Dreaming of Nepal?

So are we. And we’ve been there - twice now.

Nepal is a bucket-list destination for hiking. The Himalayas, which stretch across India, China, Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal are spectacular. But Nepal has the easiest access to them. We won’t lie, that comes with a lot of people. For us, it was worth it (plus tbh we couldn’t afford the visa for Bhutan, Tibet or China). And we do love Nepal’s bustling, beating heart.

That being said - you’ve got to play it smart. The country is brimming with trekking adventures and each one isn’t the best choice for every traveler. They serve different purposes, come with unique expenses, and all offer spectacular views.

Here’s a rundown of 7 of the best treks in Nepal and how to choose which one is right for you. We’re talking about overnight adventures here - look elsewhere for day hikes.

Three Passes

This was one of the hikes we chose to do and we highly recommend it. If you want to do one trek in the country, this one probably offers the best bang for your buck. It’s basically a souped up version of the famous Everest Basecamp trek (which we’ll talk about in a minute!). You can route yourself to go past basecamp on the way (and all its tourists), but the highlight is three spectacular passes: Kongma La, Cho La, and Renjo La plus the opportunity to see the Gokyo Lakes and tack on a variety of trekking peaks.

Location

Sagarmatha National Park in northeastern Nepal. The trail takes you past Mount Everest and several other spectacular mountains.

Most people start from Lukla, which is accessible via flights from Kathmandu. It’s also possible to take an all-day bus to the town of Jiri or Salleri or Paplhu, which will add time on to your trek, but save you money. It also gives you the chance to experience the jungly terrain of lower elevations and meet lots of kind locals.

Time + Distance

Anywhere between 13 and 25 days and 160+ km depending on how many side trips you add and where you start. You can’t really speed this timeframe up. Significant changes in altitude can be dangerous if undertaken too quickly.

Pros

• Mt. Everest (!!!)

• Less tourists than the main Everest Basecamp trail

• Gorgeous mountain views for much of the trip

• Possible to fly or bus

• Easy to add cool side trips

• Ability to stay in teahouses with beds and food or to camp

• Not too difficult for someone with hiking fitness and experience

• No guide required (unless you feel you need one)

• Cheap permits on arrival (+/- $50)

Cons

• Still lots of tourists

• Takes a full day to reach Salleri on a very scary bus from Kathmandu

• If you fly, it will be expensive and likely delayed

• The three passes are more challenging than EBC and not suitable for beginners

• If you like things cushy (wifi, hot showers, plentiful food, a guide) it can get expensive

• High altitude trekking is challenging and can be dangerous

Choose this hike if…

You have enough time and want to see Mt. Everest along with some of the best mountain scenery in the country, all on good trails and without the need for a guide. Quite possibly the ultimate trek in Nepal if you’re up for adventure.

Get more inspiration for some awesome trekking on instagram

Everest Base Camp

This trek is probably the most popular multi-day trek in Nepal. The trail offers fabulous views, a well-maintained track, and great infrastructure. It’s also packed with tourists; there’s no way around it. It can be done much more quickly and easily than the Three Passes trek. As its name suggests, it’ll get you to Everest Basecamp, understandably a bucket list destination for many. However, you’ll have to walk the whole track twice (there and back) unless you cross a high pass into Gokyo valley and return that way. This adds beauty, time, and difficulty.

Location

Just like the Three Passes trek, this one is located in Sagarmatha National Park in northeastern Nepal. In fact, the treks share several days on the same track.

Most people start from Lukla, which is accessible via flights from Kathmandu. It’s also possible to take an all-day bus to the town of Jiri or Salleri or Paplhu, which will add a few days on to your trek, but save you money. It’s a great way to meet friendly locals and see how much altitude affects the scenery.

Time + Distance:

The classic Everest Basecamp trek is 130 km. It will add slightly more distance if you want include the Gokyo Valley and significantly more distance if you want to start in Jiri or Salleri. The trek should not be undertaken in less than 10 days in order to safely acclimatize to the altitude. You could spend nearly a month in the region depending on how many side trips you want to add.

Pros

• Mt. Everest (!!!) and surrounding mountains are beautiful

• Possible to fly or bus

• Fastest way to reach basecamp without taking a helicopter

• Ability to stay in teahouses with beds and food

• Possible for anyone in good fitness, even without much hiking experience

• No guide required (unless you feel you need one)

• Cheap permits on arrival (+/- $50)

Cons

• Loads of tourists and often not a ‘wilderness’ experience

• There-and-back trek (you walk the same track twice) unless you cross a high pass into the adjacent Gokyo valley

• Possible to camp, buy may be difficult in highly-populated areas

• Takes a full day to reach Salleri on a very scary bus from Kathmandu

• If you fly, it will be pricy and likely delayed

• If you like things cushy (wifi, hot showers, plentiful food, a guide) it can get expensive

• High altitude trekking is challenging and can be dangerous
  

Choose this hike if…

You are relatively new to trekking and you really want to see Mt. Everest.

Manaslu Circuit

This new kid on the block can’t be counted as a classic trek yet, but that’s part of the appeal. The Manaslu Circuit is becoming an increasing popular alternative to some older and more crowded treks. That being said, you won’t be alone: plenty of people have hiked this two-week circuit and the top quality infrastructure proves it. You’ll get up close and personal with Manaslu, the worlds 8th highest mountain, with mountain views to rival any in Nepal.

Location

This trek is closer to Kathmandu than most, in central Nepal about half way between the city and Pokhara. Most trekkers begin in Sotikhola and end in Dharapani, so not quite a complete circuit. Both can be reached by public bus or jeep, both of which will take you all day.

Pros

• Less touristy alternative to classic treks

• Close to Kathmandu

• No need to fly domestically

• Good infrastructure (trails, teahouses, etc)

• Don’t have to walk the same trail twice

• Lower altitude than some other treks

Cons

• You technically need a guide for this circuit

• It is getting more popular, so won’t be as remote as regions like Upper Mustang

• If you like things cushy, it can start to get pricy

• High altitude trekking can be dangerous

Time + Distance

This hike is approximately 130km and most trekkers take around 15 days.

Hike this trail if…

You don’t mind hiking with a guide and want to check out an alternative to the country’s classic treks with similar amenities and views.

Langtang

Stefan chose this trek as a short solo hike and was pleased to find the region welcoming and relatively unexplored. Much closer to Kathmandu than most other hikes, it still takes awhile to reach the trailhead via bus, but you’ll find much fewer tourists and cheaper prices once you get there. Unfortunately, the valley was ravaged in the 2015 earthquake, but the locals are rebuilding and greatly appreciate the support. Infrastructure and lodging are sufficient at this point for trekkers again. The only real drawback is a there-and-back nature to the hike. Overall, a lovely choice that’s not too challenging or long, but offers great mountain views and will show you a different side to Nepal than most tourists experience.

Location

Langtang Valley lies only about 80 km north of Kathmandu. However, it still takes almost a full day via bus to reach the town of Syabru Bensi, where the classic trek starts and finishes. It’s also possible to add a few days on to the trek and end in Melamchigaon or Timbu, where you can catch a shorter bus back to Kathmandu.

Pros

• Lovely mountain views

• Fewer tourists

• Relatively short trek for those pressed for time

• Closer physical location to Kathmandu

• Friendlier locals (probably because there are fewer tourists)

• Cheaper prices than the more popular treks

• Possible to stay in teahouses with food and beds or to camp

• More of a cultural experience than the more populated/seasonal regions

• Relatively inexpensive permits (+/- $50)

• No need for a guide unless desired

Cons

• Requires permits that must be purchased in Kathmandu

• Bus takes all day to Syabru Bensi

• Not as many choices of guesthouses because of rebuilding efforts after the earthquake

• No ‘famous’ mountains

• There-and-back so you have to walk the same track twice

Time +Distance

60 km and about 4 days for the main trek. You can add a bit more time and distance with some side trips if you so desire.

Choose this trek if…

You only have a few days and want a less-touristy alternative to more famous treks. Also good for people that don’t want to fly and people that want a great experience with locals.

Poon Hill

This is the classic short-on-time trek in Nepal. Stefan did it with his father, who only had about a week in the country. After a quick flight to Pokhara, which runs much more regularly and safely than the flight to Lulka, it’s relatively easy to reach the trailhead. However, much like Everest Basecamp, there are tons of tourists. Actually, there are probably more tourists than Everest Basecamp. But a hike up to Poon Hill offers spectacular views of the Annapurna mastiff, and you don’t have to worry too much about high elevation or transportation.

Location

The closest major city is Pohkara, a flight or bus away from Kathmandu to the northwest. The trek itself actually starts in the town of Nayapul, which can be reached by a short bus ride. You can hire a jeep from smaller towns higher up if you want to shorten the trek even more.

