Transportation in South America
Just like in Asia, we used a variety of transportation methods to get us across South America. Where in Asia we relied mostly on buses and trains, in South America we mostly used flights and buses as the rail network is almost nonexistent. Also, because the countries we visited in South America are a bit further away from each other, we often opted to skip 24+hr bus rides and just take a short flight instead. This made the trip a little bit more expensive, but way more comfortable.
Monthly Recap: March 2015
In March 2015, we visited three new countries: Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. We ended last month with a three day tour of Salar de Uyuni, from where we continued on to La Paz. There, we conquered the World’s Most Dangerous Road and Amazon rainforest.
Equatorial Quito
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- Ecuador
After spending a week on the Galápagos we flew, via Guayaquil, into Quito. The capital of Ecuador is officially the highest capital in the world, but we still think La Paz deserves this title more. Apart from visiting Baños, we spent four days in Quito itself.
Top Foods from Ecuador
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- Ecuador
The more you travel in South America, the more similarities you are going to notice between cuisines. Some dishes, like the mixed rice, the potato chicken or pork combos, empanadas, and salchipapas are also a favorite in Peru and Bolivia. One unusual meat that we tried was the guinea pig, or cuy. Although it was available and marketed in Cusco as well, it is more common in Ecuador. In Baños we were able to buy a quarter of guinea pig for only 3$ instead of 20$ in most other places.
Swinging Baños
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- Ecuador
Baños de Agua Santa, or simply Baños, is a popular tourist town about three hours south of Quito. As it is situated in the mountains close to the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, it is the place to go in Ecuador for adventurous activities. We mainly went there for one activity: the “Swing at the End of the World,” which is a swing located on a mountain edge next to a steep hill.
Republic of Ecuador
- Continent
- South America
- Capital City
- Quito
- Languages
- Spanish
- Area
- 284,000 km2
- Population
- 14.8m
- Currency
- Dollar (USD)
- Neighbors
- Colombia
- Peru
