We stayed at one of my favorite hostels I have ever stayed in: Antarctica Hostel. The rooms were quiet & warm. The kitchen and common area were bright, airy, and easy to meet people. The kitchen was a dream to cook in as well. Free breakfast was great! The staff were so lovely. It’s very close to the main walking street. Don’t hesitate to stay here.
We literally ate almost every meal at the hostel When you have a great hostel kitchen, especially in an expensive area, you take advantage. We did find delicious (cheap) empanadas around the corner at La Marmita. Don’t miss the chicken ones – that one was our favorite!
There are some things to do here, but we were honestly here just to prepare for our Antarctica voyage. A lot of the main things to do will be better in Antarctica so we were comfortable skipping the activities in Ushuaia. Here is an excellent overview of your options!
My favorite thing to do was enjoy walks & runs along the water front. The only other thing we did was hike Laguna Esmeralda, but the weather was horrible haha. We battled strong winds, rain & sleet. It was freezing. So maybe check the weather before going
Ushuaia is very cute and if you want to say you’ve been to the most southern city in the world, then don’t miss it! But in general I wouldn’t go way out of my way to come here.
I don’t even know where to start. This was such an incredible adventure.
Sonja & I booked this trip 6 months in advance through Freestyle Adventure, one of a few agencies that sell Antarctica trips. Historically, one of the best ways to get cheap deals to the continent was to sit in Ushuaia and wait for a last minute deal on unsold inventory. This has become less effective as of late as Covid decimated some operators & demand continues to grow which means there are less rooms going unsold. That being said, there were definitely some deals that got swooped up by some fellow backpackers we met at our hostel in Ushuaia. My advice is to actually book ahead of time and try to get an early bird deal. Sign up for the newsletters that some of the agencies offer. Define what kind of trip you want to go on: the cheapest or a luxury option? 11 day efficient trip to the Antarctica Peninsula or an 18+ day trip that includes the Falkland Islands? Do you want it to include a charter flight to/from Buenos Aires? Do you want to go in early Dec to see more sea ice and penguins sitting on eggs, or in Feb to see peak whale season? Etc. As you begin to peruse the deal emails, you’ll start to familiarize yourself with the different options and price points! From there as soon as you see a trip that fits your budget, timing, level of luxury, I would hop on it! It’s obviously not a cheap adventure, but in our research we saw trips anywhere from $5k USD to 35k USD so there is a big price range. You could also try reaching out to the cruise lines directly to see if they will price match.
I was overwhelmed with how to pack amidst only having a 35L carryon backpack and needing to pack for other climates for the rest of my 2.5 month adventure throughout South America. However, it was easier than I thought it would be. Here are my best tips on what to pack:
Here’s another packing list to check out.
Our room was spacious (we got upgraded and we loved having the extra space!). The room had two twin beds, a sitting area, closet and bathroom. Everything felt of high quality. We had a Juliet balcony, which was fabulous for when we felt too sick to get out of bed but still wanted to see the landscapes.
On board there were two bars, a restaurant, a snack bar, a pool & hot tub, a spa, a sauna and a gym. There were multiple decks for viewing outside & an auditorium for lectures. There was also a front desk and a nice sitting area for playing cards and chatting in your downtime.
We spent 2 days at sea battling the Drake Passage on the way there and 2 days on the way back. Luckily on the way there it was about a 6/10 and on the way back it was only a 2/10 so overall not too bad. Sonja & I both got decently sea sick on the way there despite taking dramamine (Sonja even threw up) but we found that as long as we were horizontal lying in bed, it wasn’t too miserable. On the way back we were both totally fine, although we both had sourced patches from other passengers so hard to say if that is why we felt better.
We spent the first two days at sea doing some prep for the time in Antarctica. The ship held lectures (luckily we could watch from our beds), had mandatory briefings for camping & kayaking, we went down to get fitted for our provided jackets and boots in the locker room and learned what the rough schedule was going to be. Generally the main takeaway was we needed to be flexible as conditions change at a moment’s notice and so we should be prepared for nothing to actually go as planned.
Once in Antarctica, we had two excursions per day, usually one landing and one zodiac ride. One day we went kayaking instead of the zodiac ride. You are divided up into groups and when it’s your groups time slot you head down to the locker room to get you gear on and then line up for the zodiac boats. The first activity of the day was typically between 8:30-10:30 and the afternoon activity was typically between 2-4pm. Each group’s activity was an hour long. For example, groups A & B would go from 8:30am- 9:30am and then groups C & D would go from 9:30am-10:30am. I would usually order breakfast to the room so I could eat when we got back from the activity. Lunch was from 12-1:30pm and then it was time to get ready for activity number 2 of the day. After the afternoon excursion, we would all chill on the boat, either in the hot tub, in our rooms, journaling, playing monopoly deal, out on the deck watching for whales, or at one of the bars. There is no drinking until after the second excursion. Dinner was served from 7-9pm.
Sometimes there were lectures peppered throughout the day as well. We also had the polar plunge and camping mixed in when they determined the conditions were good!
Polar plunge & camping!
Every season in Antarctica is fabulous but if there are certain animals you want to see, then you should consider what month you want to visit! If you want to see more whales, later in the season will give you the best chance. If you want to see penguins sitting on eggs before they hatch, late Nov/early Dec is your best bet. If you want to see baby fluff ball penguins, go in late Dec/early Jan. Here’s a good breakdown of what you’ll likely see when.
We got incredibly lucky and saw sooo many animals! I felt like I was on an adrenaline high the entire time.
We saw Weddell seals, Crabeater seals, Elephant seal and even a Leopard seal with her pup. Sometimes we saw them on land and sometimes floating on icebergs.
We saw three types of penguins: Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo. I loved them all. They were so chill and curious about us humans. They would let us walk right on past them with no disturbance. When we camped overnight, they walked all through the camp and also kept us up all night with their noises haha. We were there in early Dec so lots of them were mating and also keeping the eggs warm. If I get to go back to Antarctica, I’d love to go when the babies have hatched!!