Pros

• Lovely views

• Easy to access with a reliable flight or bus and an additional short bus ride

• Good track suitable for most hikers - one of the easiest overnight options in the country

• Short trek

• Do not have to retrace your steps exactly

• Lower elevation than most options in Nepal

• Plentiful and good quality teahouses with food and beds

• No need for a guide unless you want one

• Relatively inexpensive permits (+/- $50)

Cons

• Very touristy and not a wilderness experience at all

• Need to buy permits ahead of time in Pokhara or Kathmandu

• There-and-back trek (you walk the same track twice) if you want the shortest option

• Lots of steps

• Nearly impossible to camp in these highly populated areas

• If you like things cushy (wifi, hot showers, plentiful food, a guide) it can get expensive

Time + Distance

The trek is around 50 km minimum and takes 3-6 days depending on where you start and finish and if you want to walk the same trail there and back.

Hike this trail if…

You want to see famous and impressive Annapurna, but you don’t have much time. Great for inexperienced hikers and those worried about higher altitude options.

Annapurna Circuit

This is one of Nepal’s classic long distance hikes. But, things are changing. There’s a new road being built through much of the track and tourists are reaching a new level of crazy. Still, it’s a life changing experience for many. The mountains are spectacular (especially Annapurna) and the trail accessible for most people in good fitness with a sense of adventure. This is a high altitude trek, though not quite as high as EBC or Three Passes.

Location

This trek is in the same region as Poon Hill to the northwest of Kathmandu near Pokhara and both will offer you nice views of Annapurna. The classic trek starts in Beshishari and ends in Nayapul. However, you can cut off varying amounts on either end and avoid some road walking.

Pros

• Gorgeous views of Annapurna and the surrounding ranges

• Arguably easier than similar treks in the Everest region

• Relatively easy access to Pokhara and the trailhead

• Elevation profile allows for more seemless acclimatization than some other treks

• Varied landscapes from jungle to alpine

• Great teahouse accommodation

• It’s a circuit - so no hiking on the same track!

• No need for a guide unless you want one

• Relatively inexpensive permits (+/- $50)

Cons

• Involves road-walking (probably the biggest con)

• Increasing tourism can make the area feel overrun

• High altitude trekking can be dangerous

• Prices can start to add up if you like luxuries like showers and wifi

• Can be difficult to camp in highly populated areas

• Need to buy permits ahead of time in Pokhara or Kathmandu

Time + Distance

Minimum of 160km, much more if you want to add on side trips. The trek generally takes between 15 and 20 days.

Hike this trail if…

You want to conquer one of the world’s classic treks and don’t mind some road walking. A good alternative to the Everest region if you want easier access and don’t want to hike the same trail twice.

Upper Mustang

Want to see the Nepal of 30 years ago? This might be your best bet. Located near the border of Tibet, the Upper Mustang offers the same great trails but way fewer people. There’s a reason for that. Permits and guides are bloody expensive. However, the unique experience may well be worth it.

Location

This area is near the border of Tibet to the north of Pokhara. You’ll usually set out from Jomsom - most people take a flight because the bus is notoriously sketchy. It’s much more remote than most other popular hiking regions and lower altitude (despite the name!).

Pros

• True cultural experience

• Better food and accommodation than most other regions

• Plentiful teahouses and ability to camp if you so desire

• Unique landscapes of the Tibetan plateau

• Relatively easy trail

• Much lower altitude than most treks in Nepal

Cons

• This is one of the most expensive areas to trek in

• Permits must be purchased in advance and cost +/- $500

• A guide is required

• Long journey to reach the region, usually involving at least two domestic flights

Time + Distance

You can concur several different route variations in the region, but the classic lasts around 15 days at around 160km.

Hike this trek if…

You’re willing to splurge for a truly exclusive experience. Perfect for those interested in the culture of the region as well as beautiful mountain vistas. Also a great option for those worried about hiking at ultra high altitudes.

Still not enough adventure?

There are even more hikes out there, but they tend to get more remote, challenging, and harder to plan - which can make for a spectacular adventure if you’re up for it? If none of these strike your fancy, check out the Makalu Basecamp trek in eastern Nepal and the Dolpo Valley and the Rara Lake treks in western Nepal. They’re all on our list. One day!

Have your own favorite routes? Share your thoughts below.

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It can be a huge headache trying to pick the right kind of gear to house your feet, especially when you’re traveling. Let’s just say it’s not easy trying to track down a new pair of shoes in rural Myanmar (we’ve tried!!). So best set yourself up for success before you leave.

It can absolutely ruin a trip if you’re uncomfortable walking. We hike a ton, but we also spend time on the beach, in the city, and of course on airplanes. In those instances it can be extremely frustrating to drag around clunky hiking boots.

We stick with three main types of for travel: trail runners, hiking boots, and sandals.

For us, hiking boots are only worth it if you're doing some serious treks, especially when the footing is uneven. Things like mud and rocks wreck our ankles and knees, and hiking boots provide a little bit of support.

Here are some of our favorite options after two years on the road:

Shoes

Asolo Evo Full Leather Hiking Boot

Stefan swears by his classic Asolo leather boots. These will last you AGES (Stefan’s are going on 5 years with months and months of continuous wear) and keep you dry as long as you apply a waterproof outer layer like Nikwax regularly. They’re expensive, but if you’re looking for a super tough and long-lasting option, then they’re great. They also look nicer than most synthetic options. Be aware, you do have to break them in or they will destroy your feet.

Salomon Ultra GTX Mid Hiking Boot

Tori prefers a light-weight (but admittedly way less durable) option. She uses the Solomon Ultra GTX mid. They’ve never given her blisters and don’t require any time to break in - so a good option if your trip’s coming up. They do include a waterproof Gortex layer, but unlike leather you will inevitably rip them and they will no longer keep you dry. Great tread and decent breathability.

Otherwise, we stick with trail running shoes. They’re similar to running shoes, but with a different tread that grips better on more surfaces. Sometimes they also have slightly more support and/or different levels of breathability. They’re great as long as you're not planning on doing too much walking/running on pavement: their soles break up quickly on hard surfaces and you should just go with regular running shoes in this case. They also look relatively normal so you don’t always have to seem like you’ve descended from the mountains!

Hoka One One ATR Trail Running Shoe

Tori LOVES her Hoka One Ones. They come in a variety of options, but all are extraordinarily lightweight (around 200g) with a very cushy sole. Most styles are not waterproof. Be aware that these also do not offer any ankle support at all, so are best suited to situations where you’ll be on fairly even ground and won’t be carrying too much weight.

It’s always great to have a comfy pair of sandals lying around in addition to your hard-hitters. Sometimes we go with cheap flip-flops and sometimes sturdier sandals, but you will certainly want something to rest your feet in on the road. Plus, they’re versatile for warmer destinations and can be layered with socks when it’s colder. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re dorky. They’re great 😎

See Our favorite shoes in all the cool places on instagram!

Chaco z1 Sandal

10/10 would recommend.

Chacos are our all-time favorite. They’re just simple, thick soles that never leave your feet sore, with durable climbing webbing straps. They’re really river shoes, so they’re more than adequate to hike most trails. Stefan actually trekked to Everest Base Camp in his (see above for their cameo in the Himalaya)! We wouldn’t really advise this - remember they’re still sandals and will leave your feet exposed and joints unsupported. He’s just a bit of a mountain goat.

You can wear socks with their classic style, which we prefer to some of their over-the-toe models. Only downside is that they’re quite heavy. If we’re not planning to do any hiking in sandals, sometimes we’ll opt for simple flip-flops for this reason. We don’t usually have trouble with blisters, but if you get sand underneath the climbing webbing it can be a bit of an issue. Just dunk them in some fresh water and they’ll be good as new!

Socks

Necessary, not that sexy. There are really two standouts:

Smartwool Performance Socks

These are classics. They actually look nice, keep your feet cool, and are lovely and thin. What more could you ask for?

Darn Tough Extra Cushion Socks

This brand is great, offering expensive but high quality socks with a LIFETIME WARRANTY. You read that right. We tend to like their warmer socks, because their thinner versions are just not as thin as the Smartwool alternatives.

What are your favorite shoes for travel? Leave your thoughts below!

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Poof

We started off the month with a bit of a surprise. Our flight from Ireland to Turkey, which was at that time less than a week away, no longer existed. Why, you might ask? Well, Thomas Cook, the airline who operated it, had also turned to dust.

This was a cold, hard lesson that the world is set up for business, and they really can do whatever they want. It turns out that airlines like Thomas Cook are allowed to charge you up front for services they’ll never render if they happen to go belly up. They don’t exist anymore so no sweat off their backs. And apparently they don’t have to get insurance for that either.

Thankfully, our lovely bank Charles Schwab (who doesn’t sponsor us but really should because we would tell everyone we know to use their services if we could) paid us back for the non-existent flight. And we were able to get a relatively cheap replacement a couple days later with Ryanair.

The Secret Life of Turkish Honeybees

Did you know that Turkey produces a TON of honey? With the amount of baklava we had there, I guess we should have realized. But, we didn’t, until we started walking the Lycian Way.

