During the World Tour
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12 unbearable things in youth hostels
When you travel around the world for a year, youth hostels are a must if you don’t want to blow your housing budget. It is in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay that we mostly slept in youth hostels. In these three countries, two beds in dormitories cost us more than a comfortable hotel room in most countries in Asia If some youth hostels are perfectly equipped and very pleasant (special mention to those that put a curtain on the beds allowing a little privacy), in others, we feel that it is the race for profitability and that the comfort of the customers comes second Staying in a youth hostel is also…
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How to visit Christ the Redeemer in Rio: Transportation, tickets, budget, advice
I find the Lonely Planet (Kindle version) from Brazil particularly sloppy. The proof: I have to find out for myself how to go and see Christ the Redeemer all by myself. The information found on the Internet isn’t very clear either. So I give you here the simplest version, with the least amount of waiting to visit one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Note: Uber is really cheap in Rio so forget about shuttles, towers etc. I did the calculation for you, it’s the simplest and cheapest way (when you travel with 2 or more people). City Center -> Christ the Redeemer Take an Uber (X or…
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1 week in Argentina (Iguazú & Buenos Aires): Itinerary, assessment, budget, guide, advice (2/2)
To read the first part of the guide about Patagonia, click here Ahhh Argentina! This country so vast and whose must-see are so far away from each other that we had to visit it in 3 times. After 15 days in Patagonia, we visited Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, before spending a few days in Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, and crossing the land border to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina Itinerary Puerto Iguazú (3 days): after visiting the Brazilian Falls, we cross the border by local bus to Puerto Iguazú (Argentina) for 20$AR/person. See our guide on Iguazú Falls here. The visit of the Argentinian falls takes us a full day…
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15 days in Argentina (Patagonia & lake region): Itinerary, assessment, budget, guide, advice (1/2)
I was very hesitant to write this report only for Argentina, especially since this first trip to Argentina has many border crossings with Chile. But then again, the budgets are really not the same as in Chile so Argentina deserves to have its own article. These 15 days in Argentina cover only the Lakes Region and Patagonia, we will come back here in a few months to explore Buenos Aires & Iguazu and will put online the 2nd part of the article. Itinerary Ushuaia (2 days including 1 day of bus): 16h of bus from Punta Arenas (Chile). We had only 1 day of visit to go around the city…
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12 day tour in Uruguay: Review, itinerary, guide, practical advice…
Uruguay is one of the countries we are very eager to discover. We have the impression that it is the most developed country we have visited in South America. A lot of small details give us this impression: the fact that everything is on time, to the minute (buses, breakfast, shows), buses only stop at bus stations (instead of stopping anywhere to pick up passengers), credit card accepted everywhere, super clean beaches and streets, shopkeepers preferring to spend time with their families instead of trying to scratch a few pennies, free wi-fi everywhere (even on long distance buses), high speed internet, many public buses even on weekends, a feeling of…
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Review of our 9 months around the world tour
We still have two months left before the end of our world tour. Time to make an assessment To date, almost all the “must see” have been visited except Rio de Janeiro and Cuba Kruger park (South Africa) Taj Mahal (India) Temples of Bagan (Burma) Tahiti (French Polynesia) Easter Island (Chile) perito Moreno glacier (Argentina) uyuni wage earner (Bolivia) Machu Picchu (Peru) Iguazú Falls (Brazil and Argentina) Carnival (in Paraguay and Montevideo) A few must-see places are to be visited in the coming years the Grand Canyon in the US spring in Japan jeju Island in South Korea the Great Wall of China (for JB) New Caledonia angkor temples (for…
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Paraguay-Brazil border and visit the Iguazu Falls from Ciudad del Este
Part 1: How to cross the Paraguay-Brazil border? Ciudad del Este – Foz do Iguaçu Ciudad del Este is a shopping paradise for Brazilians and Argentines, and everything has been done to make their shopping experience the best possible (themed shopping malls, several currencies accepted, bilingual staff…). The Paraguay-Brazil border crossing is super easy for Paraguayans, Argentines and Brazilians For other countries, you will need, in addition, two stamps Note: if you do not plan to spend a night in Brazil, you aren’t obliged to ask for exit/entry stamps. The Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side can be visited in a few hours, you can possibly stay in Ciudad del…
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Visit Paraguay in 9 days: Travel Guide, assessment, itinerary, tips, tricks
Paraguay was added to our itinerary on a whim: the result of our research to connect Bolivia to Iguazú or Buenos Aires. We armed ourselves with Google Flights and Google Maps and both confirmed that Paraguay was the place to be. Being still very little tourist (there is no must-see like the salar of Uyuni or the falls of Iguazu), Paraguay is one of the places allowing to take advantage of the carnival way South America at small price. Balance sheet Overall, we rather enjoyed our stay in Paraguay. Apart from the heat (reaching 41°C at the end of February), it’s a country where we see ourselves living between 1…
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Bolivia in 20 days: Review, itinerary, guide and advice
That’s it! We have just left Bolivia, a real “coup de coeur ” for us who did not expect much from this country (due to Antoine de Maximy’s report: I’ll sleep at your place). Our itinerary is a little chaotic since we had to go very quickly to visit Machu Picchu to take advantage of the last sunny days before the rainy season. Enough chatting, let’s go to the content. If we had to do it again, we would have visited Peru first and then go back down to Bolivia. Itinerary Uyuni and the salt desert (3 days): 9h bus from Calama in Chile. Visiting the salt desert flooded mid-January…
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Round the world budget (2/3): Spend smart during the trip, Earn money & Security
We have seen how to put aside money and manage his payment cards for the world tour, we continue this series of articles with the management of money during the world tour. During the round-the-world trip, you can (1) continue to earn some money, but most importantly (2) spend it wisely and (3) protect your money. I’m sure you already know most of these tips, but there’s no harm in listing them here. Part 1: How to keep making money As a freelancer By applying for working holiday visas and/or doing small jobs (fluency in the local language is obviously a strong point) By giving language courses: Anglophones have many…
