Her name is Rio

Rio De Janeiro is just an amazing place and that's that!I don't think I was quite expecting such a vibrant mix of beach, city, shops, buildings and more beach! There is so much to explore in this wonderful place that I would have like to have stayed a week longer. But I am a sun lover so the beaches were where it was at for me and they are exactly how you imagine them to be. Lots of women leaving very little to the imagination and men flexing their muscles. There are also lots of beach gyms and people playing volleyball. I read a lot about people being nervous on the beach because of pick pockets and criminal activity. It's not worse than any other beach in Europe. Just keep your wits about you, don't take stupid amounts of money and expensive technology with you, then you'll be fine.

I stayed in the Ipanema region of the city which is popular with tourists as it is slightly cheaper than staying near the Copacabana. Having said that accommodation is pretty pricey wherever you go. I stayed in the Lighthouse Hostel which was friendly and reasonably priced. The kitchen is quite small but I visited in low season so there weren't that many people there using it. Also you can arrange an airport pick up through the hostel if you are arriving late, otherwise there is an airport bus which goes frequently along the beach which is good. In the city there are also tours to the Favelas which you can go on but I thought that was a bit odd so didn't do it. I did go to a football match at the Maracana Stadium which was brilliant.




Plus you have Sugarloaf mountain, the 'big jesus' as I call it - otherwise known as the Christ the Redeemer statue and the colourful steps 'Escadaria Selaron'. I really enjoyed the juice drink called Acai juice made out of the berries. It's lovely. It's got quite an unusual flavour so It's not to everyones taste.

Rio is a laid back but vibrant city. So much going on, so colourful and just amazing.

Tango Country

Buenos Aires is a very European city and extremely cosmopolitan. Coffee shops, bars and restaurants are in abundance. There are also lots of currency touts that shout 'cambio' who want your American Dollars to change to Argentinian Pesos. Be warned though, if you change your money then want to change Pesos before you leave Argentina, a lot of places won't change it for you or if they do, they need a receipt of your transaction.

Buenow Aires is great city to walk around and discover. You can go visit the Boca Stadium. You can walk to the stadium from the city centre if you have a free morning or afternoon. The official tours are pretty prices so unless your a die hard footy fan I wouldn't bother if you're on a budget.

Calle Florida is the place to be on a Sunday. The street just goes on and on and is full of little pop up shops and street sellers all interlaced with impromptu tango dancers. Great if you want a few bits and pieces before you fly home. Also a great night out is a Tango show. It sounds cliche but they are fabulous. I booked my ticket through Tango Tix  and went to see a show at El Querandi. I booked a dinner and dance show and it was fabulous. You get a three course meal and a bottle of wine. The food is lovely and there is a good selection, all tastes catered for. I would recommend going for the house trifle as it's not really a trifle and tastes truly magnificent. From all the Tango shows / Tango dinner nights, this one looked the most reasonable and it certainly exceeded my expectations. Here is a taster...



The sound of the city:

Patagonia

El Calafate in Patagonia, Argentina, is where the journey to Patagonia for most people starts. It's a fairly small town but has everything you need. On the recommendation of another traveller I stayed at the America del Sur hostel. It's a short walk just out of the main town centre and it's situated on top of a hill so the views are brilliant. It's clean, friendly, really warm and the staff are really friendly. The people who work there will also help you book tour and buses to other parts of Argentina. I walked into town to see if we were going to be paying more by booking it through the hostel but it wasn't the case. A tip for Argentina is take lots of American Dollars. It's easier to pay for things in dollars and the rate is generally better if you change dollars.

Apart from changing currency, the first on the list was the Perito Moreno Glacier. There are boat trips that take you to see lots of glaciers but there are also day trips that let you see the Perito Moreno Glacier and then go walking on it. I opted for the day trip which included the glacier hike. The actual glacier is breathtaking. The sheer size of it is just phenomenal. There are viewing platforms opposite the glacier so you can really appreciate its size and beauty. I saw a pice of ice fall away from the side which was magnificent. Take a look for yourself...





Day tours cost around £70 but the whole day is worth it, especially if you go walking on the glacier. You get a little treat of whiskey at the end of the walk which was sublime!

Another great place to visit n Southern Argentina is El Chalten. It's a smaller town than El Calafate so if the weather is bad you can't really do anything. But from El Chalten you can do lots of walks. There are paths leading out of the town up to lakes and mountains. Monte Fitz Roy is a huge mountain which dominates the landscape and it is beautiful. I went in winter so I was lucky with the weather. If you get a bad snow storm or it's overcast you can still walk but the views aren't as great. The best thing about this area is that all the walks are free and getting into the National Park around El Chalten is free.

 As I was there in the winter there weren't that many people in the town but I can imagine that in the summer the paths are packed with tourists from abroad and Argentina. Depending on the weather I would spend about 2 nights in El Chalten in winter. You could camp and stay for about a week or so in summer I should think.

I found it was hard to find travel information during the winter months in Patagonia. There are buses but the routes and times are limited during winter. It's also worth noting that most buses from the south go from Rio Gallegos. So if you want to travel from El Chalten up to Bariloche, you would have to go back to Rio Gallegos to get a bus, rather than travel up the middle of Argentina. I think the roads are open during the summer so it's easier, but in the winter, some of the roads are shut.

Visiting El Chalten and El Calafate was a highlight of my South America trip. It is more expensive in Southern Argentina than other places but it's worth it.

Salar de Uyuni

The Salt Flats of Bolivia lie near the border to Northern Chile. You can book tours to go and visit them from La Paz and other Bolivian towns. Some of the most popular are three day tours which leave from Uyuni. You can get buses to Uyuni quite easily. I got an overnight bus from La Paz and stayed in Uyuni for the night. Be prepared though, hostels are more expensive here and it is cold!

