left (and hence decided to only go halfway-and-back…), and our hosts confirmed that there was only one bus from the trailhead to Libertador General San Martin, and it came at 4pm. From Libertador General San Martin, we’d have to catch another bus to San Pedro de Jujuy. Then another to San Salvador de Jujuy. Then another to Tilcara. A logistical nightmare! But we were filled with hope – for hitchhiking is common enough in Argentina; all we needed was someone to be driving along the road.

    So we were off early, slipping and sliding through the clay tracks of San Lucas, in the morning mist. The track is a little convoluted through the town as there are lots of houses and connecting trails, but once you’re out it’s very straightforward to the road. The track descends quite a lot to start, down into a ravine. The track then follows the wall of the ravine, which is pretty spectacular, occasionally passing over or through connecting waterfalls. The descent is slow along the ravine, until it’s not! But this is the final section – a drop down to the water, across a bridge, and then back up 100m or so until the trailhead. By this time you will be sweaty – the altitude isn’t enough to stop the heat and humidity, and it’s really mosquito central. Have your bug spray ready if you want to stop. 

    We really hustled through this section, and took a short break at the road before beginning to walk towards San Francisco – the closest town about 7km away – as we thought that getting a hitch might be a bit more likely from there. Luckily, we weren’t walking for 20 minutes before a ute stopped for us – a friendly young Argentinian guy who was happy to take us to San Francisco, although his plan was to head to Termas del Rio Jordan, a famous thermal spot on the river, to pick up his friends who were kayaking down towards there. We thought that sounded ideal – a touristic area was way more likely to have people coming and going, and our chances of snagging a ride would be way better. Our new friend was munching on coca the whole way, and was happy to practice his English with us, so we had a good yarn before he dropped us off at Cañon de los Loros – a little further than he’d meant to go, as he needed to find a local guide to take him down to the termas. There were plenty of people at the Canyon, so we were hopeful, but all of them were tour groups who were just starting their canyoning tours, and then continuing onto San Francisco – so, the wrong way! 

    We hung around for 20 minutes or so, before Awal suggested continuing walking away from the groups of people. We looked a little out of place, there was a bit of traffic around, and there was a little bit of a mind game behind it, too. Do you think you’re more likely to give someone a hitch if you see them struggling? Looking miserable? Or just hanging out at a touristy area, looking hopeful and bright… Awal thinks the former is a better play, so we got our packs on and started walking (again) along the road. Now, it was really just luck, not strategy, because the first car drove past us while we were walking without a second glance, but the next car – well, it was our saviour! We were picked up by a super kind Argentinian couple from BA, who were on a birthday holiday in the north. We spent the whole drive out of Calilegua yarning – in broken Spanish, with a bit of Google Translate thrown in, but they were so interested, kind, and welcoming to their country. AND in a stroke of complete luck, they were staying in San Salvador – so they offered to drive us all the way there, directly to the bus station. We were totally overwhelmed with kindness – and the pure luck of being able to get back to Tilcara in a single day. 

    Lovely Argentinean couple that gave us a 4hr hitch

    This was one of those hikes that totally, unexpectedly worked in our favour. The views were sporadic but it meant they were so much more memorable. The locals were kind, helpful and welcoming – not just our hosts, but the people that we met on the trails who were going about their day to day. And of course, without the kindness of friends who offered us a ride all the way to San Salvador (4 hour drive), our experience would have been completely different. We finished up in Tilcara with warm hearts and full of gratitude.

    Keep it Short and Sweet:

    Climate: Wet in summer – December to March ; dry in winter – June to August

    Total Distance: 65km

    Elevation: 4500m up and 5780m down

    Description: A one way; homestay-to-homestay (book in advance via WhatsApp) track that traverses a mountain range. Walk between small mountain villages in alpine grasses into a humid jungle. If it’s not overcast, there should be fantastic views from the alpine hills across the jungle plains.

    Track: Non-technical, mostly well trodden, not always well marked.

    Facilities: Homestays with dorms or a space to camp; flushing toilets; makeshift shower; running water (filter needed); food available if you book in advance

    Getting there: The track can start from the town of Tilcara. The ‘road’ ends at Casa Colorada, so it’s possible to take a taxi if the conditions are good enough (50000ARS) or walk there from the town (extra 2-3 hours). 

