South America Travel Log

Argentina to Uruguay

We arrived on a night bus from Mendoza and went straight from the bus station to the buquebus ferry terminal in a taxi.

We did not book our tickets before hand. It looked like one would be leaving at around 11am and if we arrived around 9:30am we thought we would have enough time. Once we got there we were told, along with about 10 other people before us, that there were no more tourist class seats available. We would have to buy first class tickets if we wanted to go on that particular ferry. We could have waited, but spending the next 5 hours waiting around a ferry terminal with all our luggage didn’t really appeal, so we sucked if up and bought the first class. There are different categories of ferries and different classes within the ferries as well as various destinations. You can go to the website http://www.buquebus.com/
You can even buy your tickets online, but I’m not sure exactly how it works since I didn’t do it. First class is nice, but not worth the extra money. We arrived in Colonia and there was a bus waiting at the ferry station to take us straight to Montevideo. The whole trip including bus and ferry lasted a little over 3 hours.
The immigration process was the easiest of any we have passed through yet.

A note about Uruguay: Many people visit this country as a short side trip from BA. I think a 1 week trip would be about perfect to see the highlights (Colonia, Montevideo and the beach). This country doesn’t have the main attractions that some other places have. The one thing is definitely has going for it are the people. They were the nicest, friendliest and most helpful people that I met out of the 6 Latin American countries we visited.

Montevideo

The buquebus dropped us off at the central bus station. We took a taxi from there to our hotel in downtown ($3). Taxi’s have a different system there. The number on the meter is not the amount you pay. The number corresponds to an amount on a chart that the driver carries with him. I am always suspicious when things are different than I expected, but it is legit.

Hotel Arapey
http://www.arapey.com.uy/
Price - $18 for a double with a bath. No breakfast
Cleanliness – okay. A little on the shabby side.
Comfort – Mattress was okay, but the pillow was very thin. I did find a second one in the cupboard. that helped. It did not have a lot of street noise, but the hallways echoed and the couches on each floor were right in front of our room. People were sitting and talking loudly on them at 12-4am one night
Character – We found out about this place through lonely planet. I quote, “gorgeous (if slightly over the top) furniture…” I would not call this place gorgeous. It is in an old building and a lot of the furniture reflects the right time period, but it is run down and hasn’t been taken care of the way it should. It has the old fashioned character though. If you turn on a light switch, music will come on through speakers into your room.
Amenities – some rooms have cable, but not all. There is a phone that calls down to the front desk – sometimes it works. They will wake you up in the morning if you ask. Luggage storage.
Recommended? - It all just seemed a little dark and dreary to me. It was fine for sleeping, but I didn’t really want to be there too much otherwise. I met someone who was staying at the Red Hostel she really liked it there. http://www.redhostel.com/

I looked into working as an ESL teacher here as well. There were opportunities to teach business English to managers etc. in companies. Language schools for high schools and children also exist, but they run more on the school schedule of March – December. The pay was nice, especially compared to Mendoza, but Uruguay was more expensive in general. Rent was about $500 for a furnished 1 bedroom apartment in the central areas. Eating out cost more like $10 per person instead of $5 like we found in Argentina. The transportation system involved buses that would work, but would take time to figure out. Especially because the teachers have to go to the various offices, so there is a lot of moving around necessary to get from one job to the next. We decided not to stay here, but I think it was my favorite capital city of all the countries we visited if I was going to live in one (Not for vacationing). But, I prefer things to be a little smaller for living.

We moved on to Punte Del Este for a nice side trip to the beach.

The bus ticket cost about $3.50 and took 2 hours. The drive was beautiful. We were smitten before we even got there.

I’m not a huge fan of sky rises on the beach, but the area around the peninsula was really nice and green and much more peaceful. It was kind of neat to have both kinds of worlds available so close together.

Brava Mar
http://www.topuruguay.com/es/hoteles/puntadeleste/bravamar/bravamar.htm
I think it has its own website too, but that one has most of the important details including other hotels.
Price - $30 for a double with a private bath and descent breakfast (during October. It goes way up in January and a little higher in the Spring) We checked out 3 other prices and that was the cheapest descent hotel we could find during our brief search.
Cleanliness – Very clean and tidy
Comfort – Nice bed, good shower, the shades on the windows that come down to keep out the sun and the noise. The room was not large, but it had closets to put your suitcases in to give more space.
Character – Perfect for a more budget hotel in the area. It wasn’t fancy, but it was pleasant. The colors matched and everything tended to be in beach colors, blue, white and beige. The tiles in the bathroom had images of shells on them.
Amenities – breakfast with a sea view, luggage storage, cable, but the TV picture was a little green tinted in our room. Near the main attractions like the giant hand, the bus station and the main strip of restaurants etc. We got a weak wireless connection, but we think it was coming from another building. No Internet.
Recommended? - The manager was extremely friendly and helpful. I thought it was a great place. $30 was a little more than what we had been paying, but the price vs. what you got thing seemed to be on target.

There is a hostel that sounds nice in the area, but they didn’t answer their phone when we tried to call from the bus station.

We looked into renting a car. Dollar was the cheapest at $32, but they didn’t have any economy cars left. $38-42 was about normal per day. You can rent the moto scooters for about $28 a day or $6 per hour. You need your drivers license from your home country. Passports aren’t good enough. Sometimes people say it is cheaper to hire a taxi for the day, so I asked just out of curiosity. The driver told me it would be about $100 for 5 hours. So, I guess not. Also, taxis in general tended to be a little expensive here.

