u/pinataparty9

I’m near the end of a trip in South America and I’m trying to fill my last few days in Chile.

I’m currently in San Pedro de Atacama. I’ve already done the Uyuni tour in Bolivia, so I’d rather avoid doing another full day of salt flats / high-altitude lagoons if possible.

My current idea is:

Oct 5 – San Pedro

• Rent bikes for the day
• Pukará de Quitor
• Catarpe / Garganta del Diablo
• Maybe Valle de la Muerte / sandboarding

Oct 6–7 – Rent a car
I’m thinking of picking up a car in San Pedro and returning it in Antofagasta.

• Vallecito / Cordillera de la Sal
• Valle del Arcoíris / Yerbas Buenas
• Sleep somewhere outside San Pedro if there’s a nice option
• Then drive towards Antofagasta on the 7th, stopping at places like Baquedano, Mano del Desierto and the coast / La Portada.

After dropping the car in Antofagasta:
night bus to La Serena and then 2 days in La Serena, then a night bus to Santiago and my flight from Santiago.

Does this sound like a good use of the time, or am I missing something really worth seeing between San Pedro and Antofagasta?

I’m especially interested in places that feel different from Uyuni and in experiences that are worth doing independently rather than with a tour.

Also interested in recommendations for a nice place to stay somewhere between San Pedro and Antofagasta.

Three of us, we’ve been in Colombia for the last few weeks and we fly into Lima on Aug 31. Peru until late September, all buses except Lima–Cusco. First time any of us has been properly high — we hike a lot at home but 3000m in the Alps is our ceiling, so the altitude side of this is where we’re least confident. We’ve got Diamox.
Rough plan:
Sept 1 night bus to Huaraz. A week there, take the first days easy, day hikes, then a multi-day trek if we feel good. Back to Lima, one night, fly to Cusco. Salkantay, then Machu Picchu on the 14th (ticket already bought, that date is fixed). Then Cusco, bus to Arequipa, bus to Titicaca, and whatever’s left.
A few things I’d love a reality check on:
1. Counting backwards from the 14th, a 4-day Salkantay puts us in Cusco on the 10th and out the door the next morning. No rest day. Is that stupid, or is a week in the Cordillera Blanca enough that we can get away with it? Genuinely can’t tell and this is the part that worries me.
2. Related — we drop back down to Lima at sea level for a night before flying to Cusco. Does a week of acclimatizing survive that, or are we basically starting over?
3. For Huaraz, what order would you do things in and how many days before Laguna 69 or Santa Cruz is sensible? Happy to be told to slow down.
4. Cusco had the DANA rains last week — huaicos at Aguas Calientes, Inca Trail shut — and then the 7.2 on the 20th. Anyone actually there who can say how things are? Mostly wondering if Salkantay and the Mollepata road are normal, and whether we should just book with an agency instead of doing it ourselves given how fast things seem to change.
5. How cold does it actually get at Soraypampa and up in the Blanca in September? We were planning to rent sleeping bags rather than carry them from home, but if the rental stuff is junk we’d rather know now.
Also if the whole thing is overloaded and you’d cut something, say so. Thanks.

Never done a trip with just a backpack before, so I'm starting from zero. Me and two friends land in Bogotá on Aug 18 and fly out of Santiago on Oct 11. Route is roughly Medellín, Leticia and across to Iquitos, Lima, Arequipa, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Puno and Titicaca, La Paz, Uyuni, then San Pedro and down to Santiago.

Almost two months, and it goes from the Amazon to 4000m.

For a trip like this, what would you actually carry? What did you bring on your first long trip that you ended up never touching, or ditching halfway?

Also curious how big a bag people go with for this length. I keep reading that longer trip doesn't mean bigger bag, but I don't know if that holds when you need cold weather stuff too.

Thanks

Never done a trip with just a backpack before, so I'm starting from zero. Me and two friends land in Bogotá on Aug 18 and fly out of Santiago on Oct 11. Route is roughly Medellín, Leticia and across to Iquitos, Lima, Arequipa, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Puno and Titicaca, La Paz, Uyuni, then San Pedro and down to Santiago.

Almost two months, and it goes from the Amazon to 4000m.

For a trip like this, what would you actually carry? What did you bring on your first long trip that you ended up never touching, or ditching halfway?

Also curious how big a bag people go with for this length. I keep reading that longer trip doesn't mean bigger bag, but I don't know if that holds when you need cold weather stuff too.

Thanks

We're three friends planning a South America trip and honestly we want to know if we're being stupid or if it's actually doable. We've spent way too much time researching but we still have massive doubts, especially about altitude and whether we should actually be driving ourselves.

