1

Welcome to Thorntree!

Firstly £4000 is ok as a basic budget if you are planning to spend the majority of your time in Bolivia and Peru. Infact try to limit any splurges to Bolivia as it is easily the cheapest of the four countries.

As money will be an issue I would suggest doing your Spanish in Bolivia, Sucre is particularly good. A private tutor should be about £4/5 per hour which can be split between the group if you are learning together.

Basic Spanish should be ok to get you that far. One other tip; do your salt flats tour from Tupiza.

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Budget is fine for a backpacker even in Argentina. The amount of time in adequate too. You won't be able to see everything (especially in Argentina which is huge), but you should get a decent taste of each country.

I would also recommend splurging in Bolivia, especially in nice restaurants during lunch time. The value for money is excellent. Head to upscale places away from the tourist areas for great food for next to nothing.

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Hi Tryfan and haazzdawg

Thanks so much for your advice! Thorntree is such an amazing resource when planning a trip.

We were planning to split our trip relatively equally between the four countries but I'll review this following your advice as we're still in the very early stages of planning and we're not too sure where we'll spend the majority of our time. We were going to book our flights and then see how things go, but if you think the budget is a bit tight it's sounds like I need to do a bit more investigating. Ether that or we'll increase our budget.

What kind of budget would you recommend out of interest? We're happy to stay in hostels but the nicer ones preferably with a double room. In terms of eating we'll definitely eat cheap (but safe). Thanks for the tip about lunchtime eating.

I think perhaps my budget is a bit low at the moment as this is the only trip like this that we'll be taking in the next few years so we want it to be special!!!

Tryfan thanks also for the tip on Tupiza. I'll take a look into that.

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I am working on the assumption that you will only be doing northern argentina, ushuaia is one hell of a long way from bogota!

The standard route is then BsAs - iguazu - Salta then on to tupiza. That route will take 2/3 weeks. I think it is sensible to save a bit of time as you have a lot to see and do further north.

Horse riding is great for horse riding as well, it is Butch Cassidy country!

It is hard to say how much argentina will cost as inflation is so high there. It is always nice to have extra budget, you don't have to spend it. In Bolivia hospedajes are generally cheaper than hostels.

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Good point on inflation. I can tell you that in Jan-March 2012 I spent $50 per day as a backpacker which is under 1000 pounds per month. Hard to say what prices will be like when you travel. Still 1000 quid per month is a fortune in Bolivia and Peru which should make up for any shortfall in Argentina.

I really think you will be fine on that budget, so long as you don't spend heaps on expensive international flights, which you shouldn't really need to in your timeframe. If you can bring more then great but not necessary.

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Hi Tryfan, yes we will only be doing Northern Argentina. Travelling Northwards from BsAs to iguazu. We had planned to spend roughly 4 weeks in each country although we'll allow for more time in Argentina if we do the Spanish course. I'm keen to keep the plan relatively flexible as I'm a project manager in 'normal' life and I don't want to get too bogged down in the detail and have everything planned before we leave which is always my tendency! ;-)

Good tip about inflation - I hadn't thought about that.

Thanks also for your advice Hazzdawg. It's useful to know that you spent $50 a day on your trip, which is the assumption I've been working towards, taking into account variances between countries I thought it would average out around this amount.

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Hey sorry I don't think I was very clear, $50 per day was Argentina. Although it's quite a tight budget so I recommend more. I'm currently in Peru spending just under $30.

1000 pounds a month over the whole trip will be plenty comfortable as a backpacker.

Have fun.

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Hi Tryfan

Sorry to contact you again so long after we last spoke but was wondering if you could recommend any Spanish schools in Sucre?

Thanks

L

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Hi Laura.

I have sent you a PM.