The Unheard World of South America

So how are your travel plans going for this year so far? I'm pretty sure I already know your answer without even thinking about it. Let's all face it, we all hate being at home right now and we would all do anything to hop on a flight tomorrow and escape to a place that's not...well home. I'm 90% confident that you wish you were on your holiday from two years ago whether that's in Spain, Italy, Turkey, the US, or even Mexico. Don't worry I feel your pain as well. This year I was planning to go to the Greek island of Zakynthos with two of my best friends. But clearly, that didn't happen, so we were planning on taking a trip there next year summer. However, I took a different approach to my travel destinations over the past three months. I've been watching plenty of travel documentaries and series that capture some of the world's most exquisite and remote regions that are unknown to most people. So I've been asking myself this question "Is there more to travel than swimming by the pool and drinking cocktails underneath a palm tree?".

The land of South America

Last month I was hooked on a series called Race Across the World where five teams race through different regions of the world to claim a massive cash prize on a very tight budget. There are two seasons of this show, but the second season was the season that made me realized there is more to the world than just the usual holiday destinations that everyone tends to go to. The second season was a race from Mexico City to Ushuaia, Argentina which is also known as the most southerly city in the world. Throughout this race, the teams raced through the unheard world of South America as they passed through some of the world's most scenic and adventurous places that you never thought would have existed. As I binged watched the entire season, I was making notes of all the different places in South America that could I see myself going to and have created an official plan for my South American journey set for next year.

There are plenty of fascinating landscapes and regions throughout the continent that are definitely on my bucket list, but there four places that I can no longer wait to visit for next year. I can easily travel to each one of them by regional and night buses which I've researched on, but most importantly these places won't hurt my bank account as I'm going to be traveling on a budget. Just a little advice for solo travelers:

Your more likely to witness treasures and secrets by road than you are by plane

So let's see what hidden gems South America has to offer and be open-minded to new travel destinations whilst you escape with me for the next five to ten minutes.

First Stop - Huayna Picchu Mountain, Peru

You've probably seen this mountain peak on social media. You were fascinated by the location but wondered where it was. Well, I can tell you that this is Hyanyna Picchu mountain peak in the South of Peru and is one of the main hotspots for tourists to see in the country. When I first saw this incredible mountain peak on tv, I was drawn by ruins which is the Machu Picchu sanctuary that are along the slopes of the mountain. The formation of the land that is built around this spectacular landscape makes it seem like you're in a sci-fi movie if you're there in person. Seeing this landmark in pictures always amazes and excites me to know the wonders of Peru that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.

Travel and Safety for Huayna Picchu

Despite the beauty of this mountain, I've read a few safety issues that must be considered when I'm visiting this destination as some travelers mentioned the safety risk for climbing the stairs of Micchu sanctuary. The stairs can be very steep and fragile with unstable rock movement so it's ideal for me to travel light for the day so I don't carry so much weight on my back when climbing.

The only way that I could access Huayna Picchu is by going to the city of Cusco where I would be staying for my first two days of travel before moving onto the next destination.

Second Stop - Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia

Another one of Peru's hidden gems that is sadly not known to the world is Lake Titicaca which is actually situated within both Peru and Bolivia. However, the most known area of the lake that I must visit on my journey is the floating islands which are situated north of the lake on the Peru border.

I first came across Lake Titicaca when watching Race Across the World as teams visited the islands at one of their checkpoints. Discovering more about the islands I was intrigued by the community of the Uros tribe as there very welcoming and interactive with foreign visitors. This has made me very keen on traveling to the islands as I love to communicate with local communities whenever I travel to different parts of the world to know more about the culture and history of a place along with the traditions that the natives hold. Understanding the 'back to basic' life of the Uros tribe and I would also love to be part of the involvement in the community by making a tea out of the reeds and hopefully help with building a floating reed boat although it looks like you must have a lot of muscle power to develop one of these.

Puno is the city that has straight access to lake Titicaca so I can stay by one of the hotels near to the lake. Getting to Lake Titicaca shouldn't be a problem from Cusco as the Peru Rail operates the Titicaca Luxury train between Cusco and Puno four days a week. However this a luxury train service which means I will breaking my wallet if take on the train route. Maybe it's best to stick to hopping on and off buses but could take the journey much longer.

Third Stop - Salt Flats, Bolivia

No doubt, the Salt flats which is also known as Salar de Uyuni is on the top of my list for choosing a place to visit in Bolivia. They say this is the place where heaven meets earth and cannot disagree with this saying. This is the largest Salt plane in the world and the greatest one too as it covers 10,582 km² of land (that's more than 4,000 miles) and has been named the world's largest mirror due to the calmness of the thin layer of water above the salt plane.

