south america

Naked Lepper

thinking of going to buneos aries and travelling around a bit and flying home from las paz in bolivia a month later

anyone know anywhere i can book las paz - dublin flights

and when is the nicest weather, want sun.. dont mind how hot... no pissy rain or cold!

also, does any1 have any interesting suggestions on things to do?

so far the iguazu falls and salt desert are on the cards as well as buneos aries and las paz obviously

Meathlass

I don't think there are any direct flights from La Paz to Europe, I think they all go through Lima or Santiago. A month is a very short time to travel such a short distance. La Paz is rarely 'hot' as it is at such a high altitude. Again the salt desert is always cold becuase of the altitude, the hostel you stay in on the trip is very basic and we were freezing the night we were there. I wore all the clothes in my rucksack plus hats, gloves and scarf to bed. Buenos Aires can be very hot but depends on the time of year but it has a nice climate all year round.

You could start in Buenos Aires, spend a few days there, see the sights, take a bus up to the Jesuit ruins in Ignacio Mini and then continue on to Igazu Falls, take the time there to see both the Argentina and Brazil side of the Falls. If you are really adventurous and don't mind roughing it you could then go to the Pantanal in Brazil and cross into Bolivia from there going through the Gran Chaco; this trip takes at least 30 hours on dirt tracks and is extremely uncomfortable with no towns or shops on the way. If there is bad weather you could be stuck for a week so this mightn't fit in with your schedule. On the other hand you could go back into Igazu and take a bus to Salta in north-western Chile; you can do a lot of adventure sports here. From Salta you can get a bus into Chile to the Atacama Desert (the driest in the world) and start the salt trip from Atacama to Uyuni (this is the opposite to what most people do however and there won't be nearly as much choice of competitors as if you start in Uyuni) Once you arrive in Uyuni it's a 11 hour bus trip to La Paz. I found La Paz difficult to get around as the altitude sickness hit me and left me feeling very tired with a loss of appetite for several days. You could spend a few days there; there is a good coca museum all about coca leaves and cocaine, there's always some protests along the way in the main plaza to watch Plaza San Francisco (I think). Just outside La Paz is the world's most dangerous road which fools pay money to mountian bike down; not to be taken lightly as several backpackers die each year doing this. If you had time you could go to Puno just inside the Peru border and see the floating reed islands on Lake Titicaca, it's takes about 7 hours on a bus from La Paz to the islands

You should try and learn some Spanish; in Bolivia in particular hardly anyone speaks English. Also in Bolivia the political situation changes very quickly and if you have some Spanish you'll be able to read the headlines. You won't be in any danger but they tend to have strikes and road blocks which can mean being stuck in some town for days on end with all routes out blocked which is no good if you're on a tight schedule.

Black Swan

Check Verig - a Brasilian airline.