Punte del Este to Colonia
We took a bus back to Montevideo en route to Colonia (Not normally necessary, but we had left one of our suitcases there, so we needed to get it back). Then caught a bus an hour later to Colonia. In total about 4 ½ hours driving and $7.50

Colonia

We arrived pretty late (around 8pm) without a reservation. We tried to go to a couple of places recommended in on a website about Colonia (www.guiacolonia.com.uy). It provided online booking, but no telephone #’s. I was trying to make a booking that afternoon right before we got on the bus, so the whole email thing wasn’t going to work for us, but we basically went around being told full, full, full. So, apparently, make a booking in advance here. Someone told us about a hostel nearby, so we finally were able to find a place, but it wasn’t the best nights sleep I’ve gotten.

We stayed at Posada Casa Los Pinas

There is nothing particularly special or bad about the hotel itself until 7am. The building next door is under construction. It sounds like they have a shared wall that they started hammering and banging on so freaking early in the morning. No amount of earplugs or pillows over my head helped. The building didn’t look close to being done, so I warn everyone to stay FAR AWAY for at least 6 months (May 07).

I went to the tourist information office and they had a brochure with hotels AND their phone #’s
She recommended the following

Posada San Gabriel 052 23283
Posada Del Angel 052 24602
Posada De La Armonia 052 28645
Hospedaje El Espanol 052 30759
I don’t know much about them, but you can go to the website to get more info and then call them if you are interested.

Eating Out

We ate at 2 amazing places while we were there.

Viego Barrio was good Italian, but the real highlight was the waiter. He was a crazy fun guy who kept changing from one crazy hat to another. We asked about mate because so many people were drinking it, but no one sells it in the little cafes or whatever. So, he went and got his own cup and then gave us a little mate making and drinking demonstration then he let us try it.

Parrillada El Porton had great pork. Everything that came off the grill was so succulent and tender, but the pork was phenomenal.

Colonia - Buenos Aires

We left that night around 7pm to head back to Argentina on Buquebus. This time we went on the 3 hour ferry (around $22) in order to save money. It wasn’t too bad. The ferry is so comfortable and you can get up and walk around and everything, so it is worth it if you are on a budget. Not if you are on a time crunch.

The border crossing between Boliva and Argentina was fairly uncomplicated, although time consuming (see previous post for more details). We took a taxi with some other tourists to the bus station and chose the bus based on the fact that it was the next one leaving.

Bus from Border to Salta

It was a double decker, but nothing fancy. It was just like the buses we took all over Ecuador – no foot rest, people standing in the aisle’s etc. The trip took a long time because we kept getting stopped by police and military types for passport control. We would all have to file out of the bus. Line up boys and girls and then have our passports checked. Most of the time there was no problem. Occasionally they would check backpacks. They took a couple suitcases out of the luggage compartment and did a quick check. One time they took a suitcase into their office and dumped the entire contents on the ground. The poor lady’s bras and panties were scattered all over the place and the officers were picking things up and throwing them around. It did not seem very professional to me. Eventually we arrived in Salta 6 1/2 hours, 3 police stops and 2 horrible Argentinian movies later. It cost around $12.

Salta

Hostal Condor Pass (See Lonely Planet for details)

http://www.hostelz.com/hostel/28008-Hostal-Condor-Pass

Price - $20 for a double with a bath and 1 slice of bread and coffee for breakfast.
Cleanliness – Descent
Comfort – Mattress was okay, but the pillow was lumpy and our 2 pillows were joined together. A little noisy as people were coming and going. Hot water didn’t last long enough for 2 people in a row.
Character – Nothing in particular
Amenities – A rottwiler dog and a very helpful man in the morning (he helped us organize our bus tickets and even payed for them until we could get to the ATM machine later). A big table with a TV at the other end, kitchen
Recommended? - It is in a good location and it is a fine place to crash, but there is nothing about it that was particularly enchanting

We were only in Salta for 24 hours. We did not go on any tours or do much of anything touristy. I wanted to buy some shoes. Salta had shoe store after shoe store full of cute cheap shoes. The problem is that ALL the stores close for “siesta” from lunch to about 4:30-5pm. A lot of the towns we had been in closed until about 3, but I had never seen anything like this before. Our bus left in the late afternoon, so I didn’t have a chance to get anything. So, plan accordingly if you want to shop in Salta.

Bus Salta – Mendoza

We chose to go with AndesMar. It was a 16 hour overnight bus ride for about $40. Every company has different names for their 3 types of seats. I’ll compare them to planes because those are more standardized. Think economy, business and first class (with seats that lay all the way down into a bed). We went on the business class type. This includes dinner with wine, a round of bingo and descent movies that actually go all the way from start to finish. The buses usually only have about 6 first class seats, so they go quickly. If you want one, you will probably need to book it at least 2 days in advance. You can even buy them online. I haven’t ever done it because I think you need access to a printer and not all the Internet cafes have them.

Mendoza

We arranged for our hotel ahead of time. They asked what time we were arriving, so we told them. When I stopped off the bus, a man was standing there holding a sign with my name on it. Apparently we had bus pick up and didn’t know it. The hostel is very close to the bus station, so we just walked with the employee back to his hostel.