We saw sooo many whales! I think we probably saw 50+ humpback whales over the course of the week. We even accidentally got too close to one after it was bubble feeding and it almost knocked us over with its fluke (tail). INCREDIBLE!
We also had the magical experience of hanging out with a pod of Orcas for the afternoon, which is rare as they don’t often sit in one spot. Our expedition leaders shared that they were mating, hence them staying in one bay for a few hours.
There were tons of birds as well, but I honestly don’t know their names. I need to get better at my birding skills haha.
Antarctica is incredibly grand. Beautiful mountains. Huge icebergs. So much sea ice!
This place was truly a spectacular sight to be seen. I was completely blown away. It exceeded every expectation I had. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who had even the slightest bit of interest in going. It was tranquil. It was calm. It was quiet. It was enormous. It was imposing. It was breathtaking. It was dynamic. It was white. It was blue. It was magnificent. It also felt so special to know that you are part of a very small percent of humans that get the privilege of seeing this part of the world with your own eyes. I am so grateful.
We stayed at El Patagonico in Puerto Natales. It was a great hostel. Big open concept kitchen + common area that was really cozy. The outdoor garden was great for phone calls. The rooms were quiet and we got good nights sleep here. Wifi worked great. Highly recommend staying here!
Puerto Natales is full of cute restaurants and cafes! We celebrated Sonja’s birthday here as well so we tried out some nice spots:
There’s not much to DO in Puerto Natales, unless you are using this as your base to/from the park. Given we had the luxury of traveling slower, we enjoyed 2 days before and after the park here just preparing and catching up on admin stuff. It’s a lovely, lovely spot for a chilled out break. It was Sonja’s birthday so we had a spa treatment at Vibenso Spa (at the Darwin Hotel) We did enjoy walking along the waterfront, as well as just around the small town. We also met some new friends to play monopoly deal and explore the park with!
I really liked the town itself, but if you aren’t using it as a base then you don’t need to spend all that long here. If you are using it as a base, then prepare yourself for some long days. Our friend Gabbi met us in the park and she had to leave at 6:45am and returned at 10:30pm using the bus. We’d recommend renting a car, no matter whether you stay close to the park or in PN.
We splurged a little and stayed at a hotel near the park entrance to save some back & forth driving. Estancia Dos Elianas ended up being the perfect little spot! The room was so cozy and the heat cranked, which was much needed after chilly days in the park. Breakfast was included as well. There were cute cats & a dog on the grounds as well.
Don’t count on access to gas or an ATM once in the park, so be prepared. We found a hotel 5 min from that ended up selling us some gas from a gas canister – when in Patagonia!!!
Honestly either bring your own food or bring your wallet lol. Because we had splurged on a hotel and a rental car, we decided not to buy food while at the park. Knowing we wouldn’t have access to a kitchen, we brought ingredients to make sandwiches for lunch & packs of ramen since all we would need is some hot water to cook that. We got very creative haha.
We found that the refugios or other cafes that are supposedly open in the park were sometimes closed or were very expensive. The only thing we bought was a hot chocolate at Hosteria Pehoe. It was $5 but the views were worth it.
Again, obviously the most popular thing to do here is the W Trek, O trek or hiking to Grey Glacier. We did none of those things. As I mentioned earlier, because we weren’t sure of our dates as we planned our South American adventure, Sonja & I didn’t want to lock ourselves into anything ahead of time. Instead, we spent 3 days exploring the park with our rental car. Some of our new friends from Puerto Natales met us in the park and joined us for 2 of the days as well. The park felt very empty since everyone who was here was doing one of the more popular hiking adventures. Here’s what we did do to fill our three days:
This park is stunning! Take your time, and enjoy the park beyond the W Trek. We loved having the park to ourselves. Our introduction to Patagonia lived up to the hype!
We stayed at Rancho Grande hostel. The customer service was pretty bad and the downstairs was a restaurant so it was sometimes hard to distinguish who was staying versus just eating. Luckily the upstairs was just backpackers. The beds were not great but got the job done. We were worried it would be hard to meet people but we ended up finding our tribe. The kitchen was horrible and disgusting, but when prices are sky high, you make it work. Overall I would try to find a different hostel or airbnb before staying here, but it’s not the worst place in the world.
Since it was so expensive here, we did lots of cheap backpacker dinners at the hostel, but here were out highlight finds in town:
Hiking, hiking, and more hiking! Honestly if you don’t like hiking, then there wouldn’t be a reason to come here haha. This town is known as the “hiking capital” of Argentina. It’s like a ski town but for hiking. Most trailheads are walking distance from town, which is so cool! The two big hikes we took on:
You could spend many days here and still have hikes to explores for the first time. Other than the prices, I don’t have any complaints. It’s a very cute mountain town that is small enough to start to feel like you’ve lived there for years by day 3. You quickly start to recognize people in town & I never tired of the views. Anywhere between 4-7 days is great here (as long as you like hiking). Have I made that clear?!
We stayed at Red House Hostel and had a mixed experience. The hotel itself was cute, clean, and in a pretty good location, but the staff were rude. Breakfast was from 7-10 but the pancakes would run out at 7:30am… which is odd, like just make enough if you know people are staying there. Also the common area shuts at 11pm sharp so there is no place to hang and play cards or make a phone call home if time zones don’t align with Argentina. I had to spend 2 hrs in the freezing cold to speak to a friend. I still think it’s not a bad spot, but just consider the above. It’s a small hotel so very easy to meet people!
We did lots of cooking at the hostel but here are the two places we went that I would recommend:
The main, almost only, thing to do here is visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. And boy is it a stunner! If you have enough people, renting a car can be cheaper & more efficient than taking the bus or a tour, but plan ahead because rental cars can get pricy last minute (if you can even find one). We were quoted $250 per day so we decided to just do the tour. We opted to upgrade and include the boat ride for an extra ~$85. It was pretty cool to see the glacier up close, but if you are on the fence, I would say the boardwalks also do a comprehensive way to see the glacier (just $55).