The trail is a very famous long-distance ramble and, to be honest, it’s a bit underwhelming. Turkey was hot in October, and the seaside had been so built up for Russian tourists that it hardly seemed serene anymore.

And don’t get us started on the bees. The trail consisted of footpaths connected by dirt roads. On many of those roads were bee farms. At first, we were excited about the prospect of local honey. “We love bees,” we gushed! We still do, but not in such close quarters. By some horrible luck, Stefan got stung 3 times and Tori 7!

Turkey also happened to mobilize troops into northern Syria while we were there. Thankfully, we were in touristy Antalya when this happened and nothing went awry. But it was certainly unsettling. We saw many a machine-gun wielding soldiers - most of them no more than 20 years old.

The Mediterranean is beautiful, and we never felt in danger. But Turkey’s tourism numbers have dropped off for a reason.

Welcome to Jordan!

After Turkey, we took a short flight to Jordan. We had been lured by promises of a beautiful new Jordan trail that stretched across the entire country. But, tired of hiking in the heat, we decided to shorten our trip and check out some of the cultural hotspots.

Don’t get us wrong, Jordan is beautiful. Petra, a wonder of the world, is as spectacular in person as in Indian Jones. The deserts are vast and the slot canyons sheer.

However, there are a lot of problems with Jordan, too. To us, it felt a lot like Chile. It’s overpriced, for one. And that’s not just talking as the cheap backpackers we are. Inequality is rampant. There is just no way to live comfortably on the wages most people are making. You can see this too in the trash everywhere and the carefully crafted tourist itineraries.

That being said, Jordanian people are great. We hitchhiked almost everywhere, and the welcome we received was unfathomable. “Welcome to Jordan!” was the mantra. And people really mean it.

The food wasn’t too shabby, either. Though we may have eaten enough hummus for the next ten years.

♡ Stef and Tor

Myanmar is a tough cookie to crack. It’s just opening up to tourism, even as the government tries to avoid culpability for the Rohingya genocide. That’s a topic for a different article, but the international outcry has affected tourism and changed prices in the country.

Overall, Myanmar is a cheap place to visit - cheaper than its popular neighbor, Thailand. However, the one pickle is accommodation, which will often run you much more than any other Southeast Asian country. We’ll explain that below, as well as other prices to help you plan your budget.

*note we put the prices in Myanmar Kyat and US Dollar - the exchange is approximately 15000kyat to $1

 Rooms

🏠

Hostel bed: 7500 kyat/$5

Cheap Double: 17000 kyat/$11

We know, it doesn’t sound too bad - and it’s not! We’re just cheap, and used to being able to find fancy rooms for $10 in Thailand.

The problem in Myanmar is supply and demand. The government doesn’t allow too many new businesses to open and it’s hard to get licenses. So you don’t have a lot of ‘unofficial’ lodging. This is a pretty good thing for quality, but drives prices up.

The big problem is registration. Hotels are required to be registered and in turn register you as a guest so they can at least try to track you within the country. They really don’t want you putting your nose where they don’t want it. In general, it’s not a big deal - we stayed in unregistered places several times. But you should be careful.

Unfortunately, this means Airbnb and Couchsurfing aren’t extremely popular, though they do exist.

Camping is technically illegal. That being said, we camped four or five nights on the remote peninsula of Dawei. Otherwise, lodging is almost nonexistent there, and those that do exist are VERY expensive.

We heard wonderful stories of staying in pagodas coming to Myanmar. Indeed, there is free lodging in most temples. But something has changed. Either some tourists took advantage of the system and didn’t properly respect their hosts or the government cracked down. We stayed with one wonderful monk at a remote pagoda (we were fed and housed on bamboo mats and in return for helping him build a new wall - these arrangements were all figured out without the help of words). Everywhere else we were turned away. You should not bank on this.

We also stayed in one unofficial home stay. It was a wonderful experience and we felt comfortable because it was rural. However, be aware that families may get in trouble so you need to be very careful. The hope is to support locals not hurt them!

Busses

🚐

Overnight Bus: 10000 - 20000 kyat/$6.5 - $13

Local Bus: 400 - 600 kyat/$.25 - $.40

There are so SO many overnight busses in Myanmar. It’s a good way to get around the pricy and limited hotel options. But we ended up regretting our choice to take so many. It just left us exhausted.

Prices vary on level of comfort, and there is a difference between tourist and local busses, although you don’t always have the option. Sometimes, you are not allowed on certain local busses as a tourist (mostly those headed to off-limits areas). There are occasional police checks.

You can absolutely bargain for prices and ask multiple sellers. This is Southeast Asia after all - often you are not buying directly from the bus station/company. In fact, resellers regularly offered us better prices than the busses themselves. Be aware routes do sell out.

 Local busses are not common outside of cities, and it is particularly hard to figure out the schedule/location. You can wave down share mini busses, but sometimes no one on the bus will speak English. So have some sort of plan before you go!

Alcohol

🍺

600ml beer in store: 1000 kyat/$.70

350ML Rum in store: 1000 kyat/

Beer isn’t extremely expensive, but it isn’t the cheapest either and isn’t absolutely everywhere like in Thailand. We barely drank in Myanmar, mostly because there isn’t any real nightlife and we wanted to save our money. It can be fun to have a quick drink with the locals, though, even if it can feel a bit… off. There aren’t many women drinking and it can be a uncomfortable at times.

Like a lot of other places, spirits are proportionately a lot cheaper.

Bike Rental

🚲

Electric Rental: 5000kyat/$3

moped rental: 11000kyat/$7

1L Gas: 1000 kyat/$.70

This was a big part of our trip in Myanmar!

In Bagan, it’s possible to rent electric scooters and it comes highly recommended. They don’t make noise and don’t take gas. One charge easily got us tooting around the temples from sunrise to sunset - absolutely essential to get off the beaten path.

We also rented normal mopeds in Dawei, the south of the country. It’s really the only way to do things. Unfortunately, the regulations are again a massive problem. The government seems tipped on the verge of banning them all together. Thus, there’s a monopoly on mopeds and it’s more expensive than it should be.

We bought gas from gas stations occasionally, but more often in bottles on the side of the road. Sketchy? Maybe, but we didn’t have any trouble.

Finally, we rented bicycles in Inle lake for 1500 per day, which was a nice way to get out and about.

SIM Card

📱

SIM Card: Free

5G Data: 4500 kyat/$3

We’re not sure if we got some sort of crazy deal, but we got data in Myanmar for the cheapest price we’ve ever payed. We went for Telenor and purchased the package in Mandalay. Definitely a place to splurge for internet!

Water

🚰

1L: 300kyat/$.20

Myanmar is one country where we didn’t drink the water, or even try to filter it. Unfortunate, but it wasn’t too pricy (though obviously not very sustainable).

Prepared Food

🍗

Noodles: 600 - 1000 Kyat/$.40 - $.7

Fried Rice: 1000 kyat/$.7

We pretty much only ate noodles in Myanmar, and were surprised how tasty they were! Make sure to try Shan noodles in the north. There are curries on offer too, for similar or maybe slightly higher prices, but we didn’t think they were nearly as good. Also try Chinese if you can get it! It’s especially nice in Yangon.

They’re also dirt cheap. Like actually crazy cheap. One time, we paid 150kyat/$.10 for a small bowl. They’re usually a bit more than that, but you can still get good and tasty deals. For us, the cuisine wasn’t as tasty as Thailand or Malaysia, so we didn’t splurge much.

Be aware that because there’s minimal true budget accommodation, many hotels offer breakfast. Night busses will also have stops with good and cheap food - although not always, so bring some snacks if you can!

Groceries

🍌

1kilo Mandarins: 2000kyat/$1.31

Pack of COokies: 3800kyat/$2.50

Because prepared food (i.e. noodles) were so cheap, we usually stuck to those, which is genuinely unusual for us. However, there’s good cheap fruit and vegetable for sale in markets and on the side of the road.

Be aware that you will pay a premium for imported foods and packaged western food. It definitely won’t be cheaper to make pasta with red sauce. When we went on a little road trip in Dawei, we brought a bunch of snacks. That was the most we spent on food our entire time there!

Site Entrance

🏰

Inle lake: 15000 kyat/$10

Bagan: 25000kyat/$16

A little pricy, but nothing compared to very commercial temples like Angkor. Just be aware that most of the biggest sites in the country do have entrance fees. We were a little uncomfortable paying these, because it was some of the only money we spent that went straight to the government. Most everything else was paid to people.

Visas

✉️

1 month visa (for US Citizens): $50

This is one of the few visas we’ve had to pay for in our travels, and it’s relatively pricy for a one month stay. Be aware, your country of residence may have a different price/procedure. However, most European countries are the same.

You have to get an E-visa in advance an pay in your own currency, so be ready for that! We saw people get turned away at the border, and that’ll cost you a lot more that $50.