Savigliano Hostel (See lonely planet for details)

http://www.savigliano.com.ar/

Price - $22 with a bath and bread for breakfast. Coffee cost extra. That made one of the guests very unhappy.
Cleanliness – Fine
Comfort – Beds were okay. Pillows were joined together again and a little flat.
Character – Nothing much. There were some interesting pieces of furniture like one table made out of a wine barrel, but nothing else went with it, so those kind of things just looked a little out of place.
Amenities – Cheap Internet and one free cable for those with a laptop. TV downstairs in with the computers that the employees spent most of the time watching. There was another TV upstairs, but we couldn’t figure out how to make it work until the last day. Will arrange for tours around the area (Wine tasting, hang gliding, white water rafting etc.) air conditioning and screens for the window that were great for blocking out the early morning sun. self service laundry, small sparsely stocked kitchen and bus pick up.
Recommended? - It was a fine place to stay. There are probably better options. Particularly with regards to location. It is by the bus station, so that is great if you are just passing through, but every day we had to walk into town and back 2 – 3 times. It was doable, but not close, so there were times when we didn’t go back to the hotel when we wanted to, or we didn’t go back out once we got back to the hostel because it was late, or we were tired or lazy or whatever and it just wasn’t convenient.

One of my good friends from school went on a trip through Argentina a year ago and her favorite place that she stayed was in Mendoza and called Quinta Rufino. We tried to get a reservation there from the start, but they were full, so we switched hostels once they had room available.

Quinta Rufino

http://www.quintarufinohostel.com.ar/
Price - $26 with a bath, cable and breakfast. They have dorms with shared bath too.
Cleanliness – Clean
Comfort – Comfortable beds and pillows. Descent shower. Futon in the sitting room. I still can’t figure out why ¾ of the hostels in SA have futons. They aren’t very comfortable for sitting on and no one is going to use it for a bed. Just get a couch.
Character – A charming place. Tastefully decorated, hard wood floors, cheerful dining room.
Amenities – Can book tours through them, they will let you use their only computer for Internet, but getting a chance is a bit competitive. TV with cable in the sitting room and dining room, well stocked kitchen and a games room. Cute cocker spaniel dog. Will call a doctor to the hotel if you are sick.
Recommended? - Yes. It was a lovely place to stay. The owners were very friendly. It was in a nice neighborhood, but still a little out from the very center of things.

Wine Tour – My husband loves wine and wine tasting. We talked to a couple different people who went on the various tours and were most convinced by one of the expensive ones. It is good to splurge every once and a while I guess.

$25 for transportation (we really didn’t go that far out of Mendoza), 2 wineries including tours and one full and one limited tasting, 1 distillery including tour and tasting (fascinating and in a beautiful building) and lunch. It was an all you can eat type of affair. Imagine the fanciest picnic you can and then x it by 5. Then you will get the lunch we had. It included all sorts of things like cheeses and sausages, breads and quail eggs and vegetables and empanadas and tons of other things. After lunch we returned home which was good because I was ready for a nap. The tour was called a full day, but we left at 11 and returned around 4. It was a great day, but I don’t really consider that to be a full day tour.

The 2 other options I am aware of are

1. The half day tour for $10 including 2 wineries (I don’t think the distillery, but it is possible)

2. Bike tour. You rent a bike and go where you like. The bike shop gives you a map and you can do as much or as little as you like. They also give you a coupon for a discount at a nice restaurant. You can rent the bikes for a full or half day.

If you have been wine tasting in California, don’t expect this to be the same type of day.  They do things a little differently here.  The style of the tasting at the distillery is more like what we are used to in CA.

Mendoza has tons of other outdoor activities and adventures. We didn’t do any of the others, so I can’t comment.

Mendoza is heaven in the Spring. It was warm (24-28 Celsius). There are beautiful green trees shading every street. Almost every restaurant has an outside area where you can sit under an umbrella and just enjoy the beauty of the day. Also, there were ice cream shops all over the place and people were constantly eating ice cream. I am a huge fan, so I considered never leaving (until I found out summer has normal temps of 38-40 degrees)

Seriously though, I looked into teaching English in Mendoza and staying there for 8 months. There were some possibilities, but the school year starts in March and ends in November, so I was offered guaranteed work starting in March, but only remote possibilities during their summer months. I guess everything just completely closes down during the summer. I don’t think you could live in Mendoza on what I was offered. Rent wasn’t super cheap ($300 would probably be the cheapest you could get a studio in down town). The schools seem to have a lot of teachers doing a little work. They said they start people off with 1 or 2 classes. Basically 6 hours a week and then you can work up to about 12 (she said this with such enthusiasm). The pay was about $4 an hour. But, if you only work 12 hours a week the math gets you to $192 per month. It was the worst pay to cost of living ratio of any of the places I have visited. Great if you save up in your home country and just come for the experience. A bad idea if you actually want to make enough to live on. (And I’m a credentialed English teacher in the States with a Masters in Education)

For more pictures of Bolivia: go here

 

Bus - Sucre is only a couple hours away from Potosi, and 10 hours away from Uyuni. We were curious to see Potosi, so we took an evening bus there and arrived around 9:30pm. We bought our ticket to Potosi from the hotel we were staying at in Sucre.