I loved the glacier. It was a total highlight for me. I had been saying “what’s the big deal about glaciers” since every other one we had seen was just firmly fine. This one knocked my socks off. Do not miss seeing this thing. You probably only need 2 nights here (to allow for one day visiting Perito Moreno), but we are happily traveling a bit slower these days to allow for some lazy ready & monopoly deal days. This was a perfect spot for a few extra days.
Patagonia is not a cheap travel destination in South America. Most people here are on vacation, rather than long term backpackers. It also tends to be more remote locations so it’s more expensive to get goods there.
Total: $1870 (Daily average: $119)
Transportation to next destination: $177 (Flight to Ushuaia)
We stayed at Lagares Hostel and honestly did not like it. We had a private room but the beds were very saggy in the middle. The hostel just felt very dark, like no natural light. Breakfast was pretty subpar. There was zero atmosphere and it was very hard to meet people. Overall don’t recommend 4/10.
Overall we weren’t really all that impressed with the restaurants we tried in Mendoza. We also found the service at restaurants to be weirdly bad. The two spots we’d recommend:
The highlight here is wine tasting!! It was slightly novel as the main way people wine taste here is to rent a bike and cycle your way through a few wineries throughout the day. While I am not a huge alcohol drinker, I actually had a blast biking around in the sun while staring through the vineyards to the Andes in the background. We visited Mevi, Tempus Alba and Entre Olivos for some wine, snacks, and an olive oil tasting!
If you are a wine lover, then don’t miss a visit here. Sonja was absolutely in love with it and would’ve done a few more days of wine tasting. I was sorta ready to leave after the one day of wine tasting haha. The city itself didn’t wow me and just felt like a big city. It definitely didn’t feel touristy, but also didn’t feel super nice.
Mendoza felt overall pretty reasonable compared some of the places we had been to lately.
Total: $163 (Daily average: $54)
Transportation to next destination: $70 (RT bus to/from Santiago)
There are tons of hotels, B&B’s and guesthouses around the island. We stayed at Hostal Vieroto, which ended up being exactly what we needed. We loved the location right across from Playa Poko Poko, which offered a man-made swimming hole and grassy area under the palm trees to read your book. It’s about a 3-5 min walk to the main strip of restaurants and the beach where the turtles swim. The property wasn’t fancy by any means, but the beds were comfy and the bathrooms were clean. The kitchen wasn’t great but it did the job (we wish it was cleaner & was better stocked with cooking utensils). The owner also had two cute big dogs roaming about.
We honestly ate a ton at the hostal, but I’d recommend the following three spots:
Summary of options in Rapa Nui:
Pro tip: You need to purchase your Rapanui National Park Ticket ahead of time (we bought ours at the visitor center in town using a credit card). Also, most parts of the park require you to visit with a tour guide so a tour is basically the only way to go.
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, totally blew us away. We both expected to learn about the Moai statues & the mystery surrounding how they were moved around the island. We didn’t expect a tropical paradise full of sunshine, turtles & beaches AND incredible Moai statues. I can’t recommend this place enough. It just was so special to be in the middle of the ocean learning about this beautiful culture.
Easter Island is definitely not a cheap spot to visit, but it also wasn’t as expensive as I feared.
Total: $462.6 (Daily average: $93)
Transportation to next destination: $328 (RT Flights to/from Santiago)
I loved my hostel here! When I began searching for the right spot, every review of Hostal Mamatierra mentioned how clean it was. It lived up to its reputation! It was so cozy, clean and had the best hostel breakfast I’ve had in a while. Pancakes, fruit, & eggs in addition to cereal & yogurt. Very easy to meet people and it’s small enough that you actually end up talking to almost everyone over breakfast or in one of the hammocks. Easy to book tours through the front desk as well. Beds were comfy and the rooms were cleaned every day! Overall a 10/10, can’t recommend enough!
There are sooooo many tours & activities in San Pedro! Your accommodation will likely have a booklet or packet for you to peruse with all the options. Also it felt like almost every other business in town was a travel agency who are happy to book you onto one of their tours.
Because the landscape is quite similar to that of Southern Bolivia, I opted to skip some of the (sometimes) pricy tours. The two I chose to do:
There are many, many other tours like floating in a salty lagoon, hot springs, geysers and more. See here for a comprehensive overview of your options or just ask your hostel/hotel when you arrive
Atacama is a very cute, but touristy spot in the north of Chile. It’s fairly expensive, but I really enjoyed it. It was a fabulous spot to spend 5 days, soaking up the warmth & sun after the cold mountains in Bolivia. I met fun travelers and loved my hostel. Highly recommend this on any Chile itinerary as the nature is stunning!
We cannot recommend Ventana Sur more if you stay in Santiago! It’s basically a home converted into a hostel, which makes it so cozy and incredibly easy to meet people. Free breakfast is yummy and everyone sits at one of two large tables so you get to know everyone. Each night people are hanging out, drinking socially and playing games. The neighborhood is wonderful and incredibly safe (huge perk). We loved being here and Ivan is a wonderful host!
I had been to Santiago before so I honestly didn’t do much. Last time I was here I did a day trip to Valparaíso (Sonja did this while we were here), which is popular. We did do a walking tour with two women from our hostel, which is always a great option while in a big city to efficiently get a bit of history.
The highlight was accidentally stumbling upon Santa Lucia Hills. It’s a beautiful park with a peak offering 360 degree views of the city and surrounding mountains. Highly recommend visiting here.
Other friends from the hostel went on a wine tasting here that they raved about so might be worth checking out if that’s your thing.
Santiago was not my favorite place the first time I came here 6 years ago. This time I had a blast, mostly because of the peaceful, cafe filled neighborhood we stayed in & because the hostel was perfect! We met so many wonderful humans here.