    Day 1: Tilcara -> Yuto Pampa. Steep uphill most of the way, with views of Tilcara and the surroundings in the valley. At the ridge, take in the views then continue to descend into the pampas. The homestay we contacted didn’t have the bunkroom open, I believe because we had our own tent. The toilet and a makeshift shower were accessible. You will have passed through some substantial altitude, so increase your water intake and be sure to eat well. Homestay: El Cokena – Marcela (+54 9 388 477 9368)

    Day 2: Yuto Pampa – Molulo. Descend into the valley, cross the river, then ascend the other side. The track can get a little unclear in patches after this, so check your GPS to eventually descend into… and stay at the home of Sole Martines (+54 9 388 462 4023), Refugio Mi Esperanza

    Day 3: Molulo -> San Lucas. Continue around the alpine ridges for a few hours before descending into the jungle. It should still be cool enough that there aren’t any mosquitos. Stay at one of the homestays in San Lucas – we camped at Refugio MontaNa Ramona, which is the first refugio in the village, without a booking. 

    Day 4: San Lucas -> PeNa Alta (trailhead). Descend for about 4 hours, mostly alongside the river, in a ravine, until reaching the road at a point called PeNa Alta. You’ll be watching out for mosquitos by the end of this track – keep your repellent handy.

    Getting out: Is complicated! The range you’ve just walked over is not passable, so you have to drive all the way back round (or double your distance – hardcore). The bus only runs once a day from the trailhead to Libertador General San Martin at 4pm – 5pm. From there, take separate buses to San Pedro de Jujuy, onwards to San Salvador de Jujuy, then finally to Tilcara. Factor in an extra night to travel back. Agencies may offer private transport if you’re willing to pay. We were able to get a hitch hike straight back to San Salvador – which was incredibly lucky, as we only had to catch one bus.

  • Exploring Northern Argentina: Salta and Jujuy Provinces

    Exploring Northern Argentina: Salta and Jujuy Provinces

    It’s difficult to change the way one travels, as much as one may want to – old habits die hard, and our are formed from a deep-rooted need for organization and order, along with a strong sense of competition (it’s us vs. the daily budget). We are self-aware enough to realise that while on some days we can embrace ‘just going with it’, most of the time we do not. But as we reflect on our time and travels in Northern Argentina, we realise what really helped was keeping an open mind – to be more comfortable connecting through a stuttered conversation in Spanish, and a moment to take it all in.

    Tell me everything:

    As noted – the main attraction of the Salta and Jujuy provinces was the allure of revisiting Argentina at a more economical price, as our previous visits were in southern Argentina- much more on the $$$ side. We arrived in Salta on a Friday night from San Pedro de Atacama via a long bus ride through beautiful and winding mountains. In Salta, we were greeted by a lively, cheerful atmosphere. We walked from the bus terminal, down a main road into the centro historico, which also met alongside an evening craft market and a huge number of food stalls selling giant hot dogs, burgers and milanesas at thrifty wee prices. Families were out, friends were out – having been the first ‘city’ we’d visited in months (bar Santiago, which we literally breezed through), we were ready to enjoy some local comforts!

    Salta is nicknamed ‘La Linda’, the beautiful – the centro historico is well preserved, with white facades and lovely architecture perfect for photography. There are also plenty of churches to marvel at (we didn’t take a walking tour, so we don’t know why so many), so there’s a great calling for just wandering around, looking at knick knacks and shops during the day. We also love a good market – both for a good deal and to look at all the quality produce (even if we’re just going to cook a plain pasta dish – again). The mercado municipal in Salta is a great place to pick up anything you need – one thing I love about the South American markets is picking up dried herbs and spices, because you can just buy a massive bag all at once instead of the silly, tiny plastic bags they sell at the supermarkets. So much more efficient!

    Salta was also a major change in climate for us – we’d been from the wind and cold of Patagonia (even in the summer!) to having our noses dry out in Atacama, to Salta – hot late-summer days, a humid, jungle like feel and – god forbid – mosquitos in the backyard! Despite the heat, our favourite thing in the city was a sweaty hike up Cerro San Bernado. A well worn staircase will bring you from some fancy suburbs up to the summit with magnificent views across the city. You can take a cable car up to the summit if you aren’t able to walk it, and from the summit you can also catch a gondola to a neighboring peak – for even more views! Bring plenty of water in the summer – it’s a hot one.