 

Hotel in Potosi

Since we were arriving late, we wanted to have our hotel completely settled, so we tried to book beforehand. No one was answering their phones, and the one hostel that did was booked. I think we tried every place in the lonely planet. Our hostel in Sucre had a tourism newspaper with advertisements in it. We saw one for Potosi that sounded descent, so we called and made a reservation. I’m glad we did because Potosi is huge and I didn’t feel completely safe there. I wouldn’t have wanted to wander around there at night looking for a place to crash.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact name of it or the exact price (around $20). It was something like San Marcos Hostel/Hotel on La Paz avenue. I wouldn’t really recommend it as my number one choice, but it is better than wandering around. The beds were comfortable, but the shower was horrible. The tepid water lasted for about 2 minutes before it turned freezing. They claimed to have heated rooms. It was really just one of those white space heaters that don’t do a lot of good. We snuck a second one from the empty room next door and that did help take the chill off the room. They also claimed to have cable, but although there was a TV in the room, it didn’t have cable. I asked them a couple questions about buses to Uyuni etc. They didn’t know anything. They were helpful in calling a travel agent who then came out to eat breakfast with us in order to explain about the options for Uyuni tours. I didn’t really like that because it made me feel obligated to buy something from her. We did buy the bus ticket to Uyuni, but not a tour.

If anyone knows the exact name of the hotel or the contact info – send me a message. I don’t like leaving the info half complete.

 

Potosi was really not our best experience. We missed out on everything we wanted to do. We wanted to visit the Casa del la Moneda Museum. The hours were posted as 9-12 then it opens again after lunch. Our bus to Uyuni left at 12:30 and we wanted to get some things for Uyuni organized, so we thought we would go to the museum around 10 or 10:30 and stay for about an hour. That was not possible. Apparently you have to go on a tour with a guide, and the tour takes 2 hours. These tours only leave at designated times, so if you miss it you are out of luck.

We went to a nearby Saltina/empanada place, recommended in Lonely Planet, for lunch. It was PACKED! People were standing around in the entrance way just waiting for a table. We figured it must be good. We waited with them for a while, but our time was getting close to when we had to leave, so then we tried to order some to go. The waitresses were flying around, so it was hard to get them to talk to us. The one who did talked fast and was rushing around and we couldn’t understand her. After about 10-15 minutes of trying to get some empanadas. We were finally told they were out. So, we missed out on yet another thing and just had to get a boring sandwich to go from down the street and rush to catch the bus.

Taxi Scare

We didn’t have time to wait for a radio taxi, so we grabbed one that had just dropped other people off right outside our hotel. It was sketchily marked, but we were in a hurry, so we jumped in. We had only driven 2 blocks when another guys waves at the taxi and the driver stopped and let him in with us. I didn’t want him to because I read that was a bad idea, but it all happened so fast that he was in the car before I had time to protest. He was really chatty and friendly (almost too much). Then about 4 blocks later another man in plain clothes, but with a police badge waves the taxi down. Our driver tried to keep going at first, but then stopped. The guy checked the taxi’s papers, and like I said it was sketchily marked, so I thought, great, we are going to all get in trouble because he isn’t a real taxi. But, then he turned his attention to the passengers and asked for our documents. I had read that only the tourist police in uniform are allowed to ask for our documents, so alarm bells were going off in my head now. Chris didn’t know that and handed over our passports. Now, I’m freaking out because he has our documents, so he has a lot of control, but he gives them back and tells us we need to go to the immigration office or some such thing. That’s when I jumped out of the taxi and started screaming, “abre, abre!” and banging on the trunk to get our suitcases. I had no idea what we would do if he didn’t, but the driver got out and opened the trunk. We grabbed our stuff and ran before seeing the responses of the 3 men.

I’m not sure if all 3 of them or just the immigration officer and the additional passenger were in on some kind of scam. I’m not really sure what they wanted, and they obviously weren’t very good at whatever it was they were trying to do, but I’m glad we got out of it safely and with all our things although a little shook up.

Some suggestions: use the radio taxi’s when possible; keep your luggage with you in the car that way you can grab it and run if you need to; lock the doors; don’t let other people go with you; don’t hand over your passports. If he had kept them, we would have been totally screwed.

We made it to the bus with a few minutes to spare.

 

Bus – The buses to Uyuni don’t leave from the main bus station (only one large bus does). They leave from a designated spot down the street. Taxi drivers will know where to take you if you tell them you are going to Uyuni.

We bought our ticket from the travel agent. I’m glad we had it ahead of time because the bus was packed. It was a mini bus for 18 people not the full sized one. It was pretty uncomfortable because it was a 7 hour trip on dirt roads and the seats were not the plush full sized bus seats, but we made it which was fortunate.

As you are probably aware, Bolivia has problems with road closures due to one form of protest or another. As we were driving along a bus that was heading towards Potosi was turned back because the road had just been closed behind us. We kept meeting people along our trip who were turned back because of road closures and when we figured it out they were only 1 day or even hours behind us, so it really is just luck of the draw. Plan some buffer days in your trip if you plan to visit on a time schedule.

 

Uyuni

Joya Andina

Dirección : Calle Cabrera Nº 473 Tel : (+591) 2 693 20 76

http://www.bolivia-turismo.com/hotel/la_joya.htm

Price – We paid $20 for a double with 2 beds, bath and breakfast. They quoted us $30 for a matramonial, but we asked them for something cheaper that’s what they offered. They did have 1 dorm with 6 beds. I’m not sure the price.