Chile is definitely not a cheap country in South America.
Accommodation: $240 ($21.8 per night)
Food: $251
Groceries: $15
Activities: $86
Local Transportation: $98
Miscellaneous: $77 (includes some gifts)
Total: $767 (Daily average: $70)
Transportation to next destination: $35 (bus to Mendoza)
]]>Side note: My friend, Sonja & I reunited in La Paz to begin our 2 month South America adventure together! A quick reminder: we met in a hostel in Thailand 8 months ago (Jan 2024) and realized we are both doing big around the world trips and coincidentally would be overlapping a few times throughout 2024. We began with a reunion in Laos in February, and then a meetup in Japan in March, where she met my cousin and Dad! Next up Sonja did a 3 month camper van trip around the US, Canada, & Alaska so I convinced her to come visit me in Lake Tahoe since I spent the summer there. Our final meetup is our most exciting: 2 months in South America through Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and ANTARCTICA!!
I stayed at Wild Rover La Paz, an Irish owned hostel in the heart of La Paz. It’s definitely a party hostel, but we actually didn’t mind it. There were tons of other backpackers and it was easy to make friends. We requested a room away from the bar so noise wasn’t an issue. There are shared coed bathrooms as a heads up, but it was fine for us. The beds were very comfy & had curtains and personal plugs. They were built in bunk beds so no wobbly movements when your bunkmate gets into bed!
The location was great as it’s close to a supermarket, some cute restaurants and the gondolas. The cute walking street filled with tons of restaurants was only a 15 min away.
Well Sonja and I are obsessed with breakfast food & a cute cafe (you can see why we travel well with each other!) so we became creatures of habit and ate at the same 4 places over and over again
There is a TON to do in La Paz. There are mountains to climb, cable cars to traverse, Death Roads to bike down, & rock landscapes to check out. Walk into any agency (there are hundreds) and they will happily tell you what all your options are. Pro tip: Ask for a discount if you book a few tours through one agency, and don’t book through your accommodation as it will always be more expensive. Wild Rover offered tours that were 50-100% more expensive than the agency down the street
We spent a lot of time acclimatizing to the elevation (don’t underestimate the effects), but we enjoyed conquering the Death Road. The Death Road near La Paz in Bolivia is one gigantic winding snake of a road (specifically ~69 km/40 miles long) named Yungas Road. It was built in the 1930’s to connect the Amazonian jungle to La Paz. Before it was shut to cars, around 300 people died annually driving the road, thus its name as Death Road. At one point you can look down and see a bus that is still visible half way down the cliff. Very sad to see the remnants of all that the Death Road has taken from Bolivian families. At times, it’s only about 3 meters wide, and protective barriers are nonexistent. With the rain, fog, and landscapes, it is easy to see how it lives up to its name. Now, the only use is for tourists to mountain bike down as a group (and while there’s far fewer deaths for bikers than drivers, people do still die on this road so take precautions). You start at 15,230 ft (4600 m) and end at around 3870ft (1200m). This is like going from the base of Breckenridge Ski Resort all the way down to sea level & then add 2000 more feet. We had a blast, but it was definitely hard biking down steep gravel. I heard from lots of backpackers that we met that either they themselves or others on their group had fallen and gotten hurt. Luckily neither of us fell, and no one from our group fell either. I biked very, very slowly haha. I did not want to injure myself before our trip to Patagonia or Antarctica! It was wild going from the chilly, barren mountain tops all the way down to the hot and humid jungle in one day. It also definitely took a toll on our body – neither of us felt 100% the next day due to the extreme changes in elevation we put our body through. I’d still recommend it though!
I also did a day hike to Charquini with a tour since I didn’t feel up to attempting Pico Austria (one full day hike) or Huayna Potosi (3 day tour/hike). It was high up (started at 15,560 ft & at the lagoon we were at 16,340 ft) but I surprisingly felt fine. It’s a short 1.5 hour hike (roundtrip) and while it was pretty, I think it would be better during the winter when there is a blanket of snow! I wouldn’t say it’s a can’t miss experience. Pico Austria & Huayna Potosi are more worthy of the bucket list if you are feeling up for it.
Another highlight was the spending an afternoon riding the Cable Car system around La Paz. Like Medellin, they use cable cars as a form of their public transit since the city is nestled within a valley. It cost me around $2usd to ride 4-5 different lines and I just made a huge circle around the city. It was such a fabulous way to see La Paz from a different perspective!
I had a self care day as well where I had my hair washed (such a backpacker luxury) and I had a massage at Spa Bolivia Home con Altura. The massage was $20 with tip and while it wasn’t the BEST massage i’ve had, for $20usd I can’t complain
I really enjoyed spending 9 days in La Paz, but you certainly don’t NEED that long here. The city is chaotic, more run down than Buenos Aires, but charming and the people are so friendly. I never felt unsafe here. I think 4-5 days would be a good amount (since you’ll need some time to acclimatize before jumping into all the fun activities).
The first night we stayed in a hotel made from salt, which was pretty cool! It was still quite basic, but we slept well after the first day of activities. Showers cost around $2USD. Wifi also cost extra. I enjoyed being unplugged and playing cards with one of the women from my group.
The second night we slept way high up (~14,500 ft), and it was COLD. I think I wore 3 layers to bed and I was still chilly. VERY basic accommodation, no heating (obviously), no shower, and paid wifi. We had dinner and breakfast here and it wasn’t executed as well as the first night, but we were in the middle of nowhere, so we just tried to embraced the experience
Obviously the tour provides all the food so not many choices to be made. Overall the food was decent and we didn’t go hungry. I would recommend bringing a few snacks in the car in case you need a chocolate pick me up (as I always do )
You cover a lot of ground over the 3 day tour:
Day 1 is focused on the Salt Flats. You do start with the train graveyard where there are a lot of old trains. We also visited a town where they process a lot of the salt. Then we were off the to the Salt Flats itself. This was the highlight for me for sure! Such an incredible landscape that I’ve never experienced before. You could spin 360 degrees and all you could see was salt & the blue skies. Remarkable! We also visited the Isla Incahuasi – an island that used to be an underwater volcano. There’s volcanic rock and coral remaining and now a bunch of cacti live there. They are huge!
