Here’s a quick post which outlines important things that occurs or happened at each country/place I stayed at. Below you can check out about 110 pictures from the vacation.
Vacation Pictures @ Flickr
Argentina
Argentina is dangerous place to live. I’ve heard so many stories from uncles/aunts/friends about all the crazy things that happen. People there will rob you for anything you’ve got or so I’ve been told. If your by yourself, you better be very cautious. I’d recommended going in at least groups of 3 people+. You can image what it’s like to bring a $600 camera to a place like this. Nearly everyone who knew about my camera always joked saying if a guy came to rob us, we would give or throw them the camera and run.
- People generally stay up until 5am usually in clubs, etc.
- In some places the water isn’t safe to drink (if your at your relatives place then it’s usually ok to drink)
- Driving in Argentina is 100x worst than in Australia. People seem to never use car lanes properly (cars swerving in and out of different lanes). Most of the times they don’t obey the rules and there isn’t much police around (they tell me) so they are free to do anything they want. They even drive on the incoming traffic lanes (there is a picture of this in the vacation photos)
- When you’ve stopped at a major traffic light, there’s usually going to be people there offering to sell you things like flowers, etc
- Always lock your doors when driving (and even remove your stereo from your car when your gone)
- If you ever go to see soccer matches, you shouldn’t bring anything valuable with you
Salta
In salta the driving conditions are much better than in Argentina. It’s generally not safe to drink the water, but drink from the tap only if you need can’t find bottled water or boil the water. Salta’s a mountainous region and is quite a nice place to live. The crime isn’t as bad as in Argentina but that’s probably because Salta doesn’t have as many people as Argentina. Watch out for the mosquitoes.
Peru
Peru is pretty much like Argentina except most people are much poorer. The traffic is a bit worst in Peru than in Argentina with people constantly beeping their horn.
- In some homes there isn’t any water pressure and you sometimes won’t find the hot water tap in the sink.
- You shouldn’t at all drink the water, always boil it and let it cool. People generally buy lots of soft drinks (they have 3 litre ones).
- If you want to look like a local, just don’t clean your finger nails :P. Kidding, you won’t look like a local but most people’s finger nails are very dirty.
- Em, sometimes no water comes out from the tap! (maybe that’s just the place I stayed at).
Cusco
Cusco is cold place and if your wearing shorts (like I did) you’ll stand out from the jean wearing crowd. Cusco is home to the famous inka’s and is close to Machu Pichu. There’s a lot of museums, churches, temples, etc. It’s a good place to be if your into all the history of Peru and like to see archeological remains.
- We went on a tour and when we got off the bus and started walking around lots of children gathered around us and asked us to buy their stuff like finger puppets, hats, gloves, jumpers, etc. You buy one thing off one kid and the other one wants something as you gave money to the previous kid.
USA
The USA is a good place to be in, it’s sort of similar to Australia, but out of the two I would prefer Australia. When we went the temperature was as low as -2C, so bring jeans, wear two shirts and then a jumper or two.
- The food is expensive (like $8+ US a pizza I think it was).
- We had arcade games in the place we stayed and you only needed a quater (25c) instead of $1 like in Australia.
- People are friendly.
- Don’t go to Mexico with a rented car or forget to bring your passport (I wasn’t told about this and had to spend the night at a hotel).
- Good tv shows