Cleanliness – Very clean

Comfort – The beds were good. It was cold, but they had extra blankets if you wanted them. The shower was amazing. Nice pressure and it stayed hot the whole time. The bathroom was a little small, so the toilet was half in the shower. That was a little weird, but not a big deal.

Character - The decorations are very feminine. Lots of pinks and peaches and flowers, but it was cute and tastefully done even if it isn’t my style.

Amenities – breakfast was descent, local TV (no other kind in Uyuni or so I was told), luggage storage, and a cute 5 year old girl who will talk to you if you are nice and patient with her. After our 3 day trip in the desert we were filthy. All I could think about was a shower. We were leaving that night on the train, so we paid $3 each to take a shower when we picked up our luggage. It was worth every penny.

Recommended - $30 seemed a bit much, but for $20 definitely. It is right across the street from where the buses drop people off from Sucre and Potosi. There are some buses that arrive around 2am. This would be a great place if you arrive on a late bus. Just walk across the street and you are there. It isn’t on the main drag though, so you have to walk a little ways to get into the tourist part of town.

 

Pizza– Minute Men – The best pizza we had in South America. It is run by an American, so the style is more American. It was GOOD. We went there twice. We ate dinner there after returning from our trip and stayed until 10pm when we left to catch our train. They can get really busy so there may not always be room, but it was nice to have somewhere to stay until it was time to go.

 

We booked a 3 day trip with Andrea Tours based on the recommendation of LP and support from people’s blogs and other reviews. The information booth that many people recommended was closed by the time we got there (8pm) and the next morning, Sunday, so we couldn’t rely on those reviews.

 

Salar de Uyuni – 3 day trip with Andrea Tours

Find contact info in LP. Their office is in the tourist plaza by the clock tower on the left hand side if you are walking towards the train.

$70 for 3 days including everything but the entrance fee to the cactus island ($1.50) and the national park.(around $4) and optional visit to a museum (75 cents), public bathrooms along the way (75 cents for each visit).

The everything is:

ï‚• A Toyota 4 wheel drive land rover type vehicle that seats 8 (6 tourists)

ï‚• A driver/guide who speaks Spanish only and a cook (very good. We caught a glimpse of what other people were eating and ours was definitely better)

ï‚• 3 meals a day + little snacks like candies, tea, salty biscuits. (Bring some of your own snacks especially water)

 1 night stay at a “hotel” with 2 people per room shared bath with a shower you can pay for. 1 night stay at a “hotel” with all 6 of you in a shared room. Shared bathroom, no running water.

 

There are a couple different options.

You can go for 3 or 4 days. Unless you are a die-hard scenery enthusiast, I would recommend 3 days. It was enough and I didn’t feel like we were rushed at any time.

You can do a loop where you start and return to Uyuni (what we did). The last day involves a long drive.

You can see the Laguna Verde and then get taken to a bus 20 minutes away where you will be taken to the Chilean border (what 2 of our group members did). You miss the long drive back and a visit to an interesting lava flow and the formations that were created because of it, but not much else.

If you go with specific companies you can go to Tupiza which is about ½ way between Argentina and Uyuni. I think this goes on a different route and I’m not sure what places are the same and what is different. The advantage would be missing out on the return trip and then a shorter train ride to the border.

 

When to go: September/October is a good time to go because it is dry season, so there are minimal breakdowns. However, you do miss the hallucinogenic effect the water creates on the Salar. You have to go in the rainy season to see that. But, then expect more breakdowns and higher prices because the salt water damages the trucks. I didn’t realize we wouldn’t see it and was disappointed. Otherwise, I think it is similar.

 

Suggestion: Go to the museum and the funaries when you stop for the 1^st night. Our guide just mentioned it as something to do. The museum was informative and important to go to first because it explains about the culture of the people who you will see in their graves at the top of the hill. Note: you actually see the skeletons. If you get really creeped out then perhaps give it a skip, but it was fascinating. I’ve never seen people get buried in such a way before and as death always does you are reminded of your own mortality.

 

Tip for the ladies: Not to gross anyone out too much, but the bathrooms (especially on the second day) are few and far between. That means a lot of squating. There are some obvious places that are good to use because the view is obstructed a little, but it is sad and gross to see all the little wads of toilet paper laying there. I might suggest taking a little baggy to put your toilet paper in or wearing a pad instead of using tp and then stowing your used pads in a baggy until you can throw it away later.

 

Uyuni to Argentina

The train only goes on certain days and the times change depending on what day it goes. Andrea Tours bought our ticket for us while we were gone because the ticket office was closed when we tried to go. Even if the office is closed, you can still go look at the time table. There are 2 different boards with different time tables and different information. It was pretty confusing, but the people who work with the tourists have the schedule down pretty well, so you should be able to ask someone to get the answers you need.

We took a 10:30 pm train that took us all the way to the Bolivian border. There are 3 different classes of train tickets. We were recommended to avoid the lowest class, but that both the 1st and 2nd class were fine. Our ticket also included breakfast. We arrived around 7am.

The train station would be in reasonable walking distance from the border without suitcases. With suitcases, it was a little more difficult, but I was worried about taxi drivers because of hearing how they often pull scams around border towns. I don’t know if that would be the case here as well, but I just wanted to avoid it alltogether. So, we walked.

