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This is a new thread full of South America information. It is to be used for South America-specific tips, advice and recommendations ONLY. As a content-rich thread, we do not want any back-and-forth or questions. Please direct all questions via Private Messages (Click on "Go" in the left hand corner, select "My Space" and then "Private Messages") to the poster. You can also issue a PM by clicker on the poster's name and selecting "Private Message". Any post that does not contribute relevant information will be deleted. Examples include: responses to previous posts in the thread and questions. The information can be on any city, region or country in South America. Enjoy!

www.voegol.com Brazilian budget airline (domestic flights and some connections with Buenos Aires)

Northern Peru, Huaraz and the surrounding Conchucos Valley.
What can I say? The mountain ranges are spectacular, you can see Mt. Huascaran, the seventh tallest mountain in the world and hike, for hardcore mountaineers there are some amazing peaks to be scaled.

It's a windy 9 hours bus ride from Lima to Huaraz and even longer further out, but this Northern region is generally less touristy once you head out from Huaraz ( a little tourist hub but good to get connected somewhere ).

A lot of the little towns are filled with little plazas and lots of interesting things to see---you can see the colonial past, many Spanish cathedrals and inspired architecture.

This valley region is absolutely breathtaking and I highly recommend it in the early May time when the weather is good but it does get cold at nights.

Backpacker's adventure!!!

A couple of nice events in Peru this August, if you happen to be there.
The 9th Lima Festival of Latin American Cinema, from the 4th to the 13th, will present some of the best filmmaking of the region: 22 movies from 10 countries in competition. Great guests too, from Bibi Andersson to the great Argentinean actress Cecilia Roth (remember "Manuela" in Almodóvar's All About My Mother?). Only drawback: you need some Spanish to get the plots.

In Cusco, though, no Spanish needed for the XV edition of the Cusco International Festival, which stages some of the best Latin American folk and rock artists, from cumbia master Lisandro Meza to Argentinean rock legend Los Enanitos Verdes. August, 13th and 14th.

More information in ThePeruGuide.com

Hey Everybody!!

Along my travels in Central America, I have discovered a great way to travel through it for cheap and convenient!!

A bus service that calls itself TICABUS from Costa Rica, offers an open ticket bus from Mexico to Panama. Now the gret thing about this is that there is 1 or 2 terminals in every country and u can stop in any country u want, stay as long as u want and get back on the bus once u are done with that country to go to the next. It is valid for one year so u can take 1 year travelling through central america on the same bus ticket!! It is about 80$$ USD and well worth it, 1st class busses.. Take very warm clothes cause they blast the A.C to full power and it gets very cold!! That is the only down side.. I bought my ticket in El salvador for 60$ and took 4 weeks to get to Panama.. If u have any questions, Dont be shy to ask!!!
Hope this Helps in your Planning!!!!
Suerte Amigos y Amigas!!

Where can you get tickets? do they have to be purchased there or any sort of online booking?..

quote:

Originally posted by Relik:
Hey Everybody!!

Along my travels in Central America, I have discovered a great way to travel through it for cheap and convenient!!

A bus service that calls itself TICABUS from Costa Rica, offers an open ticket bus from Mexico to Panama. Now the gret thing about this is that there is 1 or 2 terminals in every country and u can stop in any country u want, stay as long as u want and get back on the bus once u are done with that country to go to the next. It is valid for one year so u can take 1 year travelling through central america on the same bus ticket!! It is about 80$$ USD and well worth it, 1st class busses.. Take very warm clothes cause they blast the A.C to full power and it gets very cold!! That is the only down side.. I bought my ticket in El salvador for 60$ and took 4 weeks to get to Panama.. If u have any questions, Dont be shy to ask!!!
Hope this Helps in your Planning!!!!
Suerte Amigos y Amigas!!

good resource for information on Brasil: http://www.turismo.gov.br/site/en/home/index.php

there are many agents that sell tickets but you have to board the bus at the trminals. hmm I think i still have the info just not on me, its in the 75 liter bacpack that I call my house right now and its stored at the terminal.. But here Tica bus info hope it helps!! Its a great way to make your way down trust me!!