You get a chance to take lots of fun, silly photos that mess with perspective! The guides are usually pros at this (but ours was only alright, unfortunately).
Day 2 is focused on lagoons and the desert. This was still pretty cool, but I definitely preferred day 1. We saw lots of flamingos, llamas and even a desert fox! We had a picnic lunch where all the Viscacha, while technically a part of the chinchilla family, they resemble rabbits, joined us. They were happy to take any of the carrots we dropped. We reached over 16,000 feet (which I think is the highest elevation I’ve ever been to!). We visited some geysers before arriving to our accommodation. The thermal hot springs were an option but I was honestly too cold to think about getting wet without access to a hot shower afterwards
Day 3 was actually not a full day at all. The folks who were heading to Chile were dropped off at the border crossing around 9:30am after seeing some more lagoons. The rest had a very long drive back to Uyuni where the tour began. They then would hop onto another night bus back to La Paz. I was very grateful I only had an hour drive to Atacama ahead of me. The border crossing was very smooth and the tour guide got me settled onto the bus to Atacama. Now time to sleep
I always get so tired/burned out from these types of tours but they are incredibly efficient and you sorta just have to do it haha. Usually you meet some great people and see some cool sights. I didn’t love my group except one German girl. Also, it’s very hit or miss whether you get a good guide, so if you are lucky you’ll get one who takes awesome/creative photos/videos in the flats, or you’ll get one like mine who was just alright. Not much you can do about it. Overall, I’d highly recommend doing a tour of the Salt Flats. Also it was great because it got me to my next destination: the Atacama Desert in Chile.
WOW was Bolivia affordable
Accommodation: $80 ($8.90 per night) – This is slightly skewed because I had one overnight bus (aka $0 for accommodation) + my 2 nights on the Salt flat tour were accounted for in my activity cost.
Food: $105
Groceries: $9
Activities: $260 – includes Hike tour ($15), Death road ($45), & 3 days Uyuni Tour ($148)
Health: $60 – includes Massage ($20), doctor visit ($38), & hair wash ($15)
Local Transportation: $17
Visa- $160
Total: $691 (Daily average: $57) (without visa, daily spend was $44)
Transportation to next destination: $0 (bus to Chile was included in my Salt Flat tour!!!)
]]>I spent a total of 2 nights at a hostel when I first arrived to Buenos Aires (then I went to Uruguay for a week) and then spend 13 nights at an airbnb solo while I took Spanish language classes for 2 weeks I stayed America del Sur Hostel which was in a cool neighborhood for walking around. The hostel had a nice common area + kitchen. The front desk was super helpful! Beds were comfy & had curtains/personal light/socket. The only complaint was that the sink in my room was outside the bathroom which meant when people arrived late or left earlier, you pretty were guaranteed to wake up since someone was using the sink 2 feet from your sleeping face
Very odd design haha
For my airbnb stay I chose an apartment within a 15 min walk from my school in the Palermo neighborhood. I loved this area! Highly recommend. The airbnb itself was cute, and was perfect for a two week stay. Kitchen was sufficient, laundry & gym in the building, and grocery stores nearby. I felt completely safe walking around solo day or night as well, which is such a treat while traveling! If I were to come back to Buenos Aires I would aim to stay as close to Plaza Immigrantes as possible as I loved eating it that area.
Weirdly because I was using this two week as a break before heading into a bust two month stretch, I actually didn’t do much while here. Instead, I got into a routine where I worked out at the tiny gym in my airbnb, walked to Spanish class which was 4 hours long, and then headed to lunch with my classmates. In the late afternoons, I would catch up on admin work before cooking at home & watching some netflix. Honestly, I absolutely loved my chill time.
Given I have very little recommendations, here is a very comprehensive, well respected blog on a complete guide to Buenos Aires
We did go to some language exchanges which were fun! They are a great way to meet people and also practice some Spanish
I also managed to get fairly sick my one weekend here However, I did go to the La Recoleta Cemetery and the Sunday market outside it. It was pretty cool to walk around the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires. Lots of old graves to check out.
Other than that, I just loved eating my way through all the fun & cute restaurants in Palermo with my friends.
I always felt like I would love Buenos Aires and I was not wrong! It was such a beautiful city. It felt like a mixture of Paris, Barcelona & a hint of NYC, but overall a very European vibe. I was obsessed with the tree lined streets. I took a thousand photos but none did them justice. I was quite happy to be here for two weeks and would’ve loved to be here longer, but if you are just playing tourist, 3-5 days is probably plenty (but keep a minimum of one day for a day trip to Uruguay).
Accommodation: $440 ($30 per night)
Food: $155
Groceries: $78
Activities: $380 (This includes $370 for two weeks of Spanish classes; $9.25 per hour of class)
Local Transportation: $40
Total: $109 (Daily average: $72)
Transportation to next destination: $58 ferry to Uruguay + $226 flight to Bolivia
]]>I stayed at a very cozy hostel a little out of the historic part of the capital called Mediomundo. I loved its location as it was safe, quiet, but there were tons of restaurants. Also it was 5 min away from the water front promenade that goes on for 20km+ so I went for a run each morning!! Such a dream. There were curtains on the beds + a personal light/socket. The breakfast offered was pretty cheap & included eggs. Overall I would highly recommend!
I ate breakfast at the hostel of 2 days, but tried Americo Cafe for some delicious French Toast.
With the family I met on the walking tour, we also found a cafe so they could try Mate, a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink. It is such an important drink for everyone here. Everyday when I went on my sunset walks, everyone was carrying around a little holder for their thermos of hot water + cup for their mate. It was very cool to see.