Getting the exit stamp in Boliva was a piece of cake and took 20 seconds. Getting into Argentina took a little more effort. There was a long line of people and only 1 guy working. We stood in line barely moving for at least 20 minutes. I couldn’t find the typical entrance forms you need to fill out anywhere, so I figured I would just have to wait until we made it to the front of the line and then waste time filling it out while other people waited behind us. Then, an officer came down the line and collected the passports of all non South Americans. He dissapeared for about 10-15 minutes and then returned with all our passports stamped and processed and we were able to go through. We never had to fill out a form.

We took a taxi from there to the bus station and I’m glad we did because it was uphill, not that close for walking with suitcases, and the buses fill up quickly with all the tourists who just got off the train trying to catch a bus to their next destination.

Border Crossing – Peru to Bolivia
We bought a ticket on Ormenos. It was a more comfortable bus with a foot rest for $ 17. The trip took about 6 ½ hours including the border crossing. The bus stopped in front of the Peruvian border. The lady explained what to do in Spanish, so it wasn’t totally clear, but we made it through okay. We got out and other than the long line, it was a fairly simple process of getting an exit stamp and they took our paper work we filled out when we entered. Then we had to walk across the bridge. No one checked our papers as we did this. When we got to the other side, the Bolivian office was not immediately obvious. There is a building right when you cross. You have to go on the left side of the building and find the correct door. The line of people should tell you which one it is. Bring a pen to fill out the forms (they don’t have any). The officers were nice and it was a simple process. The areas around the border are filled with people, stalls selling all kinds of goods, trucks, animals and anything else you can think of. It was a little overwhelming. We had to stand and wait for at least 20-30 minutes for the the bus to cross the bridge and get passed all the unloading trucks. Then we were then able to get back on the bus and continue on to La Paz.

La Paz
We got a hotel recommendation from another tourist in Puno. It is a new hotel, so it isn’t in the guide books yet.

Hotel Fuentes
http://www.hotelfuentesbolivia.com/

Price - $16 for a private bath, cable and a small breakfast
Cleanliness – Spotless
Comfort – Nice beds, decent pillows, good shower with hot water that lasted for the duration of the shower. No street noise. A little bright in the mornings.
Character - The hotel is set in a charming Spanish style court yard . The whole place is very attractive. The hotel is new, so everything is fresh and tasteful.
Amenities – Cable, internet in the lobby – sort of. - the sign says you get 30 minutes of free internet, but the receptionist was on it most of the time, so it felt very awkward to ask to use it. There is a phone cabina and internet cafe a few stores up, so it isn’t a huge problem. Luggage storage
Recommended – This was probably the best value for money of anywhere we have stayed so far! It was also in a great location right on Calle Linares and Sagarnaca.

We spent most of our time in La Paz walking around looking in the shops. A little in the tourist markets (I thought the quality of the artisan goods was higher and comparable in Price in Peru. There were a few new things and styles unique to Bolivia, but if you are debating where to buy presents etc, go for Peru), but mostly in the stores that sell more useful products. As I mentioned in my previous posting my i-pod disappeared, so I went on a mission to find a new one. I read about the mercado negro on the web, but did not really look there. Instead we went to the street Elloy Salmon. It is just rows and rows of electronics both in stores and stands. I only found 2 places with real i-pods. They were just too expensive. The 2G one was more expensive than the 4G one is in the States. So, I bought an MP3 player of which there were many to choose from including knock offs and unfamiliar brands. The player of a more reputable brand cost about $100. We looked up the same model on the web and it goes for about $70 in the States, but what are you going to do? There wasn’t much bargaining going on, but we did find the prices varied greatly (by $30 for the same player) from store to store.

La Paz – Sucre
El Dorado bus. The poster said bus-cama, but it was actually the same as a semi-cama in Peru. About $14 for an overnight bus arriving around 6 am. They gave us a snack, and I took a sleeping pill (which you can ask for at most pharmacies. They offer natural and medical options) and woke up in Sucre the next morning. No toilet paper (A general problem in Bolivia). We had a reservation, but could not check in until 11. They did let us store our bags, but then we had to leave and return later.

Hotel Cruz de Popayan/Sucre Backpackers Hostel
Can’t find an original webiste, but this one (although the rating system is probably rigged) has a lot of info about hostels in most of the larger towns http://www.boliviahostels.com/ Price - $8 for a double cublicle, a breakfast roll and a shared bath
Cleanliness – the room was shabby. The baths were in a serious need of a scrubbing. Comfort – lop sided bed, hard pillows, the room basically fit the bed and that was it. They only had 2 shared bathrooms with a toilet, sink and shower for 16+ people. It takes a while for people to shower, dress etc. so in the morning you can hop around trying to hold it for quite a while before a bathroom frees up. The hot water lasted for about 3 minutes.
Character - It is in a historical building, so it has some charm. There are also some pleasant patio areas to sit outside. The rooms were very simple.
Amenities – The office had a TV and DVD player with surround sound. It only had 1 futon though, so it didn’t really have the “let’s all hang out and watch a movie vibe”. 1 computer with Internet was available if the receptionist turned it towards you. Book exchange, will book bus tickets and activities for you. An unsecured left luggage Recommended? – I would have changed hotels had we stayed longer. It was cheap, but I guess I’ve just outgrown the grungy backpacker life style that was fine when I was in college. The hotel did have more expensive rooms that were larger, had their own bath and cable. They seemed much nicer, but cost $22, I think, for a double. This place was #1 recommended on the lonely planet accommodation website. I would not give it the same distinction.