A quick rave about Lima. Yes, its smoggy dusty and not always friendly. But, if you have to be here give

museo de la nacionwith a guide... better than many of its euro contempories.

casa del mochileroin miroflores...the absolute nicest lady who puts u up in her house for just the right price (two of us for just 10 US in our own room)

Happy trails,

Skip

thats amazing news! where can i get a ticket from???? im currently in south america, and would love to travel back up to the US (home) via central america!!!
*****

quote:

Originally posted by Relik:
Hey Everybody!!

Along my travels in Central America, I have discovered a great way to travel through it for cheap and convenient!!

A bus service that calls itself TICABUS from Costa Rica, offers an open ticket bus from Mexico to Panama. Now the gret thing about this is that there is 1 or 2 terminals in every country and u can stop in any country u want, stay as long as u want and get back on the bus once u are done with that country to go to the next. It is valid for one year so u can take 1 year travelling through central america on the same bus ticket!! It is about 80$$ USD and well worth it, 1st class busses.. Take very warm clothes cause they blast the A.C to full power and it gets very cold!! That is the only down side.. I bought my ticket in El salvador for 60$ and took 4 weeks to get to Panama.. If u have any questions, Dont be shy to ask!!!
Hope this Helps in your Planning!!!!
Suerte Amigos y Amigas!!

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to figure out a way to get from Brazil to Guyana (British). Has anyone been to Guyana or able to give me a heads up on any other mode of transport into the place other than plane? They tell me I have to fly via Miami to get there yet they're bordering countries.

Cheers,
Dan

Good hostel in Quito, Ecuador: http://www.secretgardenquito.com
Plus a great agent for Mountain Bike tours in Ecuador: http://www.bikingdutchman.com their equipment was good. We did the 1 day tour mountain biking down Mount Cotopaxi, the scenery was stunning and the lunch they provided was equally good! They take you up to the refugio at 4600m (!) give you a bike and away you go. Was a bit of a baptism by fire for a first timer like me but great fun. My other Ecuador highlight was the markets at Otavolo, you can get a bus from the bus stn in the old town of Quito really cheaply, it takes about 2 hrs.

I want to recommend a spanish shcool in Quito:

http://www.ecuadorspanish.com

I had a very good time there and learned Spanish very very fast!

Hello all. Here are some links from our recent RTW travel site that could be of some use:

Brazil entries

Brazil low down (summary, tips, etc.)

Brazil pix

Chile low down (summary, tips, etc.)

Chile pix

Buenos Aires entries

Buenos Aires low down (summary, tips, etc.)

Buenos Aires pix

Colonia low down (in Uruguay, near Buenos Aires)

Colonia pix

Hope this helps!

Grace

Banking in Brazil

I've live in Brazil for two years, surviving a one-month bank strike, helping an Internet start-up, and now as a family man, with a wife and three children. Coming from the United States, I've had to learn to negotiate the Brazilian banking system to achieve my goals, first as a tourist and now as a permanent resident here.

Crucial Preparations with Your Bank in Your Home Country

Once you are overseas, you may find it impossible to change the instructions you’ve given your bank about some very important things. Most banks will not allow online money transfers unless you have given them permission in writing, which will be difficult if not impossible once you are overseas. Meanwhile, no one else at home will be allowed access to your account or change its terms unless you have given them power of attorney before you left home. You may be able to order a money transfer from your account to another account by telephone, but only if you have pre-authorized this in writing while you were physically present at your own bank.

This power of attorney is a simple form that you can complete in your bank branch at home, but you and the person to whom you give this power must be personally present at the bank to it and cannot do it by mail. It’s so easy when you’re at home, but impossible without a court order once you’re overseas. Consider giving a trusted friend or family member power of attorney over a checking account at home to facilitate your wishes while you’re overseas. You may want to establish a particular account for this purpose, to facilitate your international transfer of funds.

(Forget about getting Western Union or MoneyGram in Brazil. You must have a Brazilian Physical Person Certificate (CPF) to receive these transfers, and as a short-term tourist you will not have this available to you. Only through a trusted personal friend who receives the money in his name might you be able to receive funds by Western Union or MoneyGram in Brazil, and that friend must have unblemished credit with their CPF card. If you don’t have a trusted friend in Brazil with good credit yet, then try not to lose your money and your credit cards here.