Find this information helpful? Got any updates? Let us know!

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Hi there:) We’re Tori and Stefan. You may already know a little bit about our epic journey in travel and life from our aptly named about us page or posts on our blog or Instagram. We get a lot of questions, though, about who we really are and what exactly we’re doing out in this wide world.

Here’s an updated post to get you up to speed after nearly two years of living on the road.

1. We are not on vacation

Despite our pretty pictures. We are lucky, don’t get us wrong, but we are not on holiday.

Almost two years ago, we set out on a period of indefinite travel. We rely mostly on our modest savings for this endeavor. We go to cool places and see cool things, but we almost never spend $18 on a museum or stay in a *gasp* hotel. We can count even the number of hostels we’ve been to on one hand.

Not including flights, we spend an average of $8 per person per day. As you may imagine, that’s far cheaper that living our normal lives at home. Even Tori’s 12x6 bedroom in a carriage house split with two other people in suburban Colorado cost her about $12 a night.

Holidays are great and most of the information we have on this site will help anyone on a 10 day trip just as well. But don’t be too fooled by the glamour of our pretty pictures. We barely shower. Sometimes, we get chased by feral dogs. We have a lot of diarrhea. And we also have the time of our lives:)

2. We travel because of the people

We started out traveling during breaks in college more or less as a way to escape. In many ways, the big summer trips we took were extended holidays, all be it cheap ones. Sure, we met people along the way. We even did some mini little research projects, taking photos and conducting interviews and trying to break into people’s shells.

But it’s only in the last two years that people have turned into our reason for being out in this big, wide world. There’s so much change and anger and disagreement that it can sometimes feel hard to hold civil conversations even with friends and family.

We whole-heartedly believe that, when approached in the right way, travel can open up your mind, sharpen your critical thinking skills, and improve your relationship with humanity. We have met kind-hearted farmers in New Zealand, refugees from countries our homeland is actively destroying, people that confirm the goodness we sometimes can’t see and those that show us we need to keeping fighting for change.

We strongly advocate for experience-seeking and wouldn’t trade the opportunities we’ve had for genuine human connection for anything.

3. …And Nature

We set out on this trip with a love for cities, hotbeds for culture and excitement. And while we still love the buzz, you simply can’t spend all your time in concrete and smog on a trip like this.

More and more, we’ve embraced nature as a sustainable, peaceful way to see the world. We generally hike because, well, that’s simply the cheapest way to do it! Knowing that you’ve lived and breathed with the land of so many different nations is empowering. And you’ll always find the interactions you’re craving after you take time first to reconnect with yourself.

We would highly recommend anyone on any length of trip take the time to explore the many facets of a place, and not just limit yourself to a hotel or a resort. With a little planning and resourcefulness (and of course a healthy dose of responsibility…. leave no trace, people!) the wilderness is open to anyone.

4. We travel slowly, mostly because we walk

You’ll see a ton of travelers that advocate for slow travel. And we’re right there with them. You won’t get to know a place if you constantly jump around and barely scratch the surface.

There is a time and a place for that. Activities are dope. As a pair of energizer bunnies, sitting still can be hard. We like activities, constantly seeing places and doing things. Traveling on such a small budget has really slowed us down. We simply can’t afford to hop on the next plane or even the next bus.

Take it from us, though, taking the time to slow down and sip in a place will be worth it.

5. We're Obsessed with Cheap flights

It started with now-defunct Wow Airlines and their crazy cheap flights to Iceland. Since then, our travel plans have yet to be stumped by an outrageous flight. Expect some articles on the whole ordeal, because we'd like to think that we've got it down to a science. Using budget airlines, we often get tickets within major US or European cities for $20 and we even booked a flight between the two (from New York to Edinburgh) for $89. You can read about that here.

That being said, we're willing to take horrible, hacked, middle of the night flights to accomplish this goal. We have lots of information here if you’re the same!

We also hate how wasteful flying is. It is one of the least sustainable elements of travel. We try to take as few flights as we can, and like to think that two years without a car (what’s more mostly walking and hitch hiking) helps a bit. We’ve thought about programs like carbon credits, but are skeptical about how much that really helps. We’ll continue to grapple with problems like these and would love to hear your thoughts!

6. We Travel as a Pair

There's a freedom that comes from traveling solo. Although we don't have that perk (most of the time), we've been pretty good travel companions over these last four years and we've seen some advantages.

This means that you'll see our budgets generally reported as a pair. Note that converting those to per person isn't as simple as dividing by two: traveling together does save money. We've been over the moon for Couchsurfing and we think it’s super fun and easy to find hosts for two people. It also means that we're more comfortable doing adventurous things like hitchhiking or night travel or solo treks. We’ve heard so many horror stories from solo female hitch hikers and haven’t had to deal with an ounce of that. Still, we understand these wild experiences aren't for everybody. We hope you'll push yourself, but also politely ignore any experiences that you don't feel comfortable with.

Traveling together is also hard. It’s so much more intense than living together. We see each other nearly every minute of every day, the good and the bad and the (very) ugly. We argue over the stupidest things and lack autonomy for simple reasons like only carrying one tent.

It’s really helped us to set goals for ourselves as a pair and individuals. Taking solo time can be hard, but it essential. Another thing that’s kept us sane is personal projects - Stefan likes reading and Tori more writing. Self care, people, at home and on the road.

7. Our Backpacks are 40L 

For those of you who don't work in liters, that's a really small bag, basically the next size up from a day pack. In those tiny, tiny bags we manage to include a computer, a DSLR, all the camping necessities, and even a little first aid kit.

On the plus size, we'll be posting some exciting articles about ultralight equipment and prioritizing your packing to travel the world. On the downside, it means that our outfits might not always be what you would call photo ready. You read it right, we're not a fashion blog.

We would highly recommend traveling light. It is very freeing to see how little you really need to survive. Take that, capitalism.

8. We Advocate Experience driven Travel

Unlike most travelers we’ve talked to, we love planning, at least a a bit of planning. We find that thinking about when and where you're going helps you get a lot more done with a lot less tears (and backtracking). And there have still been lots of tears. That doesn't mean plans don't change. Sometimes, we throw all ours out or find something cool and tweak them a bit. Flexibility is key.

We're not perfect. We also like to stay busy when we travel. So, take that with a grain of salt. Spread out the activities, nix some, add others, meet people and generally enjoy your unique trip.

One thing we’ve started doing this year is experience-driven travel. We never just go to a place just to go there. We generally pick an experience we really want to do, usually a hike or an event, and plan around that. On a long trip, it helps us prioritize and feel purpose. It also means we check into things like weather in advance to avoid disappointment. We still leave plenty of time for contemplation and inspiration, but we let those things fall into place around a central goal. That means we’re rarely sitting and waiting for inspiration to strike, but actively seeking it out.

9. We're From the US

Ah, it's a fact we're not always proud of, but alas it is true (although, fun fact, Stef just got his Irish citizenship so YAY for easier European visaing from now on). Your country of origin usually colors your experiences abroad, and we know the stars and stripes has drastically changed ours. We’ve had to address stereotypes, discuss politics, and come to terms with the best and worst of being American.

Of course, we're only experts in US visas and tend to list the dollar as the first exchange. If you're interested in traveling in the US, domestically or from elsewhere, let us know! We'll slowly be adding some of our favorite experiences to help you get to know this massive country a little better. Despite what we sometimes think, it's pretty cool.

10. Our Average Daily Budget Is a Lie

Here's the thing - our average daily budget is just that. An average. And for any of you familiar with statistics (chemistry nerd here sorry), you know sometimes those numbers can be misleading. We almost never spend our average budget, but instead spend far over it some days and far under it most others.

These tend to be relatively stable for particular locations. For example, whenever we're in a city we spend about the same amount every day, and that amount is likely to be more than $15. For this reason, we include a recommended daily budget for nearly every place we write about. We also tend to favor experiences - like a table at the world's best restaurant or a night sleeping in the world's second biggest cave - highly. These balance out with other days where we sleep in our tent, cook our own food, or participate in a workaway where we get free food and accomodation.

Our average numbers also do not include flights, visas, or pre trip expenses.

Our numbers are still radically low. If you don’t want to go slowly and sometimes be uncomfortable, you may not want to travel with such little money. But, we think that it’s pretty cool that it is possible.

11. We Carry a Tent

We love hiking and some of our best experiences (shout out to the Cordillera Huayhuash in Peru) are also our cheapest. We'll try to demystify the solo trekking experience for you (i.e. we don't hire guides or tours if we can help it) and hope to make it accessible to more people. If camping isn't your thing, we understand. But literally carrying your home on your back can be extremely liberating.

12. Sometimes We'll Do Anything to Save a Few Bucks

Ah, a perfect example of this is our article about how to get across the Ecuadorian border into Peru without hiring a through bus. Sometimes, we go a bit crazy to save a dollar. Some of it is a personality issue, one mostly driven by Stefan much to his chagrin, and some of it really does save us enough money to keep us traveling for longer. Take what you will from our budget hacks and keep moving forward with your own.