Mercado Ferrando was a fun food market spot with lots of great options for dinner! I had a delicious burger and some gelato for dessert. I just love a food hall
I loved just walking along the promenade and people watching. As per usual, I also went on a walking tour where I met a lovely family from California. We ended up spending the rest of the day together, including heading a pickleball spot I found as I walked around. The dad was thrilled to get out on the court on his vacation. It’s very difficult to find pickleball outside of the US so it was so much fun to play in Uruguay. In fact these courts (having been built 8 months prior) are the first in the capital city!
While walking around make sure to check out the Mercado del Puerto, Plaza Independencia, & the Montevideo sign (this is a little further away).
I totally fell in love with Montevideo. It felt safe, the architecture was charming, people were lovely, and it was so, so relaxed. I almost decided to do my 2 weeks of Spanish classes here instead of Buenos Aires. I hope to return to Montevideo/Uruguay again in my life!
I treated myself to a hotel stay since it was only $40 per night (gotta love shoulder season)! It was in the center of town & included breakfast. There was a pool (but it was too cold to use it while I was there) & nice common area to sit in. Overall simple but nice.
Because it was shoulder season, it definitely felt like a lot of restaurants were closed or doing renovations, but I enjoyed dinner at Capi Bar & Rey de La Pizza. I also tried a doughnut from Donut City that was decadent.
If you were visiting during the summer, the thing to do would be hang at the beach, but it was pretty windy & chilly while I was here. I still really enjoyed it though. Like Montevideo, there was a promenade along the water all around the city so I walked or ran along it each day! I also stopped to check out the cool sculpture of “La Mano.”
This beach town is likely best enjoyed during the summer (rather than spring), but it was kinda nice to feel like I had the town all to myself. It was very peaceful, calm, & cozy. Definitely worth a visit!
I stayed at Viajero Colonia Hostel. This is a chain hostel (which I tend to try to avoid), but this one was actually great! The room was clean & quiet. There were curtains on the bed as well as a personal light, a lockable storage area for small valuables and a plug. Bathroom was attached to the room. Huge common area & the hostel was located in the center of town! I also did a free yoga class on the rooftop terrace. Definitely would stay here again.
Breakfast at Charco Bistro was delightful. You sit with views right out on the water and restaurant is gorgeously decorated. Very light & area & green with plants. Food was yummy too!
Colonia Sandwich Shop offered delicious sandwiches and they are also famous for their cinnamon rolls, so I obviously tried one! Lived up to its reputation. I paired it with a hot chocolate as well on a chilly, but sunny afternoon.
Don’t miss Helados Dienzzo for a gelato treat!
I honestly just enjoyed meandering around the small town center. Sunsets on the ocean were stunning and it was fun to see everyone gather on the waterfront. The architecture is charming & has a European feel. I took wayyyy too many photos haha.
Colonia is small so it really only needs a day, but I was happy enough to spend a full, lazy day walking around. I don’t like being rushed and constantly packing up so these days I try to spend a minimum of 2 nights in a place. So like I said, I didn’t find that there was much to do here, but just being here was a treat.
Accommodation: $180 ($26 per night)
Food: $110
Groceries: $20
Activities: $33
Local Transportation: $50
Miscellaneous: $20
Total: $413 (Daily average: $59)
Transportation to next destination: $56 ferry back to Buenos Aires. I love an easy, cheap travel day to the next country
I stayed at Botanico Hostel Bogota and overall liked it! Good safe location. The hostel had lots of cute areas to sit and hang out. Fairly easy to meet people. Small kitchen to cook. There was yoga & salsa classes, as well as a hostel dinner you could join. It could be loud at night, but I had no problems sleeping since I use a bluetooth enabled eye mask to blast white noise.
The staff were overall helpful & available 24 hrs per day, which was incredible helpful given I got super sick during my time here. Not sure if I picked something up in Mexico City before flying here or whether I got something that hit very quickly in Bogota, but regardless I was miserable. It was very nice that the staff were always around to help if I needed it.
The only downside (which really isn’t the hostel’s fault), but there are lots of water outages in Bogota. Each district gets assigned 24 hr periods of no running water. Normally that would be fine, but when you are sick and need to use the restroom (a lot) & showers to feel better, this was less than ideal. They did have basins of water to manually flush the toilets, but still not what you want when very sick.
As I mentioned, I got pretty sick so I didn’t eat much of anything while here but I would highly recommend Orígenes Café, where I got a smoothie bowl and a delicious breakfast sandwich & La Chopperia, where I got an awesome chicken burger.
Definitely try Ajiaco Soup while here!
Not sure I should mention this again, but my best advice for what to do in Bogota is NOT GET SICK! Unfortunately all I really was able to do was sleep & try not to die When you travel this long, you are bound to get sick along the way, but it always sucks.
My last day I started to feel a little better so I managed to go on a walking tour to start to learn about the history of Colombia, but there is definitely other cool things here that I had to miss because I was sick
No major thoughts, however if you only are going to be in Colombia for a week, you can probably skip Bogota & head straight to Medellin or the northern coast like Cartagena, Santa Marta & Tayrona National Park.