I enjoyed watching a movie at the Joy Ride Cafe. The movie was good and it was a cool environment.
We also went up to the vista point by the children’s museum. It was pretty and interesting to see how the city was laid out.
I also really liked visiting the cemetery. It weirded me out when I read about it, but the gardens were beautiful, and the way they set up the graves was fascinating. Some had beautiful sculptures etc.
wasn’t thoroughly impressed with the local chocolate. Lonely Planet said it was the best in Bolivia. It was fine, but I’ve had a lot better in other parts of the world.
We enjoyed Sucre and found it to be a beautiful and pleasant city. I looked into some of the schools to teach English. There were only a few schools, but none of them seemed like viable options, so we moved on to make sure we would have plenty of time in Argentina.

Bus from Arequipa to Puno.  Cial for $12.  Left around 7:30 and took about 6 ½ hours.  The seats were semi cama, so they were comfortable, but the sound system was a nightmare.  When they put on movies a loud high pitched screech would emit from the speakers.  It really bothered me, so I had to put in my earplugs for most of the trip.  I will not go on another Cial bus because of that. 

Note: No scenario really makes a lot of sense.  But, I either lost or my ipod was stolen either at the bus station or at the hotel.  I was listening to it when the bus pulled into the station.  I thought I put it away in my purse in my backpack, but 2 days later when I wanted to charge it at the hotel, I couldn’t find it anywhere.  Everything else I had in out in the bus was back in my bag which makes me think I didn’t lose it.  But if it was stolen, it must have been a quick grab because they left my wallet.  The main time it could have been stolen was while I was waiting in line to get my suitcase from underneath the bus.  I usually wear my backpack on my stomach, but this time I put it on my back without thinking.   So sad because it was my birthday present and even if I bought a new one, I lost everything that was on it before. 
Don Julio
Price -  $20 with a bath, cable and a descent breakfast. 
Cleanliness – Clean

Comfort – Comfortable beds, lots of blankets and a nice strong hot shower

Character – It actually reminded me of a chain motel in the States.  Nothing fancy, a little impersonal, but nice and comfortable.

Amenities – Can book tours through them, but it is a little more expensive.  Internet right across the street. 

Recommended? - Yes.  It was a fine place.  There were other options for about $15 that would have been just as adequate, but this one was a little nicer.  Especially when it was pouring rain the last night.  It was nice to be able to wrap up in a blanket and watch a little Law and Order.

 

Tours to Titicaca
We asked about the tours in our hotel to get a frame of reference.  Then we went to the tourist strip near the Plaza and started asking around at travel agencies.  After a couple we found one that had the same boat as the one the hotel recommended for 10 soles less.  So, we decided to go with that one.  The cost was about $9 including hotel transfer.  Not including lunch.  This seemed to be pretty standard.  The trips ranged from about 30-45 soles depending on who you asked, the boat and the language ability of the guide.  It is important to get a somewhat comfortable boat because the ride back in the afternoon is 2 ½ hours and the wind starts to make the lake a little more choppy. 

 

●        They pick everyone up from their hotels between 6:30-7am

●        The boat first goes to the Uros floating reed lakes which are ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING! I thought they were more interesting than learning about the Inca cultures through their ruins. This ancient culture still exists in a very different environment from most people.  But, our guide said that more and more of the younger generation are leaving.  In the next 10+ years it will probably change so that the island cultures only exist for tourists to visit and most of the people will no longer actually live there.  You will spend an hour or so there.  It costs $2.50 to get a ride in one of their reed boats to another island.

●        Then on to Taquille Island.  I was told if you can’t make it to Isla del Sol, this is similar enough that you shouldn’t feel like you are missing out too much.  I’m not sure if that is true or not.  Maybe one of you has an opinion. 

●        The boat drops you off and you have to walk for about 45 minutes up the hill then across the island to get to the town.  It is a beautiful and interesting walk.  Apparently the trail was created by the Incas, so our guide kept calling it the mini Inca trail.  We had about 30 minutes in town before we went to lunch.  It was good, but only had 2 choices.  Trout or omelet. 

●        We then walked to the other side of the island where the boat picked us up and returned us to the mainland.   We arrived back around 4pm.  The driver was nice enough to take us to the bus station to buy our tickets to La Paz for the following day. 

Another option is the 2 day tour where you spend the night on a 3rd island with a local family (very rustic accommodations).  I talked to one couple who did that and they loved it. 

 

Puno is an interesting town.  I liked it because it had all the necessary services for tourists in a few streets, but the town was small enough that you could leave those few streets and be in a normal town, go to the mercado, walk to the bus station and see all the interesting things along the way etc. 

 

Be careful when checking on bus times.  There was a big clear sign saying the Ormenos bus for La Paz left at 7:30 am.  We bought our tickets ahead of time and I watched him fill in the time as 7am (he didn’t say anything).  I asked about the discrepancy and he said that on Tuesdays the bus leaves earlier.  So, just be warned that things are not always as they appear. 

Overnight bus from Cuzco to Arequipa  on Julsa for $12.  The trip took 9 hours.