    Now for something we haven’t covered in a while – food! After many moons of cooking and eating dinner in our hostel, we were able to get something more than just a coffee. In Salta, we had the best lunch of empanadas we’d ever thought we could find. There are lots of little spots selling empanadas, and lots of Google Maps reviews stating ‘they’re the best we had in Argentina!’. Certainly, the quality across the board is higher, but our favourite spot was called La Ollita. It’s not in the centro historico but so absolutely worth it. Not only were the empanadas fabulous value for money – so kind was the lady who took our order – patient with our poor Spanish, full of recommendations, big on smiles. We bought a dozen empanadas to share – 6 chicken, in the oven, 6 cheese, fried – all of them, to die for! We ate them in a nearby park, freshly cooked, and burnt our mouths enjoying them so much.

    Another key element in the food scene of Salta, and north Argentina in general, is the Pena. Penas are an experience, not just a restaurant, made so by the musicians who occupy the rooms every night. A talented group will be employed or contracted by the restaurant to play traditional folklore music late into the evening. Classically Argentina, penas only open late, and run late into the night. We must have left around 11 and there were still people just arriving for dinner – on a Sunday, too! We visited ‘La Casona del Molino’ for our experience – it seems to be a bit of an institution, for tourists and locals alike. We booked in advance via Whatsapp, because while you can turn up at any time, there was a line waiting for the doors to open. Once we were in, we were guided through a series of rooms to sit out the back – my impression was that you could sit anywhere, or at least that moving around was acceptable, as each of the different areas had different performers – pick your style of music, pick your seating, and have the perfect night! The food was plentiful, and good quality, and the two fullahs who performed in our section had the most stunning voices – many of the locals were singing and clapping along, but there were a few other clueless gringoes peppered about too. We ordered the parrilla for two (great value!) plus tried the Locro, a (delicious) regional stew. If you can’t make it to La Casona, or don’t want to head so far out of town (it’s very safe to walk around at night in Salta, so if you need to walk off a big meal, it’s doable!), you can try Balcarce Street for alternative penas.

    Feed at the Pena

    One night, we cooked at home, but felt like a little something extra… wandering down Avenue San Martin towards the bus terminal from the centre will offer plenty of street fast food – think fries, sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs – in a super cheerful setting. We grabbed a (very salty) milanesa to eat for second dinner, and enjoyed watching the people go by. Just a note for where the cheap little snacks are!

    Now, getting out of Salta and around the province is a very popular trip; plenty of agencies offer day excursions, to the North, West and South. If you want to explore more of this area of Argentina, renting your own car is the best way to do it – however, we were sold on the prospect of travelling north towards Bolivia. It seemed to be a fairly blanket cost of 35000ARS pp for a full day tour – not including lunch, but including quite a lot of driving, in some cases! 

    In Salta Province, many of the pueblitos (small towns) are so popular because they are so cute – think colourful buildings, or well maintained colonial architecture, handicraft markets and real local vibes. A lovely combination of good photography ops and a real snapshot into Argentinian life. We didn’t visit any specifically, but we got some details from a local tour agency and did a little research to figure out what we thought was worth it. We think overall, a road trip through the following would serve you better – more time to pick some day hikes, and more freedom to skip the spots you find boresome! 

    To the south, the key stop is Cafayate, a wine-making town set amongst red rocks. Tours definitely include a stop at the Quebrada de Las Conchas, the Shell Canyon, to check out some fossils and rocks, but I think the itinerary has a few other spots en route – this area has a number of vistas.

    Immediately to the west of Salta is the town of Cachi – although it’s not so straightforward to get to, as there is a mountain range in between! However, day trips do still go here to see this picturesque little town and we did some reading that there is also some hiking to be found in the mountains of this area.

    Heading to the North West will take you past the Salinas Grandes – Argentina’s own salt flats. We didn’t need to take this tour, as our bus from San Pedro took us along highway 52 and straight through the middle of them! While we didn’t stop, it was a stunning sight out the window, so we think worth a visit. 

    Usually tours will loop back through the town of Purmamarca, a town known for its ‘Mountain of Seven Colours’. The valley that it’s set in is certainly beautiful (again, our bus passed through on the way to Salta), but we didn’t see it in the flesh.

