merryweather

Hello!

So I've been researching my upcoming trip exhaustively with these forums and my guidebook (footprint) and I think I'm ready to ask your opinion about my itinerary.... It's still a work in progress but at this point I need input.

I will be leaving Canada on June 4th 2014 and I'm planning to return the 13th of August for a total of 10 weeks/70 days.
My return date is flexible and I can easily add another week if I really want to add more to the trip.

Here it is:

Fly to Lima, spend 2 days
Bus to Huaraz, acclimatize and find a trekking group - 2 days
Huayhuash Circuit - 10 days
Lima via Bus - in transit
Cuzco via bus or flight - organize MP trek - 3 days
Salkantay trek + MP - 5 days
Copacabana + Isla del Sol via bus - 2 days
La Paz via bus - 3 days
Huyana Potosi - 2 days
Death Road - 1 day
Rurrenbaque + Pampas Tour, including flights - 5 days
Uyuni via overnight bus - in transit
Salt Flats - 3 days
San Pedro de Atacama - 2 days
Salta + JuJuy via bus - 4 days
Iguazu (Arg + Brazil sides) via bus - 2 days
Buenos Aires via bus - 5 days
Ushuaia via flight - 4 days
Puerto Natales + Torres Del Paine for winter W trek - 6 days
El Calafate via bus - 2 days
El Chalten via bus - 2 days
then fly home via El Calafate -> Buenos Aires -> Toronto

Which leaves me with 5 days for non-overnight-bus transport and general flexibility. To be honest I'd like this number to be higher but I can always delay my flight home.
Also, note that I have been in contact with others who've done the W trek in TDP in the winter and I will have the necessary equipment and I have experience winter camping (-20 degrees celcius one night this winter).

So I have a few questions, please feel free to answer one or multiple, I would truly appreciate your feedback, negative or positive...

1. General Impressions? Anything you'd add or remove? Any drastic reorganizations you think would work better?
2. Any tour guide recommendations for Salar de Uyuni? Huayhuash circuit? Rurrenbaque + Pampas tour? or Huayana Potosi?
3. Should I add another day in Cuzco to check out the sacred valley? or will 3 days be enough?
4. Should I fit in Colca Canyon + Arequipa? I already have a lot of hiking so I was thinking I could skip the canyon... but it and Arequipa look great...
5. Is the Perrito Merino Glacier viewable by boat in august? I'm aware that the walkways are available but I'd like to get up close and personal too.
6. Are there treks (snowshoe?) available in El Chalten in august? Or should I cut this out of my itinerary?

Let me add that I'm 24 years old, no afraid of being uncomfortable and my interests are nature viewing, trekking, history, beer (i homebrew), wine, food, cross country skiing, snowboarding, self-guided walking tours of cities, and maybe even a couple nights of partying.

Thank you to all the people who make this forum great and especially those who take the time to help me with these daunting, yet exciting, decisions!!!
All the best,
Sam

Huentetu

There is one bit that you might have trouble with:
San Pedro de Atacama - 2 days
Salta + JuJuy via bus - 4 days

If you want to take the bus from San Pedro to Salta, you would really need to check what days it goes in winter. There is Geminis and Pullman and there was Andesmar, but I am not sure if they are still doing the route. In summer there is one or the other bus 3x a week but I don't know what goes in winter or how often. There was quite a long thread on it on another travel forum but I didn't read it carefully. You might have a look. Usually, if you are flexible, there is a way to eventually get everywhere, but you have quite tight times in most places.

merryweather

Ahh k thanks Huentetu!
That was something I've been meaning to look into but havn't had the time yet. I appreciate the heads up and will commence doing research. If anyone else has info, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers,
Sam

crellston

First impressions are that it looks like a fantastic trip!

I am not convince the route you are taking is the most logical route through Bolivia (unless I am misunderstanding something). The death road is accessed fro La Paz so it makes no sense to go to Potosi only to return to LP to do the death road. As you are going to Rurrenabaque, the death road is on the way down through the Yungas so you could probably incorporate the DR en route - maybe! We chose to fly to Rurre as we didn't relish the 18 hour bus trip and flights were relatively cheap.

Having spoken with other travellers, we decide not to bother with the. Pampas trip from Rurre and headed straight into Madidi NP and loved it! We used http://www.madidijungle.com

We flew to Rurrenabaque from LP

crellston

Sorry - fat fingers - pressed submit too soon!

Madidi Jungle were excellent we did 4 nights but 3 would have been ok if short on time.

