South America Trip Visa Question

VinylJunkie

I'm heading to South America in June for 6 months. Just looking to put my mind at ease really. Is there any hassles with getting visas at each boarder as I go?

My route is looking like this;
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
Argentina

My girlfriend is joining me for the month of August in Lima. We plan to head south towards Arequipa, across to Puno then into Bolivia and onto La Paz. From there head back into Peru and upto Cuzco where she flys home from.

Will we have any hassle getting back into Peru a second time? and likewise for me as once she goes I will be heading back to La Paz to continue on down through Bolivia.

Cheers for any replies, as I say just want to put my mind at ease.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Here is the Itinerary I'm thinking of for the month my GF is over.

Lima
Ica
Nazca
Arequipa
Puno
Isla Del Sol
Copacabana
Tiwanaku
La Paz
Cusco
Machu Pichu

jobless

i travelled through most of those countries and had no problems with visas, i went from bolivia to peru and back again and it was just new paperwork and a stamp..

VinylJunkie

Cheers, that's what I thought alright.

gucci

I cant fully remember, I think I only went from Bolivia into Peru, but it was a very straight forward border transaction.

If you are getting a bus from La Paz to Cusco, i think you will get off the bus, bus will drive across the border, and then wait for everyone to process their passports and get back on again.

MoMo1987

VinylJunkie wrote: »

I'm heading to South America in June for 6 months. Just looking to put my mind at ease really. Is there any hassles with getting visas at each boarder as I go?

My route is looking like this;
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
Argentina

VinylJunkie, I am do a very similar trip as you. I'm heading to SA in October for 6ish months.

Route:
Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia.

May stay for an additional 3 months after this and venture into Central America.

Who did you book your flights with? Have you book one way or return?

Also, have you done much planning or are you just picking out the countries of interest and then going with the flow once you get over there?

VinylJunkie

Hey, I booked my flights on budgetair.ie (I could pick a different location for my return flight) I'm flying with KLM/Aer Lingus. Flying to Quito & home from Buenos Aires.

I've made a list of all the places I'd like to see in each country but am happy to go with the flow an see how things work out. I will be doing Ecuador - Peru - Bolivia - Chile - Argentina. The distances are so vast in SA so am looking forward to relaxing and taking it all in.

Starting to get extremely excited now!

gucci

VinylJunkie wrote: »

I will be doing Ecuador - Peru - Bolivia - Chile - Argentina. The distances are so vast in SA so am looking forward to relaxing and taking it all in.

Starting to get extremely excited now!

some of the long bus journeys in south America also coincided with some of my best nights sleep in south America!
BRING EAR PLUGS! because that one guy who snores and wheezes like a sick alpacha will be sitting behind you on every bloody bus,guaranteed!

themacman

On an Irish passport? Extremely unlikely you will encounter any hassle with re-entry.

The expat community in Peru do "border runs" frequently - i.e. hop across a border for a few hours to renew the tourist visa.

Bolivia will not give two sh!ts either.

themacman

Also, looking at your itinerary, I would give Puno a miss. It´s extremely poor/run-down.

Copacabana on the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca is a much better option.

MoMo1987

I will be in Peru/Bolivia for Christmas this year.

Can anyone suggest a nice town/hotel, possibly around Lake Titicaca.

Not exactly sure where I will be but would like to have somewhere pretty nice booked for a week over christmas, I know this will obviously be quite expensive.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks

VinylJunkie

themacman wrote: »

Also, looking at your itinerary, I would give Puno a miss. It´s extremely poor/run-down.

Copacabana on the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca is a much better option.

Cheers for that, will plan to just plan to pass through Puno if that's the case.

themacman

MoMo1987 wrote: »

I will be in Peru/Bolivia for Christmas this year.

Can anyone suggest a nice town/hotel, possibly around Lake Titicaca.

Not exactly sure where I will be but would like to have somewhere pretty nice booked for a week over christmas, I know this will obviously be quite expensive.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks

It would have to be Copacabana if you want to be around Titicaca. I stayed in a nice botique hotel there, can´t remember the name. Book early for Xmas/New Years.

VinylJunkie

Anyone any advise on insurance? I was gonna just get the backpacker travel insurance one just to cover me.

gucci

VinylJunkie wrote: »

Anyone any advise on insurance? I was gonna just get the backpacker travel insurance one just to cover me.

when i went (2years ago now) sta was best value i could find for 12months worldwide cover. i never had to make a claim,so can't say how good or how bad they were,but it was best value relative to the cover i could find.

VinylJunkie

STA looks to be UK residents only, backpacker travel insurance working out cheapest option for me.

gucci

VinylJunkie wrote: »

STA looks to be UK residents only, backpacker travel insurance working out cheapest option for me.

apologies,i was travelling from UK /resident

VinylJunkie

Cheers for all the help, I'm heading on Monday. I'll be recording my travels on a blog I set up if anyone is interested.

http://flavasanchez.wordpress.com/