Some travelers say, the best time of year to go is from January to April as it's the wet season, which means your more likely to take a great Instagram photo with the mirrored ground. However, I'm planning to go from May to November of next year so it will be very dry and humid (due to November being in the summer) so I probably won't be getting the perfect mirrored scenery I'm after. However, sunsets will be perfect from the summer to fall season as I can easily catch the pink or orange skyline for sunsets in the late evening.

Travel to Salt flats

Of course, in order to reach the very center of the salt plane, I would need to travel in a four by four with a tour guide company as prices are from 70 USD to 90 USD with the Bolivia Hop tour agency. I must say is a very fair price for visiting one of the worlds most beautiful regions. Uyuni is the city southeast of Salt flats where I need to stay put for a couple of days to step foot into the land of salt before I adventure onto my fourth and final destination.

Final Stop - The Atacama Desert, Chile

It is no surprise that chile boasts some of the world's greatest landmarks from all areas of the country. Torres Del Paine and the Grey Glaciers are a few of the places in Chile that are on my bucket list. But the Atacama desert seems like the perfect destination to conclude my mini South American journey. The desert is known as the dryest place in the world receiving less than one milimeteres of precipitation each year with daily temperatures averaging around 78°F to 72°F. Due to the high humid temperatures, it won't be fun treaking alone in the desert without any first aid assistance to ensure that I stay well and hydrated. So rather than staying in a city outside of the desert and doing a day trip, it's better that I stay in one of the remote lodges that are scattered across different areas north of Atacama or the small town of San Pedro de Atacama as the desert itself expands up to 40,441 square miles.

San Pedro De Atacama is the perfect access point to visit geysers, rock formations, giant craters, and Licancabur which is the stratovolcano the town overlooks.

There couldn't be a more perfect place to end my solo tour by viewing the magnificent scenery that mother nature has created whilst the sun is setting. It would be amazing to camp out underneath the night time sky with no distractions and silence around you but I much prefer to keep out of the danger zone as I have yet to research what wild animals comes out at night.

Doing this trip Solo

We can all agree that traveling to a another part of the world that your not familiar with can be very daunting and worrying for your friends and family if your doing it alone. As I'm just about to enter my twenties, I'm still figuring out, what life holds for me. I mentioned earlier, I was planning to go to Zakynthos in Greece for two weeks with two of my childhood best friends. But I do question myself "what are we really going to be doing besides drinking cocktails, and going to parties?" Most nineteen to twenty-two-year-olds would love to go partying in another country with their friends, but for me, that's just not the case. After discovering Race Across the World and so many other travel documentaries I felt open to doing experiences that can be life-changing and rewarding. Watching videos and doing intensive research on each of the fourteen countries of this amazing continent, made me realize there's so much more out there in this beautiful world we're living in.

When I first mentioned taking a trip to South America to two of my friends the first thought that appeared in there mind was safety and money. First of all, anywhere in the world no matter where you live or where you go there's always going to be the risk of not being safe. So we might as well just live on our wildest dreams. Second of all, money is not excuse to not be traveling halfway around the world. My friends were probably thinking you need to have tens and thousands of pounds/dollars to travel travel further down south of the Atlantic Ocean. But after watching a series where five teams struggled to make it from Mexico to Ushuaia with only £1402 to spend throughout the entire journey for food, accomodation and travel, they still had an enriched and fulfilled trip that they will never forget. Just to put in perspective £1402 is a one-way flight ticket from London to Tokyo. So if teams can make it across an entire continent with little money to spend, then I will definitely be spending under £1000 to visit these four scenic destinations on my journey.

Even though I would love to have company on my travel, doing it alone would be the perfect way to discover another place without anyone telling me what to do and where to go. I can take full ownership of my expedition and maybe learn several new languages, or learn how to handcraft pottery from ceramics in San Pedro de Atacama. This trip will be my time to escape and listen to my intuition as I immerse myself in a continent full of unknown scenery and land formations with thriving communities like nowhere else in the world.

My Bucket List

Before you go back to reality, here are few locations in across South America that are on my bucket list for before I turn thirty:

1. Torres Del Pain, Chile

2. Iguazu Falls, Brazil

3. Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina

4. Cartagena, Columbia

5. Ushuaia, Argentina

Hopefully by now you should have some of these locations that have been mentioned throughout this article written down so you can begin to discover South America yourself. These locations are just a few out of the many destinations throughout the continent so by all means I encourage you to find more about each of the countires and what they have to offer, in partiuclar Peru and Chile. Fingers cross that this time next year I will be writing about the "The Unheard World of South America 2.0" where I'll actually be desribing my solo trip with pleny of pictures and footage from my own camera.