Of you are intent on going to Potosi then you could consider visiting Ruurenabaque and doing the death road from La Paz and then fly or bus from LP to Potosi via Sucre and on to Tupiza where you can get tours to Uyuni ( 3 night tours are best). Alternatively get the bus and train combo from LP to Uyuni via Oruro. Personally, I would cut Potosi with the time you have.

Do heed Huentutu's warning re cross from Chile to Argentina. We went that way in September and the buses weren't running for a week.

Here is a link to my blog of our trip last year which covers some of the places you will be visiting

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...ai/6/tpod.html

Make sure you post a trip report as I would love to hear about your experiences, especially the W trek which is on my list..

avrooster

WOW! Three great replies here, versus only one on the leading travel forum!

Keep up the good work, guys!

merryweather

I will absolutely post a trip report upon my return. I owe the forums too much not to!

As for Potosi: I'm speaking about Huyana Potosi which is a mountain above 6000m and is north of La Paz. I will not be visiting the town of Potosi (if only I had time for everything!).

I am definitely a bit concerned now about getting stuck in San Pedro de Atacama for longer than I want but I've heard I should spend more days there anyways. Seems like a cool place to explore.

As for Rurrenbauque. I think I'll fly as well to save time.. especially if the flights are cheap. I think I will opt for the three days just so I have more time elsewhere. Could you share what other travelers told you and why you chose to go straight into Madidi Park instead of the Pampas tour?

Thanks a million crellston!

Huentetu

San Pedro is very interesting but expensive. Coming from Bolivia it will be like a bucket of ice water on your head! Three days should be enough (don't miss the stargazing tour, provided no full moon).
http://tinyurl.com/le88wa5

merryweather

Andesmar seems to run buses from Salta to Atacama but not the reverse... bizarre. But then again, I could be using their site incorrectly. I'm not having much luck with Pullman's site either and I can't even find Geminis site (i've heard it isn't useful anyways).
I guess I'll have to aim for 3 days and be flexible if buses aren't running like I hope. The link you provided gives me a better idea but it still seems like its touch and go. Hopefully buses run 3 times a week like other people have reported at different times of the year.

Stargazing tour sounds amazing! Thanks for the tip!

Also that link gives me a much better idea but it seems like it's still touch and go. I'll do some more research.

Many thanks for your continued help Huentetu!
As always, much appreciated.
-Sam

pantanal

Agree that the pampas tour out of Rurrenabaque isn't great. It's not virgin forest, so less of a real "jungle" experience than, say, Madidi. I didn't go to Madidi, but did do the pampas tour, and I preferred my experiences in the Amazon of Brazil and Ecuador. Though we did see a huge anaconda on the pampas tour, which was pretty cool. From everything I've heard though, Madidi is a much better choice (plus you are supporting a national park in a poor country that way).

merryweather

It's funny, I've heard the exact opposite! I heard that the pampas tour was great because you see a lot of wildlife while on the Madidi tour, the trees block all the animals....?

But then again there is more to these tours than wildlife viewing for sure. I can imagine the rainforest/jungle surroundings of Madidi would be a better atmosphere than the rivers of the pampas. Is that the reason you preferred Amazon to Pampas?

Anyone else have an opinion to add to the mix???

Thanks for the input guys, I'm now definitely going to reevaluate/reconsider.

Cheers!
-Sam

merryweather

Just went through Crellston's blog and Madidi does look spectacular!

crellston

Glad you enjoyed the blog merryweather.

As for the. Pampas v the jungle, the general feeling was similar to that outlined by pantanal above - it just isn't that great . It is cheap however and the general consensus seems to be that the quality of the tours is not good, there is a lot of animal mistreatment and you can get crowds of tourist surround an anaconda. You will however, see many more animals in the pampas than the jungle. You do see animals in the jungle but you have to work a bit harder to find them.
A few other thoughts:

I do think you need to spend more time in the sacred valley apart from your trek and MP. The Sv is worth a couple of days and Pisac is definitely worth including.

i have bothe bussed and flown fro Lima to Cusco - the bus takes 24 hours and is better for acclimatisation but flying is by far the more comfortable option!

Get the Inka Express or similar tour bus from Cusco to. Puno/ / Copacabana . The scenery should not be missed. ( plus teh night bus is a real PITA!)

merryweather

Thanks for your help Crellston!
I've got a new itinerary that takes much of your (and others') advice into account.
I'll post it a little later today.
Thanks again

avrooster

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