Cheap Way to Machu Picchu

Ever since the first glimpse of idea to travel to South America appeared in the heads of Bambina and Bimbino, the dream to visit Machu Picchu sorely stuck in their heads. They started looking up the information about this legendary Inca ruins including the ways to get there. They found out that the entrance to the ruins is quite expensive, but the way to Machu-Picchu itself was even more overpriced.

The town of Aguas Calientes (also known as Machupicchu Pueblo), the starting point of ascending to Machu Picchu, is not reachable by car. The only road connecting Cusco directly to Aguas Calientes is a railway. The cheapest one-way train ticket costs 70 USD in a low season. It takes around 3,5 hours for 110 km. If you add the return train ticket (140 USD) to the price of the entrance ticket (62 USD) to Machu Picchu, the trip becomes unaffordable for the most backpackers. But, every backpackers has to know the other way.


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A Brief Guide to Couchsurfing Camps

Mainly in Europe, dedicated members of the hospitality networks have been organising events. These are not simple meet ups for one evening in a bar like those happening all over the world every day. No, what we are talking about here are multiple day events with a festival-like character. Some of these meetings take place in big cities, others are organized as real camps in the countryside. Sometimes the participants stay in the same place, other times they are hosted by local members of hospitality networks. The programmes usually feature cultural activities in the daytime and parties in the evenings. The difference from normal hospitality meetings is not only the multiple day character but also the target group. Couchsurfing Camps are not organised only for the local community and the few travellers in town; these events are meant to attract people from abroad.

...and so it happens. By now there are around 50 annual events throughout the year, so nearly every weekend members of the hospitality networks go travelling to get to the next big event. At every major event, you can always find a large number of well known faces. People get to know each other and many of them attend these events above all to meet each other again. As mentioned before, the frequent participants of Couchsurfing Camps have developed to become a community within a community. And with every new event this community grows bigger and gets stronger. Some people say it is the only place where you can find the spirit of the early days, which got lost when websites got sold to investors, but that is a different story...



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http://travellingmonkeys.org/blog/couchsurfing-camps/

Cheap Way to Fly Far Away

Everyone who lives in Europe knows about Ryanair, WizzAir, EasyJet, etc. On these airlines you can fly for cheap, but unfortunately not too far. How do people find cheap flights outside of Europe? One flew to Asia for 300,- €, another to Boston for 256,- € return. Bimbino and Bambina found an open-jaw flight Madrid-Lima-Frankfurt with a short layover in Sao Paulo for 305,- €.

Where to find such travel deals?
How to apply them to your travel plans?
How and where to search yourself?


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The Pink Dolphins and the Brown Water

On the Río Marañón

Christmas and the New Year were getting closer. Bimbino and Bambina had a plan to get till New Year's Eve to Cusco. They had to take a boat as soon as possible. Luckily the boats from Iquitos to Yurimaguas depart daily. The trip would take two and a half days, which was perfect. The monkeys would reach the land just at the right time to celebrate Chrismas in Tarapoto. They got to travel with a boat called Bruno.

The trip from Iquitos to Yurimaguas on the Bruno was quite different to the one with the Arabella-I on the Río Napo. Even that the two boats looked quite similar a lot of factors could not have been more contrary: space, food and hygiene.

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Welcome to the Jungle - Iquitos

Iquitos, Perú

With roughly 600.000 inhabitants Iquitos is one of the biggest Peruvian cities, nevertheless it is situated completely isolated in the Amazon basin, and only connected to the rest of the world by air and water.

Bimbino and Bambina arrived in Iquitos at a port on the Río Itaya, only a couple of hundred meters away of its confluence with the Río Amazon. It was shortly after midnight and still dark outside. Luckily they were able to stay longer on board so they left the Arabella-I only in the early morning hours when the sun was rising. They found ashore a busy harbor side. All cargo had already been landed during the night, not only from Arabella-I but also from a couple of other boats that lay side by side. The embankment seemed to consist from nothing else but plantains, life-stock and barkers looking for the nearest buyers to sell their goods. A scenario that reminded of old pirate movies, a picture that was only altered by the presence of cars and motor-taxis. Motor-taxis are the counterpart to the Tuk-Tuks of Bangkok and can easily be described as a bastard of a rickshaw and a motorbike.


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Instructions How To Get From Coca To Iquitos By Boat

The whole trip we divided in three parts according to three boats you have to take.


Coca (San Francisco de Orellana) => Rocafuerte

In Coca you'd better spend one day preparing for the trip. You can read about Bimbino and Bambina's preparations here.

First, you have to find a boat to Nuevo Rocafuerte. There were two companies offering this route.


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From Pantoja to Iquitos

The boat was supposed to depart on Sunday around 4 a.m., so it was easier to stay there that night. In fact the monkeys were allowed to board and sleep on the boat from the very first day, but they preferred to enjoy the comfort of the clean toilette and shower of the hotel a while longer. On Saturday evening Bimbino and Bambina packed their bags, and stepped on the board of Arabella-1. They hanged their hammocks at the level under the roof as it seamed more spacious and fresh. It was their first experience sleeping in a hammock. To their surprise, it was fairy comfortable.


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