The goal of my time in Medellin (& really in Colombia all together) was to slow down, rest & catch up on life things before taking off again on my grand adventure. But to make it productive & give some structure I used my time here to take some Spanish classes! I took classes here. My daily routine included getting up for my 8:15am F45 class, then getting a yogurt bowl at Cafe Campesino, then going to my Spanish class from 10am-1pm. I loved my teacher so much that we’re going to continue classes over zoom while I’m back in California summer 2024. In the afternoons I spent my time at the airbnb catching up on never ending to-do list. When traveling life stuff falls to the wayside quite easily. It was so lovely having 6 weeks to knock out it all out! Figure out health insurance for the back half of the year: done! Execute a Roth conversion: check! Call my Grandpa: yep! Life is good in Medellin. I also met some fun people at the language school and it was so cool getting to be friends for a few weeks instead of the usual 48 hr friendships that happen at hostels. Also my good friend Sabrina from growing up (known each other since elementary school) joined me for my last two weeks (one week in Medellin + one week up North in Colombia). We genuinely spend more time abroad than in the US since she lives in LA and I’m in San Francisco (usually). Colombia was our 11th country & 5th continent together
I stayed at an Airbnb for my 6 weeks in Medellin. I knew I wanted a break from hostels and it was such a treat to have my own room & bathroom. I also loved being able to cook 90% of my meals in a lovely, beautiful kitchen! This place was a 10 min walk to Provenza (my favorite part of El Poblado). There are tons of cute cafes, restaurants and shops. There are gyms nearby & I always felt safe walking around (although at night I tended to Uber). Overall it was a good place, but I probably wouldn’t stay here again. I would get a place in either Laureles (another cute neighborhood) or find a smaller, cheaper spot. I had hoped the big co-living situation would bring a social element, but the roommates were a little weird (and both American) so that was a bummer. I did love the views from my window, especially during the crazy rainstorms
I spent 6 weeks here and ate at many fun restaurants. The food scene here is overwhelmingly great. Come hungry! Here are some favorites:
Breakfast/brunch
Lunch or Dinner
Dessert
I don’t even know where to begin. I just loved everything about Medellin (except having to be cautious about walking alone at night – that was annoying). Medellin is so green, it basically feels like you are living in nature, but you are also in a major city. Even though I was there in rainy season, the sun still came out plenty. The people are SO kind & generous. They were so patient with my Spanish & genuinely so excited that I was doing my best to learn their language – I loved it! It really opens up the travel experience to be able to communicate in someone’s native language.
Medellin has a great work/life balance and everything is just so chilled (sometimes hard for my American brain, but I eventually settled in). For example, every time I was checking out at the grocery store, it took a minimum of 10 min even if there was only one person ahead of me in line. I just had to learn to embrace it haha.
Also, if you have ever wanted to learn Spanish, the best way to do it is to go live in a Spanish speaking country & take classes. Medellin/Colombia is known as a great option because they have a very neutral/easy accent & they talk slower than other Spanish speaking countries. Guatemala is also known as another good option!
Medellin is a great spot to just come hang for a few days, weeks or even months! Bring your laptop & work remotely. It’s just awesome! I can’t wait to go back
We stayed at Masaya Casas Viejas Hostel. It’s actually not technically in Minca, as you have to take a 4×4 vehicle for about 30 min up into the mountains/jungle to get to the actual hostel. But let me tell you – it’s worth it! It’s a little oasis nestled high up in the clouds. There’s an infinity pool, hammocks, chaise lounges, co-working areas, yoga in the morning, and delicious food. Beds are comfy & wifi works most of the time It was very easy to meet people since you don’t leave the property much, unless you head out to a waterfall hike! Would absolutely recommend this place 9/10 (just wish the showers had warmer water, but hey you can’t complain being this remote!)
At the hostel restaurant Not too many options. Some folks headed into Minca for lunch (3 hr hike away) but generally people ate at the hostel. Luckily the food was very good!! Each meal had tons of great options to choose from.
Relax & enjoy the views You can do some waterfall hikes, but Sabrina & I chose to just chill our time here. We did some yoga, lots of reading, played Monopoly Deal & President with all our new friends, and enjoyed the gorgeous sunset over the jungle.
This is a perfect spot to spend a few days (3 nights max I would say), to just recharge amidst your backpacking trip & make some friends who are likely heading in the same direction as you!
I really enjoyed it here. After 6 weeks in Medellin I was slightly worried about the jarring nature of jumping back into backpacking, but this was a perfect way to ease back into it. We met so many fun, interesting people & I loved my lazy days. Finally finished a book I had started 3 weeks prior!
Holy moly this was paradise on earth. Senda Watapuy is a dream. DO NOT HESITATE to book here!!! We loved every part of our stay. The room was incredible (they installed mosquito nets to address bugs). The private pool was amazing (love being able to skinny dip in the morning). The food at the restaurant was great. The grounds were fabulous. A true jungle oasis.
Once again, you are mostly stuck at the hotel in terms of food but the good news is that I loved the food here. Very expansive menu, but in classic form, I fell in love with their caesar salad and ate that most meals. One cool thing they offered was that you could order food from the menu on your phone and specify if you wanted to eat it in the room, at the pool or at the restaurant – very convenient.
The main thing to do in this region is hike in Tayrona National Park through the jungle to the beautiful beaches. However, our hotel was right at the edge of the park so while we did go into the park for a short hike, we decided we preferred to spend our time reading by the pool, with views of the gorgeous jungle.
We also got some massages.
You can literally walk to the park entrance from the hotel, which is nice though! Bring sunscreen, bug repellent and water!!
This was such a treat! 10/10 would absolutely recommend this place (mostly talking about the hotel) to anyone. I felt like I was on a true vacation.
I stayed at Los Patios and wouldn’t recommend it. It’s in a good location, but they have a lot to improve. The AC barely worked, so we asked to lower the temp 1-2 degrees and it turned to an ice box. The dorm room floor stayed dirty the entire time. Very hard to meet people. When I asked the front desk about where the start of the walking tour was she said there are no walking tours in Cartagena other than theirs, which is just a straight lie. Very bizarre as there are like 10 free walking tours I found online. The hostel is so loud that you really can’t sleep at night or morning. I’ve stayed at 100+ hostels and this isn’t it. 5/10
I only had one full day here so I optimized with a morning walking tour to hit the highlights and one last cheap massage before heading back to the US. Would highly recommend Relax Spa Cartagena de las indias for a spa treatment while visiting Cartagena. If you have more time here, I hear the island day trips or overnight trips can be quite fun!
