In Latin America, things just don’t happen the same way as they do in western countries.
After a while, you learn to stop asking questions when you’re served by a 10-year-old at a restaurant, when you see a woman walking her llama down a busy street, or when you order a cappuccino only to have the waiter leave the coffee shop, returning 10 minutes later with a plastic bag of hot coffee for you.
The things that happen in Latin America, while strange, are what make this part of the world so unique.
My first visit was filled with many wonderful, interesting, or just plain weird experiences, so with that in mind, here are a bunch of interesting stats that don’t usually appear in a trip summary!
Number of countries visited: 3
- Mexico (3 weeks)
- Bolivia (1.5 weeks)
- Peru (2 weeks)
Number of flights taken: 8
- 3 from Sydney to Mexico City (via Fiji and LA)
- 2 from Cancun to La Paz (via Lima)
- 3 from Cusco to Portland (via Lima and Dallas)
Amount of money spent:
About $9000-$10,000 AUD each, including international flights, accommodation, sightseeing, food, drinks, everything.
Number of photos taken: 908
- 422 in Mexico
- 216 in Bolivia
- 270 in Peru
Number of times I accidentally ate meat: 3
- Twice in Mexico (the stringy cheese of the southern states looks suspiciously close to shredded chicken)
- Once on the flight to from Peru to USA (the ‘vegetarian omelette’ had a few bits of ham. Nice one, American Airlines)
Items sacrificed to the travel gods (stuff that got lost/went missing): 3
- 1 of my favourite cardigans which a Mexican lady “misplaced” in a laundry in San Cristobal
- 1 full tub of sunscreen (devo, that shit is expensive!) on a bus in Mexico
- 1 bank card in an Oaxaca ATM (well done, Robert)
Number of ancient ruins visited: 13
- 5 in Mexico (Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Palenque, Chichen Itza, Tulum)
- 8 in Bolivia/Peru, 4 of which were on the Inca Trail including the famous Machu Picchu
Worst 3 things to happen:
- Losing my cardigan (It was my fave!)
- Getting food poisoning in Copacabana
- My worst flight ever from Fiji to Mexico
Best 3 things to happen:
- Successfully conquering the Inca Trail, a 4-day hike through the Peruvian wilderness
- Eating delicious tacos every single day (no joke) through the entirety of Mexico
- Crossing the incredible salt flats of Bolivia off my travel list
Range of altitudes visited:
- Lowest – Sea level (Playa Del Carmen)
- Highest – 4850m (15,900 feet) (Death Road, Bolivia)
I recon your stats are pretty great. If those are the worst things that happened I’d call it a success and that’s an impressive amount of archaeology! I’m glad you had a great time! 🙂
Thanks Katie! It was a great trip, and the worst things pale in comparison to the rest of the trip – you’ve just got to move and and enjoy everything else!
Fun post! It’s nice to know some stats from your trip to Latin America. Sorry about your cardi!
It’s kind of funny how devastated I was about it – I only purchased the cardi about a month before we departed so it was fairly new as well 🙁 Never mind, these things happen!
I’m kind of a fan of lists and numbers, so I love this! Gutted about losing your card, though. Touch wood, I’ve never had that happen, but I think I would go slightly mad if it did. I would definitely panic. Lots.
Love your list of archeological sites, though. Sounds like an amazing trip, despite the card / suncream / cardigan / food poisoning!
http://www.secondhandhedgehog.com
It was really lucky that it was a joint bank account and that I had an extra card, otherwise we would have been stuck with only a credit card! The reason it got left behind is that the ATM spat out the cash first and the card after (whereas it’s usually the card first) so Robert walked off with the cash forgetting that the card hadn’t come out yet!
Aside from the craziest f***ing bipolar landlord I’ve ever known to exist that we had to deal with in Mexico City, Ian and I had a blast in Mexico! Teotihuacan was definitely a highlight for us (and of course, the tacos, too).
Curious which ancient ruin/archaelogical site was your favorite, though — you went to so many!
And sorry to hear about the ailments — especially the food poisoning. I bet that was miserable. :-/
Oh that sucks about your stay in Mexico City! Glad you guys enjoyed the area though, Teotihuacan and Palenque were equal faves in Mexico, and Machu Picchu (of course) topped the list in Peru!
Ah the food poisoning sucked, but to be honest I was kind of surprised I’d gone a whole month avoiding it – from all the stories I’d heard, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll get it at some stage!
How come your flight from Fiji was so bad? I had an awful flight as well with Fiji Airways- spent 24 hours in LAX without food. Annnnyyyway, is the Inca Trail quiet or do you meet a lot of different people?
Sounds similar to our predicament! You can find the full horror story here.
I was actually expecting it to be really busy, but it wasn’t so bad. There are 500 permits per day given out for the inca trail, so you pass by a fair few other groups doing the trek. There were times when we were the only ones in sight, and there were other times when there were dozens of people about!