The actual tours, you go in a small group of four or six in a 4x4 and spend the entire tour with those people.As you travel at your own pace, you don't really see many other people when you are driving over the flats and through the mountains.



There are not many things that separate the different tours and it really is hit and miss as to who it turns out. The one that I was on, the second night there was no hostel booked for our group so we had to stay in a really horrible hostel. I was feeling very well either so I was not impressed when we got told we had no where to stay. The guides you have don't necessarily speak English so try and make sure you travel with someone who is fluent in Spanish. Even if the tour operator says the guides are bilingual it isn't necessarily so.



You do go through some stunning countryside, it's a shame you can't get out and walk around a bit more. You are pretty much in the 4x4 all the time. I opted to get a tour which dropped you in Chile which was good. You got picked up at the border and taken to a near by Chilean town.

I thought the tour was a really good way of seeing the sights and crossing the border. I wouldn't do anymore than the three days though.

Machu Picchu

A magical place at the top of a very long flight of stairs!

Being there for sunrise was breathtaking.Watching the clouds and mist clear to unveil the ruins is a fabulous sight. Below is a little video of some of the workers restoring the site.

My guide Nilton finishing off his guided tour of Machu Picchu




Before I went to Peru I booked my trek to Machu Picchu well in advance because I saw all the warnings about tickets being booked up in advance, people not getting onto tours etc. This is incorrect. I did a five day Salkantay Trek which ended up at Machu Picchu and included a tour. I booked it through Go To Peru - DO NOT USE THIS SITE. We were told incorrect information about what we should take on the trek, how much baggage we could bring etc which meant us forking out more than we thought. Also, even though we had paid for the trek 3 months in advance, they had failed to book our return journey transport from Machu Picchu back to Cusco.

Agua Calientes is the town at the base of Machu Picchu and you can only leave by train; there are no roads in or out. The trains go to Ollantaytambo which is fairly close to Cusco or Hydro Electric, no where near. We had to get a bus from Hydro Electric back to Cusco. So what should have been a five hour journey turned into a 12 hour one. Even though, when we paid for our trek, we were told our train tickets to Ollantaytambo had been booked, not the case.

It was a real shame because after such a great trek and meeting lots of cool people, it was spoilt because on the last day, we had to stay up until about midnight sorting out our train tickets with our guide. And because we could only get a train to Hydro Electric and then a bus to Cusco it meant we had only a couple of hours to look around Machu Picchu rather than the whole day. Gutted.

All the other people on our trek managed to get train tickets and most had only booked a week in advance or even days and paid a lot less than we did. Best way to play it if you don't want to get screwed over, get to Cusco and sort it out from there. Talk to other people in hostels about treks they've been on. Even if you have to stay in Cusco a few days to get on a trek, it's worth and there is plenty to do anyway.

Watch out for the old altitude sickness too. It's worth trying to get something in the UK to take over. I felt rotten and was vomiting a lot because I hadn't got used to the altitude. It was only for a few days but I felt I missed out a bit.

This all sounds negative but it's not meant to be. The actual trek was one of the best adventures of my life. Loved it. The mountains are breath taking and the walk took me through such varied countryside it was amazing.

Cusco

Cusco is vibrant and buzzing place. It's the gateway to all treks to Machu Picchu. There are lots of tour operators that provide various packages to go and see the historic site. I wouldn't worry about booking a tour until you're in Cusco, just haggle a bit to get a good price and make sure they have booked you onto the train out of Aguas Calientes and then from Ollantaytambo to Cusco.

I stayed in couple of hostels in the town. The first was El Tuco which has a little way out of the centre but it was quiet, clean and friendly. There is a small kitchen where you can cook and there is a fairly large supermarket just a little way down the road. It's also not very far from the bus station which if it's light you can walk but it's fairly cheap to get a taxi there in the dark. The second hostel was the Pariwana Hostel which is a big hostel. It's a clean and the staff are helpful and friendly. There is no kitchen but there is a fairly cheap restaurant there which serves European food. There is also a good range of rooms if you wanted to treat yourself to one with a bath! It's quite nice after a trek to Machu Picchu! Also, just down the street there is a good laundry service which is cheaper than the one at the hostel.

Around the main square in Cusco there are lots of shops and restaurants. I went to Jack's Cafe which I thought was going to be a bit cliche but actually it was really good food, large portions and fairly priced. As you walk around Cusco you will stumble on many delights. Markets, street artists and music.

Arequipa

This is the view from the Bothy Hostel in Arequipa.It's near the main square and provides a serene sanctuary to the busy streets of Peru. It's clean and tidy. The breakfast is bread and jam (standard) and the people running it are really friendly.

The volcanoes surrounding Arequipa are stunning. There are three; Misti,Pichu Pichu and Chachani. Apparently Misti means triangle because that is the shape of it! 

When I was there, there was some kind of military parade. I found out that Arequipa was/is quite a revolutionary city.It likes to do things its own way! So I think the parade was something to do with that. There always seems to be something going on when you're in South America anyway - no quiet days!

I joined one of the free walking tours which was great. I always think they are a good introduction to any place as you can find your feet and have a bit of a feel for the place afterwards. We walked down one of the streets which had some really old leather workshops and also a huge guitar shop which had all sorts of stringed instruments. Not sure what instrument this was but it sounded good.

Arequipa was the first place I visited in South America and I think it's a good place to start. It's not that big and there is a supermarket on the main plaza so you can't get lost and you won't go hungry! There are also loads of tour operators if you wanted to visit any of the surrounding area. I wanted to go to the Colca Canyon but there had been some earth tremors so some of the roads were shut but hey ho, you can't plan everything!