SOLO TRAVEL LATIN AMERICA : FROM WANDERLUST TO SOULOCAL

Tripoto
Photo of SOLO TRAVEL LATIN AMERICA : FROM WANDERLUST TO SOULOCAL 1/1 by Vineet Kumar
at Christ the Reedemer, Rio De Janerio, Brasil

Ctaratas,Iguachu Falls,Argentina

Photo of Iguazu Falls, Misiones Province, Argentina by Vineet Kumar

One of the Seven Natural Wonder, Iguachu Falls, Prana,Brasil

Photo of Foz do Iguaçu - State of Paraná, Brazil by Vineet Kumar

At Machu Pichu, Peru Most visited site world over

Photo of Machu Picchu, Urubamba Province, Cusco, Peru by Vineet Kumar

Free walking beach tour, Rio, Brasil

Photo of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro - State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Vineet Kumar

Copacabana(original) sunset view, Bolivia

Photo of Copacabana, Puno, Bolivia by Vineet Kumar

1. Solo travel is something that is going to make you redefine yourself by making you richer in confidence, organizational and communication skills apart from enhancing your resilience and broadening the horizon of your thoughts.

2. Recently self-travelled for 3 weeks backpacking to Brazil, Argentina Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia covering some of the wonders of the world both natural & artificial like Christ the Redeemer , Machu Pichu, Iguahu falls, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca etc. to name a few.

Why Latin America?

3. Europe should have been the first & the natural choice for any Indian. So what made me choose Latin America ?

4. Comparing Europe and Latin America would be something like comparing Apple and Oranges. Both are beautiful and captivating in their own accord. But given ‘half a earth’ distance from India, the Latin America( as compared to Europe) would have been more difficult to do from India.

4. After analyzing various merits and demerits evident that the strength and corresponding opportunities of going to an unchartered and amazingly beautiful place like South America clearly outweighs the weaknesses and the threats my lack of knowledge of the local languages( Portuguese and Spanish) and the spread of ‘Zika’ virus , so the plunge was taken.

THE PLAN

5. Being uncharted temporary and very little first-hand info available, it was actually difficult to finalise a plan. So, I started writing mails to the leading travel agents asking them to suggest best possible package for South America.

6. Very soon I had 8-10 itineraries. Their average was taken to prioritise must visit places (By counting no of times a place/attraction/activity featuring in various itinerary and dividing it by total no of itineraries).

7. The same formula was more or less used to decide other vitals like, mode of tpt, type of accommodation and its locality etc.

THE IDEA

8. The journey was all about the knowing the Land and The People and understanding the culture for good. This would have only been possible by staying and travelling like a local and being solo traveller in serving this at all the places was a little difficult.

9. So endeavor was made to stay in the house of the locals and to take “free walking tours” while vising a city, whenever possible and the results were simply overwhelming. Not only did I come to know about the local culture, food,dance, traditions but also ended up making some amazing friends.

THE TRIP IN SHORT

8. It was decided to fly in and out of Sao Paulo. From Sao Paulo, I went to Rio de Janerio, the host city for the Olympics, which has been known world over for its beautiful beaches and party places, apart from the Christ the Redeemer & Sugar Loaf mountain.

9. After spending 3 eventful days in Rio, flew to Foz du Iguachu, Brazil which is located at the confluence of river Parana & Ignachu and also shares international boundary with Argentina and Paraguay. The main attraction out there is the Iguachu Waterfall, arguably the most beautiful in the world.

10. It also has an engineering marvel called the Itaipu Dam, the largest power generating hydel project, where a visit is much recommended. I was lucky to find a Gompa or the Buddhist temple on the way to the Itaipu Dam.

11. I even took short trips to Argentina and Paraguay from this very place before flying out a Lima, the capital city of Peru.

12. Now Lima being the capital city of Peru apart from being historically very significant, there are many places to visit specially Miraflores and Larcomar. One of the best way to see the city is to either take a walking tour(tip only basis) or one of the many open roof buses.

13. A Couple of days after look a flight to Cusco, On my way to Machu Pichu, the lost Inca town Which was the most visited tourist destination in the world (2015).

14. From here the next stop was Lake Titicaca ( by bus) the largest and the highest in the world, spreading into two countries. It was worth seeing from both Puno in Peru and Copacabana in Bolivia. A couple of mesmerizing boat rides into the lake to the floating Islands and the Islands of The Sun was undertaken.

15. From Copacabana, I headed back home via Cusco, Lima and Sao Paulo.

FEW TAKE AWAYS

18. It seems that “Athithi Devo Bhava” or “The Guest Is God” principle in not only restricted to India. If not the world, then at least it’s therein the Latin world for sure.

19. Mahatma Gandhi ruled the hearts and minds of the people all over the world.

20. People there have great respect for India and treat Indians as one of their own making your feel like a local out there. No wonder the aboriginals of the Latin America are called Paleo-Indians.

21. You need to get lost to find something new, a hidden fort, an isolated beach or may be a friend for life, so wander and get lost.

CONCLUSION

This trip taught me get in sync with the nature in order to get free.

So how long was it?

Did I miss the company?

The journey is never long when freedom is the destination and in this journey the best travel companion you can have is “yourself”.

BON VOYAGE.