We will take most any transportation that saves us a few bucks. Night busses (and trains) are great for this, as you don't have to pay for accomodation or miss any daylight. We also walk most places under 10km and hitch hike where ever we can. We'll almost always advocate for cheap transport, but sometimes we hate ourselves at the end of the trip for it. Ride or fly or whatever at your own risk.

13. We're Young

We just graduated college and we're in our early twenties. Most applicably, it means that we're broke, we're willing to forgo sleep, and we're relatively fit. We also have the appetites of young grizzly bears.

We are at times old souls and we have been doing this traveling stuff for quite awhile now. We don’t drink that much or smoke and honestly we’re realizing how much small habits can break the budget. Our daily dose of coffee can be a real buzz kill. Thankfully, we usually make our own so we never have to forgo caffeine.

14. We love food

We're eating way, way cheaper than normal this year. But we still love it.

Biggest tip? Learn how to cook.

15. We're on This Travel Insurance Journey with You

We've traveled for four years without travel insurance. Gasp! We had good enough medical plans in the US so that international expenses were, for the most part, reimbursed. That doesn't mean insurance isn't a good idea. This year, we bought additional coverage, so expect some honest reviews of our transition. We're learning with you on this one (and most things, if we're being honest).

16. We've Gotten ill While Traveling...

Speaking of! Travel is not always easy. Stef contracted Dengue Fever in the Philippines and we both had pretty consistent colds for the duration of our stay in chilly Bolivia. Travel can be hard on the body and mind. Asking for help can be necessary and taking precautions is essential. Listen to yourself and react accordingly. Sometimes, you might need to take downtime that we didn't. Heck, sometimes we need to take downtime that we don't. Slow travel is amazing, and we all need to remind ourselves of that.

17. ...and Experienced Burnout

This refers to the mind part. Stef and I always have chats about how we wish, just for a second, that we could jet home and then come right back. We try to combat burnout by varying our travel (like spending one week at the beach and the next on a trek) and taking enough time for ourselves. This can be hard. Sometimes our photos look way happier than they actually are. And sometimes they couldn't possibly show how full our hearts are. But we all get better with practice. 

18. We have no shame

One of the best things about this year has been learning to live outside the system(s), both the ones we create for ourselves and those that others impose.

Starting out, we felt guilty hitch hiking. We’re luckier than most, and completely understand that we are not entitled to anyone’s generosity. But by the time we get out of the car, our drivers are normally thanking us for brightening their day.

There are so many things we took for granted at home. But, truth is, you don’t have to eat kale to be healthy or pluck your eyebrows to be pretty or buy a new laptop to be productive. Certainly, you can do these things (we still wear deodorant… usually). But it’s your choice. Not everyone in the world does, and even if they do, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should, too.

We would highly recommend experiencing some of the offbeat. Not only will it save money, but it’ll probably teach you something along the way, too. There’s Work Away, opportunities to do a bit of work in exchange for lodging and sometimes food (if you don't know about Workaway, check it out here). There’s our favorite app in the world, Couchsurfing, where we’ve met so many wonderful people. We’ve also forayed into responsible stealth camping (Tori still gets anxious about this), dumpster diving, and long-distance walking.

Trust us, there’s no requirement to be ‘normal’ - whatever that means for you.

19. We Like to Think

We studied philosophy and anthropology in college, after all. There's a lot to think about while traveling: ethics, money, globalization, sustainability. We'll likely write more on this subject from the road, as we develop our stories. If you'd like to talk about anything, though, let us know. We like to expand our perspectives and we're open to the idea that we make mistakes. Alternative viewpoints are always welcome.

20. Mountains > Beaches

Just thought we'd throw that one in there to rile you up.

Have more questions for us? Let us know!

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Not Spain nor France

We ended our splendid, three week walk through the Pyrenees in Basque country. We were woefully uneducated on this highly autonomous (though not independent) region, who sees itself as distinctly unique from its host countries.

Its people are feisty, yet warm. They speak in a language with a confusing frequency of the letter x and make a mean pinxto.

We’d highly recommend visiting it’s coast on the Atlantic. We felt completely French (cough, basque) taking the public electric bus to Biarritz’ city beach and lounging topless while munching baguette. Well worth the cliché.

Fun fact: we just missed D Trump, who graced the glitzy resort town with his presence for a Gsomething meeting just the week before.

Returning to Many Homes

When you live far away, and no where at all, you inevitably miss little pieces of the everyday. This was one of those months that we got to catch up on those moments.

From weddings with extended family to time with old friends, we did a whole lot of catching up (and not a whole lot else). Which is lovely sometimes.

We met up again in Ireland, where Stef used his glossy new Irish passport to obtain a working holiday visa for Japan.

And celebrated with a Guinness.

♡ Stef and Tor

Too Much Chile

We carry around a little spice kit. Sometimes it gets funny looks in the airport, bags on bags of white and tan and red powders. It’s mostly oregano, but for those adventurous nights there is a tiny ziplock full of ghost pepper. Not only can you ruin your food if you mistake it for normal red pepper, but you may also start to weep if you have the misfortune of touching your eyes even hours after seasoning a dish.

In this case, though, we are not talking about our propensity for spicy seasonings, but indeed the country of Chile.

We crossed the border of Bolivia at the end of July on foot (the guards seemed quite bemused). Then, we hitch hiked down nearly 3,000m, the temperature rose by 30F, and Tori nearly cried tears of joy.

We only spent a week in the country, honestly just because we couldn’t bear the barren high desert anymore. Although we’d love to return to Patagonia one day, what we saw in the north was a tad unsettling.

Like most places we’ve been this year, the people were wonderful, but the system seemed woefully broken. We hope to write more about our observations, especially about the city of Calama. We felt like the inequality deserved an entire investigative journalism team.

*Update from the future here. Indeed there are horrible protests raging across the country as of November 2019.

As sad as we are, we are not an ounce surprised. Just a week spent talking with the people of northern Chile, buying half a kilo of vegetables for more than their minimum wage, was enough to spark red flags.

If you want to learn more about what’s going on, this gives a good intro.

Leveling with You

We were only in Chile because of, you guessed it, a cheap flight.

Level, a subsidiary of British Airways, flew us all the way into a different season for less than $200. We were stoked.

However, purchasing so many flights is the single worst thing we’ve done this year, and we know it. Uber budget traveling can truly be great for the environment. Not only does it promote international discourse and global understanding, but it puts you in a position where consumerism is nigh impossible.

Order from Amazon? Nope. Nor anywhere else. One change of clothes for us. Drive a car? We barely even take buses. Shower? Maybe once a week.

That’s not to say the way we travel is perfect, nor that travel and tourism itself is without issue. But as the world is bubbling, it’s hard (and frankly irresponsible) not to consider our impact.

Getting the Star

This month seems more full of existential musings than most, but that’s not to say real substantiative things didn’t happen!

Shoutout to Stefan for snagging a job at the only Michelin starred restaurant in Niseko, Japan. (Yes, he has both a wildly untamed beard and exactly no experience waiting).

He’ll be heading to Japan in November to ski Japow 8 hours a day.

Our Favorite Trail… Ever

Well, Tori’s at least. Stefan is a tad more of a masochist.

We flew from Santiago to Barcelona and spent the month hiking the HRP. The long distance trail zigzags through the central Pyrenees on the border of Spain and France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. It’s full of shepherds and cheap rosé and the most idyllic campsites you could ever imagine.

It was gorgeous and unspoiled and so many more adjectives that you’ll soon grow tired of the gushing.

But truly, it was a hike of peace and introspection. Sometimes we don’t take the time needed to reflect on how lucky we are to explore this wide, wild world. This time, it was impossible to ignore.

♡ Stef and Tor

Only have a few days in northern Peru, but want to enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery? Tired of seeing another advertisement for a tour group leaving for The Santa Cruz Trek?

Quilcayhuanca Cojup is the answer. No people. No dogs. Nothing but snow-capped scenery, just 30 minutes from Huaraz.

This is the best two to three day hike we’ve ever done. No joke. And here’s everything you need to know hike it yourself (without a guide).

Navigational files included in the maps section, cause we’re nice like that! Scroll to the bottom for our route description.

Trek Overview

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Huaraz, in northern Peru, has some of the best hiking in the world. Thanks to ancient civilizations in the region, trails are well defined for the most part and take you past incredible mountains in very short amounts of time.

The most famous trek in the region is the Santa Cruz, which passes by its namesake mountain. While it is worthwhile, the many people, cows, dogs, and general traffic en route can get tiring. Or maybe you're like us and just can't get enough of hiking in these Cordilleras. In this case, you’ll need to do both.

