Value Traveling Asians

We were sure that we were going to visit the Amazon rainforest during our trip to Peru and Colombia, but we weren’t sure where it was best to. Obviously, we only visited the rainforest in one location so we can’t compare the two locations from personal experience. Here’s why we decided on going to visit the Amazon rainforest from Puerto Maldonado in Peru, based on research: ·        It’s convenient and affordable to get there. Assuming that you are going to Cusco to visit Machu Picchu (and I sure hope so, if you’re going to Peru!), it’s pretty easy and cost effective to visit the Amazon from Cusco. Our flight to Puerto Maldonado was $100 round trip and 30 minutes each way. On the way back to Cusco, our flight did a quick pit stop in Cusco for 30 minutes before conveniently heading on to Lima.   Other locations require a bit more work to get to. Manu is a 8-10 hour drive from Cusco and doesn’t have an airport that's right there. Iquitos requires a...

Once we decided on going to Puerto Maldonado, I set about looking at the different options available to us. Because we were visiting during off-peak season (October) and were booking just three weeks in advance, I e-mailed the lodges and all offered me a discount. We ended up going with the Explorer’s Inn for our trip at $900 each for the 5 day/4 night option. It was the moderately priced option with good reviews, and one of only two lodges that offered an option to go to Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick. The Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick is an additional 2-3 hours down the river from most of the lodges and packages that include it cost about $100 more. This Clay Lick was phenomenal. Hands down the best activity that we did during our 4 night/5 day stay in the Amazon. There were 50 macaws and parrots all around us that morning (we spent about 3 hours at the Clay Lick). These birds mate for life and it was awesome to see them fly around in pairs. We had breakfast at the Clay Lick, surro...

Surprisingly, there are not many places to get a massage in Arequipa. In Cusco, you can’t walk one block without being propositioned for massage (of varying quality), but in Arequipa, there are only a few places that offer massage and they’re mostly expensive hotels with US prices for massages. I recommend that you try la Hosteria in Arequipa if you’re looking for a good, moderately priced massage ($35USD). They're just a few blocks away from the main square. It’s a pain to schedule if you aren’t staying at the hotel because you have to go in person to pay for it before they’ll reserve a time for you (calling doesn’t work). The cost includes an hour soak in their Roman Bath (think big hot tub) which gets you nice and ready for your massage! Their Roman Bath was all booked up when we went, so they took 5USD off of the price. They did try to upsell us on the deep tissue massage ($5 more), but the regular massage was fine. Plus, they take credit cards. The massage was good,...

So, you've not satisfied by the crowded Bocagrande beaches of Cartagena...let's book a day trip to the beautiful Rosario Islands with crystal clear water! The Rosario Islands is an archipelago of 27 islands, mostly privately owned with limited facilities (only 3 are publicly owned). We decided not to overnight on the Islands because the available accommodations are pretty basic and we were just coming from a beautiful few beach days at Finca Barlovento near Tayrona National Park. There are lots of resellers hawking tours around Old Town/Getsemani, so you can definitely negotiate and wait to book this tour until you get to Cartagena so you know a bit more about what the weather will be like. There are three main types of trips that you can book: Chill option: Go to one island and hang out there for the whole day (trip is from 9am-4pm, 130-195,000 COP. We were able to negotiate 25-40k off when booking the night before.) Cheapest option: do a scenic boat tour around th...

We stayed in the Sacred Valley for two nights to acclimatize to the high altitude before staying in the even higher Cusco. Because we weren't part of a tour, we had to piece together lots of different transportation.  Taxis (~1 soles/minute): very nice cars and very easy to book from your hotel or restaurant but more difficult when you're . Always negotiate your fare upfront before getting into the taxi. For example, from our hotel in Urubamba to Ollantaytambo, about 30 minutes, it was 30 soles (~$9 USD).  Motobikes (also known as tuktuks in Asia!): mostly taken by locals, they help transport you that last mile but they won't travel far distances (>10 minutes). They are often at popular colectivo stops. Colectivos (~1 soles/20 minutes): Run every 5 minutes along the major Sacred Valley road. These are more expensive and run more often than the local bus and seem to be private operators traveling on a community-agreed upon route. There are stops along the road ...

We were staying outside Urubamba in the Sacred Valley to acclimatize before our Machu Picchu trek. We wanted to do some hiking to get used to the altitude, see Incan ruins, and not walk all day (since we were about to walk for 5 days/70km!). Oh, and of course, avoid the buses of tourists going from ruin to ruin. Our hotel was not helpful in giving this information although they were happy to book a three hour driving tour for Maras, Moray, and Salineras for 130 soles (~$39USD). 😑 So, here's how to self-hike around Urubamba in mostly lazy fashion! 1) Download the  Maps.me  app and the map of the area. It has the hiking paths in the area, otherwise known as walking paths for farmers, hooray! 2) Hire a taxi to take you up to the Moray ruins (60 soles/~$18USD, about 1 hour). Because starting from the top of the mountain is the way to go 😁 Our taxi driver helpfully pointed out the paths that we'd be taking on the way down and where we would come out at the end of the hike. ...