Cartagena was so colorful and beautiful!! I would’ve happily stayed here another day but not another week because it was so HOT, & I am not really a beach or party person, which Cartagena is known for. Overall it was a cool spot though!
Fun to have two different types of budgets in this post, but admittedly my type of fun might different than most haha.
Accommodation: $532 ($44 per night) Our stay at Senda Watapuy drove the average up, but it was worth it!!
Food: $199
Groceries: $0
Activities: $167 (massages + walking tours)
Local Transportation: $172
Miscellaneous: $83
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Accommodation: $1157 ($30.44 per night)
Food: $335
Groceries: $327
Activities: $859 (includes $665 for 6 weeks of Spanish Class)
Local Transportation: $250
Gym: $234
Miscellaneous: $91
Transportation to next destination: $0 (I booked my flight home to California with points – yay!)
]]>While you can find tours that are cheaper than booking with Salkantay Trekking, you won’t be sorry to spend the extra money. You get to sleep under the stars in glass domes, in tents, and in a hotel, as opposed to sleeping outside in the cold or on the ground, like other tours. Additionally, you will be served some of the most amazing food by a chef who is dedicated to your tour group (up to 12 people). I can’t recommend booking with this company enough!
The first night was my favorite accommodation. We stayed in glass domes with views of the stars above. Despite the cold outside, the sleeping bags and blankets were more than enough to create a cozy, warm environment inside. The second night we spent in a tent under a thatched roof. Unfortunately it rained a decent amount before and while we were there so the tent was slightly damp, which tainted the experience a bit. However, it was still better than sleeping on the ground- which is what many other tours offer. Our last night we stayed in Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain which Maccu Picchu is perched upon.
One of the main reasons to chose Salkantay Trekking over the many other tour companies is the food quality. IT IS JUST SO GOOD (and I am a very picky eater). We also had one vegetarian, one one nut allergy, and someone who was gluten-free. Despite all the diets to balance, each meal was a full spread filled with delicious options. A personal chef travels with our group the first 3 days and prepare hot, fresh food for each meal. For the amount of money we spent on the tour, this was an incredible feature. I can’t explain enough how this really made the trip so special.
Each of the four days on the trek was unique. Day 1 was fairly easy. After being picked up around 4am from each our hostels, we drove for a few hours before we stopped for a delicious breakfast at a local restaurant somewhere in the countryside outside of Cusco. After fueling up we walked about 2 hours to the location of our first campsite. Such a magical spot. It would become my favorite spot of the whole trip. After eating lunch, we set off up a mountain up to Humantay Lake. It was surreal walking around the huge valley completed surrounded by nature. This is one of my parts about backpacking- escaping the human world and immersing myself in the natural world. Overall we walked around 7.5 miles (12km) and gained 5,000 feet (1,250m) of elevation.
Day 2 was the hardest day. We would reach our highest elevation (aka no oxygen) and walk the farthest. After an early wakeup call (~5am) we got our day started with a delicious breakfast spread including coca tea. Unfortunately it was drizzling the entire morning, which was when we had the most difficult hiking of the day. The morning would entail a 4 mile hike straight up to the Salkantay Pass. It would be a 3,000 foot elevation gain and would take 3 hours to complete. Despite the mist and rain that we faced, I couldn’t help but not care as the views definitely made up for it. As we left our glass domed campsite nestled in the beautiful valley, we slowly traded green, grassy mountainsides for snow-capped peaks. By the time we reached the pass, snow was all you could see- under my feet and all the mountains surrounding us.
Early morning start with rain
Almost at the summit
We made it!
15,255 feet
After pausing for a snack at the peak, we began our descent to our next campsite. The further we got away from the peak, the warmer it became. Immediately our group began to peel off our many layers, including our rain gear. 3 miles later we stopped for lunch and a quick rest. After lunch, we quickly entered what is known as the “cloud forrest”, the upper part of the Amazon jungle. We finished the last 6 miles in this climate. We were rewarded with many birds and beautiful plants and trees during this part of the trek. Finally we arrived at the Chauflay Village, where we camped for the night. There was wifi and electricity at this camp, so the peak of luxury
On the other side of the pass
Entering the high jungle
Unbelievable scenery
We were offered two options for day 3: either hike 16.1 miles to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu or visit a coffee plantation and natural hot springs and finish with about a 5 mile hike to Aguas Calientes. Naturally I convinced our group to choose the latter. It was interesting to see how coffee was made at a local plantation and it was glorious to sooth our aching muscles in the hot springs. After the morning activities and lunch at the hot springs, we drove a bit towards Aguas Calientes. However, since there are no cars allowed, tourists have two options of getting there: walking or taking the famous train. Given we had already skipped the morning part of the trek, we threw on our hiking gear and began our walk along the train tracks. Luckily it was fairly flat so it wasn’t too tough on our already sore bodies. 3 hours later we arrived in Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is the town where everyone stays the night before they go to Machu Picchu. As I mentioned there are no cars, but the train runs right through town. That night we were put up in a (very basic) hotel room and went to dinner at a local restaurant. Fairly quickly after dinner we rushed home to get into bed because tomorrow would bring an early 4am wake up call in order to be first in line to take the bus up to the entrance of Machu Picchu.
Day 4: Machu Picchu. You can either hike 90 min up the mountain or take a 45 min bus (and after all the walking we did, we happily voted for the bus). By 4:30am we were standing in line for the bus. Once the busses start running around 5:30am, we were on the second bus up. It is so worth it to be on the first couple of busses up. In the first hour or so, it feels like you have Machu Picchu all to yourself.
We made it
Early morning
Up in the clouds
I spent the rest of the day wandering on my own, taking many breaks to just sit and take it all in. Pictures don’t do it justice- I highly recommend going and seeing it for yourself!
Many hours later, I met up with the rest of our group and we made our way to the train station. Our magical journey to Machu Picchu had come to an end.
Our ride out of Aguas Calientes and back to Cusco