Accessing Money that’s not in Brazil

The quickest, most reliable method I've found in Brazil to access money that is overseas is to use an international VISA debit card and withdraw money at Brazilian bank cash machines. This allows me to access funds that are in my US or French checking account or savings accounts while I am in Brazil. This also allows people overseas to transfer money to me, by depositing in those accounts for my access here, using my US or French VISA debit card. You can also easily and conveniently make most purchases in Brazil using an international Visa debit or credit card.

There are some very important precautions however, which if disregarded can easily lead to disaster when in Brazil:

First, not all VISA cards can be used internationally. An ex-girlfriend found this out painfully when she arrived in France with a non-international VISA card and found she had no access to her accounts and could not make any purchases. Be forwarned! Go to your bank and confirm that your card is international AND will be honored in the country that you intend to visit. You must be VERY sure to inquire and research at your bank before going overseas.

Second, not all banks or all branches of banks in Brazil have cash machines that are equipped to handle the International VISA card. The equipped machines are typically in tourist locations. The bank machines that accept the international visa card will have an eight inch by eight inch plaque on the machine with color pictures of six acceptable cards, including the blue international VISA card and logo. In a bank lobby, there are typically some machines with this logo and others without, or no machines at all with this logo. If the machine doesn’t have this logo, your card will be rejected and ejected.

Among the Brazilian banks with machines that accept the international VISA card are Bank of Brazil and HSBC, but again you must look for the machine(s) with the VISA logo. These are the two international banks present in most Brazilian cities, and I am aware of no other international banks with a similar presence. I suspect that all HSBC branches would have international machines, being an international bank. In Salvador, a city of 3,000,000, only the Bank of Brazil locations in Pelhourinho and Barra (tourist areas) seem to be equipped for international VISA cards, while many of the others do not accept them. Unfortunately, average Brazilians will not typically understand this problem, so you may have to ask for help at Bank of Brazil and then you will be told where to go.

Lost VISA Debit and Credit Cards

If you lose your VISA card, you may be screwed. Your bank will be happy to send you another one, but only to the address of record for your card, which is probably in your home country. When the replacement arrives at your home in your home country, people there may forward the card to you and it might arrive in Brazil within a month of the time when you first called your bank, because it takes two weeks for most mail to reach Brazil. A hell of a lot of good that process would be in an emergency!

You can change the address on your VISA account, but the issuing bank won’t send the card to the new address until three weeks or more after the address has been changed. Visa might advance you a few hundred dollars in Brazil in case of a lost card, but that may also be unsatisfactory.

Don’t count on receiving emergency funds by Western Union or MoneyGram either. You will probably find that it is impossible to send or receive money by Western Union and MoneyGram without a Brazilian version of the US Social Security number which, as a foreign tourist, you probably will not have. The best strategy is not to lose your VISA card in the first place.

Cash Machine Access Fees

Bank of Brazil and HSBC do not seem to charge a fee for cash withdrawals at their machines using international VISA cards. They make their money by giving you an exchange rate which may be five percent less than you would get at unofficial exchange centers. I find that Bank of Brazil gives me around 2% less on exchange than the rate quoted at http://xe.com/ Unfortunately, to use those unofficial exchange centers you must have CASH to trade; you will have to accept the bank’s exchange rate if you want to withdraw money at their cash machines and the money comes out of the machine in Brazilian Reais only.

Since your home bank will charge the same withdrawal fee whether you withdraw ten dollars or a thousand, it makes sense from a bank fee perspective to withdraw fewer times and withdraw more money each time. If you don’t have a safe place to keep cash, it might be better to pay more frequent withdrawal fees.

Bank of America charges me $5.00 USD every time I make a withdrawal at a Brazilian cash machine. You’ll find that this is enough money in Brazil for you AND two friends to have lunch at an all you can eat restaurant, so you may want to limit the number of these cash machine withdrawals.