Either way, the Quilcayhuanca Cojup trek has our pick for best bang for your buck in the region. In just 2-4 days, you can get views that rival the 7-11 day Huayhuash circuit.

Quilcayhuanca and Cojup are two adjacent valleys, separated by the very high but technically easy Huapi Pass. On this trek, you basically walk up one valley and down the other. Very manageable.

And yet, there's little online about this awesome trek. Read our report for everything you know to hike this hidden gem, without a guide.

Getting to and from the Trail

Quilcayhuanca Cojup Trek

This map should give you a rough - very rough - idea of where you’re going in the region. Huaraz, Llupa, Pitec, and the two valleys in question. Please whatever you do don’t use it for more than prelim planning.

For more precise pins, we have our bookmarks saved from the hike in kmz format here:

We don’t earn any commission on these, we just wanted to provide files cause they’re so helpful for us when we’re hiking.

Open these on your mobile in maps.me and you should be able to follow along pretty well. You’ll see the trails, towns, camp spots, pass… everything you need on the ground. Let us know if you have any trouble with the format.

To/from the huaraz

Huaraz is the biggest city in this region of Peru, easily accessible from Lima and other major cities by bus or plane. Being cheap, we of course chose the bus, which costs between 30 and 80 soles overnight, depending on the level of luxury.

Directional considerations

One of the best things about this trek is how close it is to Huaraz, much easier to access than Santa Cruz from the city.

You can start from either Cojup or Quilcayhuanca valley. The descent is much steeper on the Cojup side, so many people like starting from Quilcayhuanca like we did. It's not a sketchy descent by any means, and going this way definitely saves you some huffing and puffing, so we would recommend it.

To/From Pitec

From Huaraz, you're simply looking for a combi (share van) up the valley in the direction of Pitec. These leave regularly until dusk from Cajamarca relatively near the market.

Now, Pitec is a touristy "town" and the start to the popular Lake Chirrup trek as well as the closest access point to Quebrada Quilcayhuanca. Thus, you will pay for the luxury of getting there: it's 10 soles for 45 minutes.

To/From Llupa

You can also start at Llupa, slightly lower down the valley. This takes about 30 minutes and costs only 1.5 soles. It's a hot, dusty walk up the road/on local footpaths, but it only takes a couple hours and could be worth it.

To/From Cojup

On the Cojup side, you'll have to walk a bit unless you want to take a taxi. You can easily walk down the road to either Llupa or Marian, both of which have regular combis to Huaraz.

Preparations

This is a relatively easy, short three day hike that could be attempted by anyone with some understanding of backpacking, mountain safety, and navigation. It's not as quite as straightforward as Santa Cruz, but it's pretty darn close.

Altitude

The trek goes over Huapi pass, one of the highest in the region at over 5000m. So, you will need to be somewhat acclimitized to do it. Do read up on altitude sickness before you go.

However, you'll sleep relatively low, so won't feel the thin air as much as treks like Huayhuash and Alpamayo Basecamp where you'll be sleeping well over 4000m almost every day.

We took one day in Huaraz, and two days doing day hikes before we set off.

Supplies

There's no accommodation or food along the way, so you'll need to be totally self sufficient.

Gear

We travel with all our backpacking gear, so we only needed to buy gas in town, which is available if expensive (30 soles for a large). We even brought some yummy backpacking food from home. 

However, that's not necessary at all, just luxurious. You can buy or rent all you need in Huaraz. There's tons of good food options like pasta, nuts, honey, fruits, peanut butter, candy, etc. in the markets and stores of Huaraz. Nothing fancy though.

Water

There's plenty of water, though you'll need to purify. If you don’t bring your own devices, there are tablets. available at the pharmacies in town.

Below is our favorite water-purification device - well, so far. The Steripen is fast, easy to use, and doesn’t leave a gross after taste. Plus, this model is rechargeable, which avoids expensive batteries.

If you buy through our links, we may earn a small commission (which is dope for us!), but it’ll never charge you, and we’ll only ever recommend products we truly believe in. Promise.

Safety

Help will be a day's walk away at any given time. You probably won't pass many people otherwise. In fact, there are no villages or houses in the valleys themselves, which means you don't have to deal with and pesky dogs or livestock.

There's no cell service for most of the trip. We carried a gps messenger, though we would not say that's at all necessary unless you doing lots of other hiking in the region.

If you are interested, they’re pretty cool. You can check out our model here, which is one of the smallest available. It works with a monthly subscription for an SOS feature or optional texting plans.

Maps

You do not need a topo map for this hike. We repeat: you do not. Instead, get a copy of Hiking and Biking the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash, preferably before you arrive to Huaraz because it can be hard to find. If you arrive without it, check at Jo's Place or other hostels for someone with a copy. It has a route description and map that will make the trek a breeze.

Most of the route is also on maps.me, an awesome app to download if you don't already have it. You can track your location in relation to the trail and it will really help from getting lost. Battery shouldn't be too much of an issue on such a short hike if you're careful.

We saved our bookmarks from the hike in the app, and you can download them here:

Just open the link on your cell phone and you should be redirected to the maps.me app (you’ll have to have the apps downloaded).

They should give you a pretty good idea of where to go - the trails are marked for most of the trek and we have points to show you where we went. Camp spots are marked in yellow.

Money

No ATMs after Huaraz, so plan accordingly.

Costs

The costs of this trip will vary widely depending on your situation. But, to give you an idea:

Transport

🚐

If you take the cheap collectives, you're looking at a total of 3 soles flat. Remember you'll pay 10 soles if you want to go to Pitec. Of course, taxis will cost a whole lot more, probably in the neighborhood of 40-60 soles one way from Huaraz.

Fees

💸

Most of the hike is in the Parque Nacional Huscaran or PNH. It now costs 30 soles for a day, 60 soles for 3 days, or 150 soles for one month. Because tickets are pricy and rather difficult to buy (the office in Huaraz is almost never open), we suggest waiting to buy one until someone forces you to. There are checkpoints at the heads of both valleys. However, when we were there, neither one was staffed and we did not have to buy a ticket.

Food

🍔

Cooking fuel (butane/propane) in Huaraz is expensive, generally 20 for a small and 40 for a large. We did not look for other kinds of fuel in town, and are not confident anything specially exists. If you buy in town, head to the market for fruit, vegetables, nuts, candies, and the like. Pasta is very cheap and lightweight. So are oats. You won't be able to get any fancy dehydrated backpacking food here. Your food budget could vary wildly from 5 to 50 soles a day, depending on what you want to eat. Water purification tabs can be bought for less than 5 soles.

Gear

⛺️

Again, completely depends. We brought all our own stuff from home, so while this particular trip cost us nothing, we've invested nearly $500 each in our gear over the last year. Minimally, the guidebook will cost $20 and should be ordered before you get to Peru if at all possible. A map will be 30-100 soles if you want an official one. A janky set up for two could be purchased around the streets of Huaraz for 300-500 soles and you can sell it later. You can ask around gringo plaza for deals on rentals, which may make sense if this is the only hike you're doing.

Our Itinerary

We tend to hike pretty fast. After a year on the road hiking almost constantly everywhere from Kyrgyzstan to New Zealand, we're well used to it. 

That being said, Peru is coooold, and we never got out of the tent before first light (about 7:00 AM in June). We tried to arrive to camp between 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM as we never felt like hanging around outside after dark at 6:30 PM. Instead, we found we needed to be cosied up in our down bags by then.

Days involved several short water and photo breaks and a lunch break of up to an hour, but usually much less. Our timings do not include this longer break.

The first and last day involve a fair amount of transport, but it’s well within striking distance from Huaraz. There sgould still be plenty of time to walk.

If you want less (or more) intense days, adjust accordingly.

Day 1 - Llupa (3500m) to Laguna Tullpacocha (4300m)

Distance: 19km

Climb: 800m

Time: 7 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: easy

This is a doable day coming from Huaraz, but there are also several alternatives if you think it sounds like a bit much.
We actually broke up the trek by first stopping at the lovely Laguna Shallap, also accessible from Llupa, and then camped near Pitec. That gave us a night sleeping at 3850m before going up to 4300m. 

If you're not worried about altitude, but distance, you could get a combi all the way to Pitec to shorten the day by an hour or two. And if you're worried about altitude, you there are many camp spots in the valley. However, it would make for a long day tomorrow over the pass.

From Llupa, it's all uphill on dusty road to Pitec. Ask any villager if you get lost, as there are many, and the trail is on maps.me. It took us 1 hour, but may take longer if the climb slows you down.

At Pitec you'll pass by the entrance to Laguna Churrup and head on the good road into Quebrada Quilhayhuanca. The road ends at the park boundary, where you climb over the fence and enter the lovely green valley. There were no staff here when we arrived at 10:00AM. This takes about 45 minutes from Pitec.

There's a path the entire way (also marked on maps.me) but it fades in and out of the boggy pampa. It's not necessary to stick to the path entirely, but it will help you cross some side streams faster and avoid the wettest parts of the valley.

