Backpacking through South America

I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t been outside the country for over a year. The last time I haven’t left the country for this long it was 2012.😳 I don’t know how I’m staying sane (hint: I’m not 🤫 and who is able to these days? 😬).

I see people travelling here and there. Unfortunately, I’m feeding my wanderlust with memories still, at least for a while. So, join me on another trip down memory lane from the comfort of your own device!

It’s been a while since I’ve been there and it might be a while until you get there, but I’d like to tell you more about my backpacking trip around South America. You can read some of the backstory and how I decided to travel to this area here.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

The South American adventure was a rather unplanned, going with the flow kind of experience. For a control freak like me, it was a great opportunity to learn to relax and let go.

At the same time, I wish I could have spent more time in certain places, so planning ahead of time is definitely a good idea. I really just went along and didn’t do much research beforehand.

It is important to mention what a bad idea that was right from the get-go, because we almost didn’t make it to our first destination – Peru. First of all, we were running pretty late and we got at the check-in desk super last-minute. And secondly, they wouldn’t let us board the plane unless we had a return ticket from Peru.

We were flying out of the US. The thing was, we couldn’t return there after Peru because of visa issues, and we were planning to travel by bus to our next destination, which was Ecuador.

Yet we didn’t know exactly how long we would stay in Peru and didn’t buy any tickets in advance. Technically, we didn’t have a way to prove we were going to exit Peru at some point. So, they almost didn’t let us go.

Eventually, we were advised to purchase a ticket to show it as proof at boarding and ask for a refund later. I was writing complaint emails just a few weeks later because they refused to refund our tickets, but other than that, it was a great strategy to enter Peru.

A few episodes of anger, some waves of anxiety and a rush of endorphins (from running towards the closing gate) later, we were on the flight heading to Lima.

Way to start my first backpacking trip, right? 😆

Seriously now, if you want to go anywhere and be more spontaneous with your itinerary, make sure you check the requirements of the country you’re travelling to. They might not let you fly if you only have a one-way ticket.

I’m not sure if this rule still applies for Peru today, so as cool as being spontaneous is, basic research and planning are pretty important. But let’t get back to the story.

Upon landing, we didn’t visit Lima, but we did spend a night in the airport, because there were no flights to Cusco until the following morning. I suggest you don’t do that. The Lima airport is super crowded (or so it used to be) and it’s not comfortable. We literally lay on the floor on our clothes and backpacks.

_{ok, one of us had an inflatable mattress}

Cusco, the city we were going to, was the capital of the Inca Empire and is high up in the Andes. That’s the furthest you can go by plane if you want to visit Machu Picchu.

We spent a few days roaming around the city and adapting to the altitude. It was the highest on-land elevation I’d been at and a bit challenging for me to adjust.

_{Cusco, 3,399 m}

Luckily, a friend we were travelling with had spent a year in Cusco some years prior and we stayed with her host family, who were incredibly kind and welcoming. They cooked for us and made us coca tea to alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness. They also helped us get great deals for tickets and recommended the best areas to explore.

While in Cusco, we took the bus around town, ate traditional food, spoke Spanish and admired the gorgeous, shiny hair that so many Peruvian women have.

We visited a number of Inca ruins and the impressive Sacred Valley, where they grow different types of corn at over 3000 m.

_{Sacred Valley}

Did you know that Peru also grows over 3000 types of potatoes? Before then, I didn’t even know about the existence of more than 3 types of potatoes. 😂

The highlight of the trip was of course, the famous Machu Picchu. To get there from Cusco, we took a minibus on the most spectacular and scary road I’ve been on.

The destination was Ollantaytambo. From there, we could either take a train or walk 11 km to get to Aguas Calientes, which is the little town at the base of Machu Picchu.

You guessed it. We chose to walk. It took us around 3 and a half hours to get to Aguas Calientes, including snacking and photo breaks.

We soaked into the hot springs in the area and went to sleep. The next morning we were too tired to hike up to Machu Picchu and we had to return to Cusco that day, so we just took the bus to the top.

Definitely worthy of the title of Wonder of the World. It’s really amazing what the Incas have been able to build so high up in the mountains.

The adventures continued with a trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake (at 3812 m). From there, we wanted to go into to Bolivia for a day. However, our lack of planning got in the way again. We got to the border, where we found out a visa is required to enter.

It seemed pointless to go through all the hassle only for a day, so we just turned back from the border and spent an extra day in Puno. We took a boat tour on the lake and stopped on some islands there.

_{Lake Titicaca}

Soon enough after returning to Cusco, it was time to fly back to Lima and continue our journey up north.

Lima is a huge and crowded city and we skipped it. We just went to the bus station to find a ride that would get us to Piura, a town in northern Peru. The experience at the bus station in Lima was a real culture shock for me.

There were hundreds of people in the same area (sounds even more shocking now, during a pandemic 😂), it smelled horrible and I felt pressured and anxious the entire time. The way they advertise their bus trips is by yelling the destination, following you around and almost dragging you to their bus. It was quite uncomfortable for me, honestly.

After a 16-hour bus ride (we were students on a budget, ok? 😂), we made it safe and sound to Piura, where we had lunch and settled upon our next steps. We were very much taking the ‘planning as I go’ approach.

During the short pit stop, we decided we needed some ocean love, so we picked Mancora, where we spent the following three days just resting and living the small beach town life.

Over the next week, we transitioned through Ecuador, where we briefly explored some areas and crossed the border into Colombia, where we visited a dear friend. Right after that, I separated from the group to go to Brazil by myself. Maybe I’ll tell you more about Brazil in the next travel story.

For now, I’ll end with some of the insights I had during this trip. I found them written in the travel journal I was using back then:

• The limits we have are the ones we put in our minds.
• I love the traveller life! ❤️
• I have to learn to travel with less luggage.
• Small things can be extraordinarily beautiful and soothing.
• Travelling in a group is awesome, annoying, funny, easy, complicated 😆.
• I have a beautiful life.
• I can still speak Spanish well enough.
• Things don’t always work out the way you plan them and that’s neither good nor bad.
• It’s important to be patient with people.
• Being prepared and informed matters, but letting things flow matters, too.

Some true life lessons here. And this is just from three weeks of travelling. 😆

P.S.: While digging through the digital memories, I found this video I put together the year after I returned. If you ignore the poor quality and video editing skills, it shows the highlights of this experience captured through my eyes.

Man, I miss travelling so much! May we return to it safely soon!

Have you ever travelled to South America? Tell me about your experience in the comments!

If you haven’t yet, would you like to explore this area? Let me know down below.