We have approximately 36 days.... here's what we're thinking:

THE ITINERARY:

1. ROAD TRIP PERU: Lima → Paracas → Ica → Nazca → Arequipa (BY CAR)
   • FLIGHT: Arequipa → Cusco
2. TREKKING: Cusco + Sacred Valley + Machu Picchu (Inca trail)
   • FLIGHT: Cusco → Puerto Maldonado
3. JUNGLE: Puerto Maldonado Jungle
4. BOLIVIA: Puerto Maldonado → Puno → La Paz → Uyuni (BY BUS)
   • BUS: Uyuni → San Pedro Atacama
5. CHILE: San Pedro Atacama → Santiago (BY CAR)

OUR ACTUAL CONCERNS:

Altitude sequence ?

Lima (sea level) → Arequipa (2,400m OK) → Cusco (3,400m) → Machu Picchu (2,430m) → Puerto Maldonado (sea level) → Puno overnight bus (3,827m) — JUMP of 3,800m in one night → La Paz (3,640m) → Uyuni (3,656m) → San Pedro Atacama (2,400m) → Chile (basically sea level ?).

So we're looking at roughly 17-18 days above 2,400m total, with like 5-7 days at 3,600m+. And that brutal overnight jump from jungle to Puno. We've read that spending 30+ days high altitude is a bad idea, but is our sequence actually sustainable? One of us is particularly worried about the Sep 7 jump (0m → 3,800m). Should we cut Puerto Maldonado entirely to avoid this?

Also one of us has a 10 minute PhD interview on the middle of the trip approximately when we'll be in San Pedro Atacama. But do you think we will feel like garbage by then or should we be okay after descending from Bolivia?

Energy/pace — are we going to be exhausted?

This is a lot of moving around. We're not just sitting in one place. Road trip one week, flights, hiking at altitude, jungle heat, overnight buses. By day 20-something are we going to be completely fried? Or is the pacing actually okay because we have days where we're just in one place?

Driving questions:

We want to drive the coast (Lima → Arequipa) ourselves and drive in Chile because we want the freedom. We've read that Peru driving is genuinely stressful (aggressive trucks, night driving dangerous, parking chaos in cities, police).

Should we just use the bus for the coast instead of renting a car? Is it worth it?

Is this just too much for 36 days trip?

Also: Inca Trail or bus to Machu Picchu? The trail sounds epic but after a road trip and flights are we just going to be knackered?

Hey everyone! I am looking for some advice on how to structure this trip.

We’re 3 friends traveling for about 40 days. We fly into Bogotá on Aug 19 (cheaper than Lima), spend ~1 week in Colombia (Bogotá + Medellín), then head to Peru around Aug 24. We’ll be backpacking and want to keep a good pace without burning out.

We plan to do:

• Machu Picchu + Sacred Valley
• Amazon rainforest
• A road trip for a piece of the travel would be nice
• Time to actually enjoy cities, hikes, and food. Not just rush through highlights

Our problem is we’re unsure whether to:

• Spend ~4 weeks focusing on Peru and do it properly
• Extend Colombia (Coffee Triangle, maybe Cartagena) and reduce Peru
• Add another country (Chile, maybe Bolivia) on top of Peru

We don’t want to just tick boxes — we’d rather experience fewer places well. At the same time, it’s tempting to see more while we’re there and maybe a month in Peru would be boring at some point. We live far and we don't have much occasions to see far from Europe.

So basically my doubts are

• Is ~4 weeks in Peru the best use of time, or would you split it?
• If extending Colombia, what would you prioritize over Peru?
• Is adding Chile/Bolivia realistic, or just too rushed?
• Where would you build in that “road trip”?

About us: Backpacking, flexible budget, comfortable with long bus rides and simple stays. Prioritizing experience over comfort/luxury.

Would love to hear what you’d do in our position. Thanks!

Hey everyone! I am looking for some advice on how to structure this trip.

We’re 3 friends traveling for about 40 days. We fly into Bogotá on Aug 19 (cheaper than Lima), spend ~1 week in Colombia (Bogotá + Medellín), then head to Peru around Aug 24. We’ll be backpacking and want to keep a good pace without burning out.

We plan to do:

• Machu Picchu + Sacred Valley
• Amazon rainforest
• A road trip for a piece of the travel would be nice
• Time to actually enjoy cities, hikes, and food. Not just rush through highlights

Our problem is we’re unsure whether to:

• Spend ~4 weeks focusing on Peru and do it properly
• Extend Colombia (Coffee Triangle, maybe Cartagena) and reduce Peru
• Add another country (Chile, maybe Bolivia) on top of Peru

We don’t want to just tick boxes — we’d rather experience fewer places well. At the same time, it’s tempting to see more while we’re there and maybe a month in Peru would be boring at some point. We live far and we don't have much occasions to see far from Europe.

So basically my doubts are

• Is ~4 weeks in Peru the best use of time, or would you split it?
• If extending Colombia, what would you prioritize over Peru?
• Is adding Chile/Bolivia realistic, or just too rushed?
• Where would you build in that “road trip”?

About us: Backpacking, flexible budget, comfortable with long bus rides and simple stays. Prioritizing experience over comfort/luxury.

Would love to hear what you’d do in our position. Thanks!