The trail stays on the left of the valley for the whole day. 3 hours up after you enter the park, you'll reach the first proper campsite, which is signposted. This campsite is at 4000m, so could be a good option if you'd like to sleep relatively low. The worst altitude sickness comes on at night!

The path splits at this point.

Optional Side Trip: If you're interested, follow the trail to the right as it continues along Quebrada Quilhayhuanca. This will take you further up into the next valley to some gorgeous and tall peaks. Walk as far as you want, but plan for a 2-4 hour return.

If you're keen to keep going, bear left and begin to climb fairly steeply in a clear path into a side valley. After an hour, you'll reach a pampa where the trail becomes in distinct. 

Continue on the left side of the river until a bit after the end of the pampa, where you'll need to cross over to the right side, about 30 more minutes.

The trail becomes clear again at this point, which is marked on maps.me. It's another 30 minutes up a forested moraine to the small campsite below Laguna Tullpacocha.

Unfortunately there's no view of the lake, but the camp will put you in good position to tackle the pass tomorrow.

Optional Side Trip: If you're up for another diversion, you can search for a small, unmarked side path to the lake. Pike's guidebook describes it, but we did not make the journey due to weather.

Day 2 - Laguna Tullpacocha (4300m) - Upper Cojup Valley (4200m)

Distance: 9km

Climb: 700m

Descent: 800m

Pass: Huapi (5020m)

Time: 6.5 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: moderate

Today there’s a big pass. There's no way around it, but it's totally worth it for the views and very doable if you take your time.

Leave camp and immediately cross the river before following wide switchbacks up the side of a brushy hill.

After an hour, you'll reach the top and bear left when the path splits into two. There's camping here, though it high.

Optional Side Trip: You'll also have the option to take the path to the right and climb the moraine of yet another lake on a, which we'd estimate to be a 3.5 hour round trip.

On the main trail, you'll pass some ruins where the campsite officially is located, about 15 minutes on. Forge ahead, though the path becomes almost nonexistent.

There are a couple possible routes up the ridge in front of you. We chose the one in the center of the hill and followed cairns to the top until the faint path eventually bent left and around a small hillock and right again to a plateau with a small lake, more camping opportunities and a view. It took another hour to reach here.

The path climbs clearly to the left, where there will be more cairns to follow. It took 30 minutes to reach the so called Moo Lakes, plenty of cows, and the final but very high camp before the pass.

Cut through the center of the lakes and continue to climb slightly right on a rocky ridge for 15 minutes.

It's hard to tell where the path is taking you at this point. Indeed the pass is hidden, ahead of you to the right. You can't even see the spectacular mountain vistas that will shortly appear.

The path becomes rocky and traverses around the ridge line on your right hand side. It looks intimidating, but fear not: our cute little dog friend Caldo joined us for the whole walk and was totally fine.

After 30 minutes or so of rock hopping, you'll make a final little climb to Huapi Pass and lovely views of Palcaraju that won't disappear for the rest of the trek. You'll also see Lake Palcacocha with its refugio (looked closed to us, but may be accessible in some seasons) and a 4x4 road all the way up to its base.

Optional Side Trip: You could walk up to the lake after you descend into Cojup valley, but it looked a bit industrial for our liking.

The other side of the pass is steeper, but very doable and isn't exposed so even if you fall all will be well. It changes from rocky to gravelly, so trekking poles are helpful to avoid slipping.

Follow cairns directly down to find the path. It winds its way slightly right, toward the mountains, passing the first water since Moo Lakes after about 30 minutes.

Take a break here for your knees as the path gets even steeper for a bit before coming to what appears to be a split in the trail (but may very well be a cattle track) in another 30 minutes.

Take the path on the left, which is grassy now, and follows close to a stream for 15 minutes or so.

Unfortunately, it also becomes indistinct. There are two marked trails on maps.me and neither are very visible. If you loose the trail, the going will be slow and frustrating until you find it again. We lost it for about 45 minutes, much farther to our right than we thought it should be.

We took a total of 3 hours to make it from the pass to our camp, which was significantly longer than the timings we saw. You may be able to do it faster if you don't get lost!

Eventually, after another 30 minutes or so, the trail will lead you past rocky outcroppings to a lovely little plateau. You could camp here, but it's a bit far from water.

Walk 15 more minutes down to the river. You'll see the road on the other side, but wait to cross until you see a small, if sketchy, bridge. Good camping is just 15 more minutes down the way.

Day 3 - Upper Cojup Valley (4200m) - Llupa (3500m)

Distance: 14km

Descent: 700m

Time: 4 hours

Navigation: easy/moderate

Trail: easy

It's a rather simple walk down the gravel access road and out the valley, with no navigation needed whatsoever. It took us 2 hours of continuously turning around to look at the mountain behind us to reach the gate to the park.

No one was there to buy a pass from. We climbed the gate and took the road to the left, which climbed a wee bit before turning sharply to the left.

Here you'll have to rely on your phone to understand the intricacies of the many shortcuts between sections of road on the way to Llupa. As a rule of thumb, keep heading down.

If you get lost, there will be the occasional villager to ask and you may even have cell service by this point.

Eventually you'll reach the lovely Chirrup Lodge and a brand new road. Follow this, avoiding all the switchbacks with shortcuts, and you'll pop out into Llupa, more than ready for a colectivo to a hostel.

All that road walking took another 2 hours and boy were we ready for the day to be over!

Final Thoughts

We’re so glad we did this trek as an alternative to Santa Cruz. So many travelers in northern Peru are looking for quick treks that offer best-for-your-buck scenery, and this gem is hiding right under their noses.

So go forth, explore, and enjoy your time in the Peruvian Andes!

Tried this hike? Questions before you go? Let us know in the comments!

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One for the ages

July 2019 will go down in history as the toughest period in our (so far) 14 months on the road.

We strongly debated titling this post “Salt, Snow, and So Many Tears.”

People often ask if we’re on holiday. And we’ve touched on this many times. But as the year as gone on, it’s clear that the resounding answer is no. We’ve spent our time exploring more than just food and architecture, more often touring the inside of a stranger’s house than modern art museums.

It’s a beautiful, strange, adventurous experience. One that everyone should have in their own way.

But, boy, Bolivia was a bitch.

No Stamp for You

Bolivia and the US have a long history of not-so-peachy relations. It’s some combination of the US’ penchant for its War on Drugs (and its unwillingness to take responsibility for its side of the problem) and Bolivia’s own corruption.

But, it’s safe to say, the Bolivian government HATES the US. Even the pre-Trump US.

That means an absolute nightmare for American citizens crossing the border.

Stefan, an Irish citizen, got his stamp in appx 2 minutes. Tori? 5 hours.

We should have realized this was just the beginning.

(Evaporated) Sea to summit

We entered Bolivia from Peru, a long contingent of stinky busses and half-closed eyes.

But once we arrived in La Paz, Bolivia’s most well-known metropolis, we got right to it. Almost immediately we set out on a two week journey into the little-explored Cordillera Real.

The journey went spectacularly, except for the overnight temps, which left our sleeping bags covered in a sheet of ice almost every morning. Tori refused to get in virtually any type of water (even the supposedly ‘hot’ showers back on La Paz) for fear of frozen hair and purple toes.

After the peaks, we wound our way down to the center of the country in the high desert of the Altiplano.

This area holds a host of wacky wonders, like lagos full of pink flamingos and expanses of dried-up salt lakes.

finding connection

Another thing it’s famous for? 80kph winds.

In the middle of a massive 200km overland journey (on foot, mind you, no off-roading for us), we got literally blown away by a desert dust storm.

Temps hovered around -5F with windchill and we had to wear sunglasses to protect our eyes even though the desert sand thoroughly obscured the sky.

It changed the tone of our journey, and for a minute it looked like we should simply leave the country that had proved so hostile to our goals to hike and camp.

But the wind pushed us right through the doors of some really lovely locals: transplanted hotel workers, bathroom attendants, and a family in charge of a hot spring.

Maybe we can’t recommend Bolivia’s weather in invierno, but we can certainly recommend its people’s warm hearts.

Oh how often that is the case.

♡ Stef and Tor

Back to the beginning

Two years ago, the chillingly beautiful Huayhuash Circuit changed the way we travel. It was the first multi-day backpacking trip we did together (and boy it was a doosey).

Today, you’ll more often find us sleeping in a tent than a hostel. We have climbed mountains and trudged through deserts and gotten in our fair share of snorkeling too:) You’d be surprised how many ways of being you can find while exploring nature; more often than not the local type, too, kind enough to let you into their lives however resistant at the start.

This month we returned to Peru to explore The Cordillera Blanca, an icy wonderland of glacial lakes and snowy peaks. It was spectacular and surprisingly accesible. If you have any inclination to go (which you should!!), check out our new post about the lovely Alpamayo Basecamp trek. Look for more posts on hiking in South America soon.