    Now – we can give a little bit of personal advice on heading to the north! By this time in mid-March, we’d had nearly three weeks since our last multi-day hike – and we were itching for another way to explore the countryside. Using Wikiloc, we found a few random multiday trails, but nothing seemed particularly popular in this area – moreso because summer is the rainy season in the jungle areas. We decided to try out a trek from Tilcara, which had a handful of good reviews – a homestay-to-homestay hike, from the alpine pampas to the humid jungle. We’ll do another post on the details but – this was definitely one to remember! We had some incredible uplifting interactions with people, and a real taste of Argentinian hospitality and kindness that you may hear so much about.

    Other than a multi-day, Tilcara is popular for a short day-hike to the Gargantua del Diablo (if you read the last post, you’ll find this is a recurring theme – though this one refers to a waterfall rather than a narrow gorge!), which is a nice way to spend a morning. The entrance was 3000ARS pp. The market in Tilcara is tidy, and a great place to pick up fresh produce and see what’s up. We also found a really lovely cafe that served the most insane cakes – La Casa de Champa. We both got a full portion slice, which it turned out to be a mental amount of sugary deliciousness – we had to take the leftovers away. Their outdoor area was lovely to sit in, and we spent some time journaling here. Otherwise, Tilcara has quite a few international restaurants for such a wee town. If you’re looking for a cheap meal, Killa O Wasi serves a decent menu del dia for dinner, with basic but yummy kai. There’s a couple of other spots to check out if you want to spend more than a day here, a historical site and a cactus filled botanical garden, but we didn’t go for them.

    Tea and coffee at La Casa De Champa

    Our next stop on the trail up to Bolivia was Humahuaca, which bests Purmamarca with its Mountain of 14 Colours! We took a ‘tour’ for 15000ARS each, though the tour guide didn’t have much to say (and all of it was in Spanish – and ours was still not very good at this point!), we met our Brazilian friend Guillerme and a wonderful Argentinian couple by taking a shared van up to the site. We saw a few Vicunas on the way up (how are their eyes so large?), and the mountain itself is gorgeous and lovely to just gaze upon. It does run up to quite a high altitude, so if you decide to take the short walk to the lower viewpoint, be prepared to puff on the way up! And in another unexpected moment of kindness, on the drive back down Florian & Esteban helped us indulge in our first mate experience – kindly, not judging when we didn’t know to slurp on the straw as we finished. And while we have no frame of reference, their organic yerba was incredible and delicious and we are so grateful that on our last day in Argentina, we were able to experience such a key part of this culture!

    Photo with Florian, Esteben and Guillerme after our first mate experience

    Other than this tour, there’s not a lot to do in Humahuaca – but there’s some good cheap street food near the river, and we tried Llama Cazuela in one of the restaurants here – a traditional plate of the area. One thing that we might’ve tried if we had a little more time (or the freedom of our own car) is a tour to Inca Cueva, which is a historical site to the north of Humahuaca that involves a small amount of hiking.

    And thus ended our excursions in Argentina’s north – a part of our trip that surprised us, surprised us, and surprised us again. Everything in travel is great for different reasons, and while ‘no expectations!’ can give you a good experience, it’s the unexpected human interactions and snapshots of a whole different culture that leads to satisfaction.

    Keep it Short & Sweet:

    • Salta: Not the home of the Saltena, but certainly an excellent place to pick up a delicious Empanada, or experience local food and traditional music at a Pena. 
    • Spend a morning walking up Cerro San Bernado for some sweet views. 
    • Wander through the old town for shopping, chaos and churches galore! 
    • Pick up cheap street food along Av. San Martin. 
    • And it’s a great place to start a road trip, or take some full day tours: explore South for canyons, wine tastings and gentle hikes, West for the Salinas Grandes, or North for charming towns tucked in alongside dramatic Andean valleys. In March 2025, all of the day tours were about 35000 pp.
    • Explore the north: 
    • Tilcara offers a sweet day hike to the Gargantua del Diablo (if you read the last post, you’ll find this is a recurring theme – though this one refers to a waterfall rather than a narrow gorge!), or an extraordinary hike across the mountains, from the pampas through to the selva. Check out our next blog post for more details.
    • At Humahuaca you can jump in a 4×4 to explore Serrania de Hornocal, the mountain of 14 colours, or if you feel like a dash of history, a day tour to Inca Cueva, an old Incan site.

  • 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!