We arrived at 5:30am.  We made a reservation with the hostal Tambo Viejo.  They said they would be at the bus station to pick us up.  We waited for 20-30 minutes before we decided they weren’t coming.  Then we took a taxi to the hostel.  It took a while for the lady to answer the door and it looked like we surprised her by our arrival instead of her being sorry for forgetting us. 

Tambo Viejo
 www.tamboviejo.comPrice -  $16 with bath and cable. 
Cleanliness – The rooms were very clean.  The common living area seemed a little cluttered. Comfort – The rooms in the back were very comfortable.  I should know.  I was sick, so I had to lay in bed for 24 hours straight.  They are doing construction in the front, so those rooms were very loud. It is on a very busy main street, so it doesn’t seem that secure when you first walk up, but we didn’t have any problems.  

Amaru Hotel

http://www.cusco.net/amaru/

Price -  $18 without bath and with breakfast.  Quite a bit more with a bath. 
Cleanliness – Clean                                                                     Comfort – The beds were descent, but it was really cold in the rooms.  The shared bath was downstairs and a little inconvenient from the room.  Especially for midnight runs.  The computer and couch area was fine, but nothing great.  The floors are wood and so they squeak.  Ask for a room upstairs so you don’t have to hear the people above you.             Character – The building is old and charming.  There are potted plants in the court yard and interesting twists and turns to the building         Amenities – Airport pickup, nice breakfast, TV with local channels, book exchange, will organize tours, cheap internet, luggage storage. Recommended? - I would recommend the rooms with a bath.  If you are going for cheaper lodging, there may be other places that are better.  However, they were extremely helpful.  They let us sleep in a clean room from 7-11am until our room was available.  They also allowed us to use their facilities for 3 hours the day we returned from Machu Picchu until we were had to catch the bus later that evening.  
                                                                                     The lonely Planet Peru is 2 years old and the prices are totally off.  Basically, everything regarding MP has doubled.

Before we arrived in Cuzco, I didn’t realize you could only get to Machu Picchu on a train.  That creates a monopoly, so it is very expensive to get there.

Train from Cuzco to MP in vista dome (with a snack and windows on the roof to see the view of the mountains)  approx $105

Train from Cuzco to MP in backpacker train (can buy snack.  Bad windows for looking at view) approx $75

Train from Ollantaybambo to MP in vista dome approx $70              Train from Ollantaybambo to MP in backpacker train approx $50.   There are also really early  and night trains(around 5am and around 8pm) that is the cheapest way to go                                                             You can buy one way tickets that mix and match eg. Vista dome there and backpacker to return.  We had to do that because the return on the backpacker was sold out.  The one way price is more than half of the round trip price. 

We took a Sacred Valley tour and stayed in Ollantaybambo overnight then took the train from there.  We then returned to Cuzco with local transportation.  Sacred Valley tour - $12 per person includes transportation and Bilingual guide.  + $13 for 1 day tourist ticket to ruins.  (Can buy the 5 day $20 ticket for specific ruins, museums and churches)
Stop at Vista Points on the way to PisacCraft and souvenir market at Pisac (Sun, Tues and Thurs.  Worth going even without a tour)                                                                               lunch at Urubamba ($12 buffet is where they take you, but we walked across the street to a $3 place)                                                             Inca fortress at Ollantaybambo (we stayed here instead of returning to Cuzco)                                                                                                Chinchero to look at the church                                                                                              Return to Cuzco

We flew from Guyaquil to Cuszco in order to avoid 48 hours straight in a bus and the border crossing that seems so dangerous. 

I checked with travel agents and on the airline website.  TACA was $50 cheaper than the travel agent quote for one way. 

One travel agent would only sell me a round trip ticket because we don’t have a return ticket to the States.  That was $470.  A one way quote from a different agent was $350. 

We got it for $298 one way through the airline itself. 

The flight involved an overnight lay over in Lima.  We stayed at a hotel called Manhattan Inn 7 minutes away from the airport since we had to be up at 3:30am to be at the airport around 4:15am.  Even though it is domestic, they still want you to check in 2 hours before hand.  The hotel cost $50 (more than I wanted to pay) but hotels in down town that cost more like $25 would require a $10+ taxi ride there and back then we are up to $45, so we just went with the slightly more expensive but convenient hotel. 

Go to the Ruta del Sol Photo Album - Pictures of whales, la Isla and wildlife

Days 23-24

Bus ride – bought tickets to Loja ahead of time because of religious holiday in Loja.  The bus leaves approx. every 2 hours.  $7 for 5 hours.

Then we took a small bus from Loja to Vilcabamba.  They run every 20 minutes or so and cost $1 for 1 ½ hours.   (Chris was pick pocketed while putting our suitcases in the luggage compartment.  So many people crowding around)

Rendezvous
www.rendezvousecuador.com

Price -  $9 per person including breakfast
Cleanliness – Very clean
Comfort – Nice.  The beds and pillows were great.  They also had sturdy comfortable hammocks for each room.   
Character – The rooms themselves were very much to my liking.  White washed adobe walls with high ceilings and fun bedspreads.  The gardens were fine, but not as nice as some of the other hotels.  
Amenities – breakfast, hot water, fresh water, wireless Internet for $3 (per day), dvd player and video rental for $2, evening campfire in the middle of the garden.
Recommended? - Yes, it is a nice comfortable place at a descent price.  It is not really a good place for meeting others, but if you are there with friends already – go for it.