VISA Card Security

If you carry your VISA card in a passport pouch with your passport inside of your pants, you may not lose it while you are in Brazil. Otherwise prepare to live without your VISA card and your passport, because most tourists who carry these in any other fashion end up losing them before their trip is over. Good passport pouches hang invisibly from your belt inside of your pants. For God’s sake, don’t wear your passport or anything else of value in a pouch that hangs from your neck inside your shirt, with the strap visible outside of your t-shirt!! If you keep your money as I suggest then only by attacking you and stripping your clothes off will anybody be able to separate you from your VISA card and passport.

If you keep a picture of your intimate friend in your wallet, don’t make it a naked picture because the thief who steals your wallet will see your friend naked. When you follow good advice and use a passport pouch that hangs inside of your pants, you should inconspicuously remove your VISA and passport from your pants only when absolutely necessary, and then put them back in the pouch and inside your pants immediately. I’ve had the same passport since year 2000 in seven different countries using this practice. Others, who kept their passports in their pockets, pocketbooks, suitcases, jacket pockets and other places have lost their passports while mine was safe and sound.

In some instances, I have slept in my pants so that I would know where my passport was at all times – in my pants. Obviously, if other people know where your passport pouch with VISA card are then it is no longer safe from them.

Of course, it makes for funny scenes at the airport when customs asks for your passport and you begin reaching into your pants to access it. But at least you know you’ll find it when you reach into you pants, and you can learn to do this deftly and inconspicuously with practice – just as inconspicuously as a pickpocket reaches into your back pocket where you thankfully have nothing at all of value.



Not all banks and bank branches have cash machines that will accept the International visa cards. Only Bank of Brazil and HSBC seem to have

Getting Cash In Brazil With Your International VISA CardHere are links for finding Bank of Brazil and HSBC branches in Brazil where you may be able to use your international VISA card to get withdraw cash from teller machines. Remember that not all of these locations will have machines equipped to handle international visa cards, so you will have to do some research or asking around to find a machine with the international VISA card logo, a machine that will accept your international card. These sites are in Portuguese, so you may need some help to find the information if you do not speak Portuguese, or maybe you'll do just fine on your own.

https://www11.bb.com.br/site/atd/Agencias.jsp

 https://www11.bb.com.br/site/atd/Agencias.jsp 

 http://www.hsbc.com.br/common/atendimento-conveniencia/caixas-automaticos.shtml
 

http://www.hsbc.com.br/common/atendimento-conveniencia/...as-automaticos.shtml

Hey dudes!!

Sorry to ask this question, but eh, does anyone knows how to get cheap tickets from Asia (specially from Singapore) or Australia (anywhere) to South America? The flight websites given by Boots and Travel are only flights originating from the US. And other websites that I've found result in crazy prices such as USD$2000-3000. Gosh....hope to find one that is below USD$1000.

Can anyone advice me please? Really hope to visit South America soon! Thanks!

Yes, that's a difficult one Cheah. I'd recommend piecing it together on your own. They best way will probably be to get to the states, like L.A., and then find a cheap ticket to S. America. You will be able to fly the cheapest out of Bangkok if you want to come from Asia. Air Asia flies cheap from Singapore to Bangkok. The last time I was in Thailand I was able to find something for about $500 from Bangkok to L.A. I think it was Korean Airlines. Check a Bangkok travel agent, they are cheap and there are a million of them.

Then, from L.A., you'll have to find another airlines that goes to S. America. Depending on where you go, you should be able to get to S. America for another $500 (one way). I just found a ticket from Miami to Bogata one-way on LAN airlines for $160!! You have to do some net surfing, get on these S. American Airlines websites and find specials. I also found a one-way ticket from LA to Miami on American airlines for $120, so I'll be able to get from LA to Bogota for about $300.

You can do this on your own, or if you find a good travel agent they can piece this all together for you. I'm thinking with a little diligence you can do it for less than $1000.

The posts here seem to have gone off topic a bit. Where are all the posts from people telling us about little hidden away places they have found or nice clean friendly hotels etc. As much as I am interested in the prices of bus tickets I am more interested in the recommendations of other travellers so I can plan my trip in SA.
Can't posts be moved or deleted if they are in the wrong topic? This topic is pinned after all so a lot of people must go in and just not bother again cos ift does not have the information that they expected.

Jim

p.s. I know that this post does not really fit in with the topic title either but couldn't really post it anywhhere else.

just another low cost airline.. BRA : http://www.voebra.com.br/