New friends (and old ones too)

People don’t often want to join us on our travels. Traveling on $7 a day is a beautifully messy experiment. And it jus isn’t what I’d call ‘fun’ for the annual two week holiday.

We were so lucky this month to be joined by one of Stefan’s oldest friends, who listened to us bicker and shared many much-needed warm meals - shoutout to Chili Heaven, the best restaurant in the city of Huaraz.

We also met a lovely new friend, christened Caldo after the famously satisfying Peruvian soup. He was an adorable pup with a white blaze down his front and shiny, inquisitive eyes.

Dogs in South America can be a problem. They’re often not vaccinated and sometimes territorial. Caldo was a treat, though, and we wished we could take him home. If only we had one!

Maybe one day.

♡ Stef and Tor

Bacterial woes

Once again, high fevers coincided with birthday wishes. In this case, it was Tori with the fever and Stefan with the birthday (recall that it was Tori with both last time).

It also happened to be the one time we didn’t have antibiotics on hand. We normally pack a z-pack or two in case of really bad traveler’s diarrhea and limited medical services.

Plus, our travel insurance had run dry two days prior. Ugh. Thankfully, we were in New Zealand without insurance and not the US, so the whole shebang wasn’t devastating.

Of course we renewed our insurance plan quickly after, but we definitely haven’t been able to find one we feel good about. Seems like a whole lotta cost and little real use. Suggestions welcome!

Big Chang and angkor wat

Stefan had a bit of a blast from the past, returning to the well-trodden backpacker haunt of Southeast Asia with his family.

Takeaway? He doesn’t drink as much as he used to. SE Asia is fun, but it can be tiring to get off the beaten track (we found this out when we were on our own in Myanmar earlier this year).

As much nostalgia as we have for the region, we’re excited to have embraced slightly quieter destinations.

Food prep

While Stefan was off exploring, Tori was watching his dogs and prepping for the next adventure.

That meant one or two trips to Costco, the cult wholesale store where rotisserie chickens cost less than they do in The Philippines. Whoa.

We’re excited to add some variety to the standard food regime in Peru next month!

Citizenship

Final note: Stefan FINALLY received his Irish citizenship this month! This comes with a host of blessings, including easy visas and the right to live in most of Europe. Needless to say, Tori’s a bit jealous.

Till next month!

♡ Stef and Tor

How much do you know about hiking in Peru?

When we arrived in Huaraz for the first time back in 2017, we knew next to nothing.

This small town in northern Peru has some of the best hiking in the world. On that trip, we hiked some of the most famous trails in the area: Laguna 69, Lake Chirrup, Santa Cruz, and the Huayhuash Circuit. These are all high altitude treks with beautiful lake and mountain views and varying levels of difficulty.

When we returned in 2019, we were determined to see more mountains and less people.

In came The Alpamayo Basecamp Trek. This 4-7 day hike gives you spectacular views of Alpamayo and the Cordillera Blanca and you’ll only see a few people each day.

Plus, it can easily be combined with the famous Santa Cruz trek to create the spectacular 8-12 day Alpamayo Circuit, with even more mountains (but admittedly more people too).

We hiked completely unsupported in June 2019. Here's everything you need to know to make the journey, especially for those intrepid souls that don't want (or can't afford!) a local guide.

Trek Overview

This trek is one of the premier hikes accessible from Huaraz in northern Peru. Set in the Cordillera Blanca range, it takes you between the villages of Hualcayan and Pampabamba along the backside of the impressive Alpamayo mastiff and its cohorts.

Generally completed in 4-7 days (there are lots of potential side trips), it can be easily combined with other hikes around the Cordillera Blanca, including the popular Santa Cruz Trek, to make the Alpamayo Circuit. This will take a minimum of 8 days and likely more in the range of 11.

However, things on the Basecamp side are much more tranquilo, with fewer people and just as many views. It's one of Peru's best hikes. It rivals (although in our book, does not beat) The Huayhuash Circuit.

Getting to and from the Trail

To/From Huaraz

Huaraz is the biggest city in the region of Ancash, followed by Caraz. Both are in striking distance of the Alpamayo Basecamp Trek.

You can fly into Huaraz from Lima (way too expensive for our blood) or get a bus from Lima (and some other major Peruvian cities) to either city for between 30 and 80 soles, depending on the level of luxury.

Directional Considerations

We chose to hike this trek in the reverse direction that most guided groups take. We started in the town of Hualcayan and hiked toward Pampabamba. It honestly doesn't much matter, though it's a big (but easy) climb the first day hiking from Hualcayan like we did. Choose whatever is easiest logistically for you.

To/From Caraz

Colectivos are constantly leaving from and to Huaraz from Jiron Caraz. These take about 2 hours depending on traffic and road work and cost 7 soles.

To/From Cashpampa

When you arrive in Caraz, walk to the market in town and ask for the combi to Cashapampa. These also cost 7 soles and take an hour, although here the drivers start trying to get shifty with tourist prices so hold your ground.

Same thing works in reverse.

to/From Hualcayan

We walked from Cashapampa to Hualcayan to start the trek. If you're interested in doing the whole circuit (including the Santa Cruz portion), you will start and finish from Cashapampa and/or Hualcayan.

We also heard tell that you can catch another colectivo from Caraz to the town of Santa Cruz for a couple soles. Then it's an 8 sole combi for Hualcayan. We didn't do this ourselves, but the locals insisted it was a real option.

Combis from Caraz to Hualcayan are nigh nonexistent, but may run very very occasionally. We're not taxi people, but a friend took one from Caraz to Hualcayan for 60 soles. Happy bargaining.

to/from Pampabamba

On the other end, busses leave daily from Pampabamba to Huaraz or Huaraz to Pampabamba for 30 soles. We've heard that they're a bit miserable and take upwards of 8 hours. Still, they're not a bad option.

If you make it to any towns close to Pampabamba (Jancabamba, towns east of Quishar, etc.), you should be able to get a colectivo easily into town, though prices and length will vary.

to/From Yanama and Vaqueria

We finished the trek at Yanama. This is not the normal (but a highly recommended!) end point. If you finish here or at Vaqueria, combis leave irregularly until early afternoon to Yungay. This takes 3 hours and costs 15 soles.

In reverse, they only leave from Yungay very early morning.

From Yungay there are regular collectives to Huaraz for 5 soles. These take about 1.5 hours.

Phew. That’s a lot of logistics. Here’s more:

Preparations

Altitude

If you've been reading at all about hiking aound Huaraz, you know you'll need to acclimatize to the altitude. We suggest spending one day resting in the city when you arrive followed by two or preferably three day hikes. It's then best to do a one or two night trip before attempting something longer like the Alpamayo Basecamp trek. 

Following this formula, we had absolutely no trouble. If you suffer symptoms of altitude sickness like headache, sleepiness or trouble sleeping, or dizziness, get down to a lower elevation as quickly as possible. Severe symptoms can be dangerous and will only be relieved by going down. Be aware that you may need special travel insurance to hike this high as well (up to 5000m)!

gear

You'll need to be completely self sufficient for this hike. 

It's a true backpacking trip and you'll need everything as such - a subject for a completely different post. But suffice to say you'll want all: food, cooking equipment, weather appropriate clothes, camping equipment, first aid, navigation etc. 

The first time we visited Huaraz, we bought (and later sold) all our gear in the country. We ended up selling everything for only 150 soles less than we bought it for, so it turned out to be a great deal! However, we were constantly cold and our cheap tent broke half way through.

Now we always travel with a tent and the rest of our gear. Because we came to Peru from the US, we were even able to bring a bunch of yummy food!

If that’s not you, fear not! Everything from food to gas to camping equipment to maps can be bought in Huaraz. However, it will be more expensive and lower quality than what you can get from countries in Europe or the US. 

On the other hand, if you're looking to sell old gear from home, the guide shops here are always looking for new (used) stuff, especially name brands. The import taxes are crazy, so you can sell your stuff personally for a great deal if you want to at the end of your trip.

Services

Back to the hike: there is no accommodation and few places to get food or help along the way.

water

Water, on the other hand, it plentiful. You'll need a way to purify though as there's lots of livestock.

experience

It's really not a hard hike, but we would not suggest it be the first backpacking trip you ever go on. You need to be relatively confident in backcountry terrain to be safe and happy. If you're set on giving it a go, ease in to things with other overnight hiking trips first. The Santa Cruz is probably the best in the region to get you going.

communication

There's no cell phone service on most of this trip. We carried a garmin satellite messenger/gps combo, which we used to think was a bit excessive, but really it's pretty cool. It lets you message friends and family that you're safe or call emergency services in case of SOS.

Tell someone locally and at home where you're going and when you'll be back, just in case.

maps

In terms of navigation, lots of topo maps are for sale in Huaraz, but they're fucking expensive (we're talking between 40 and 100 soles) and you need to honestly ask yourself: can you reallyyy read a topo map? Just asking.

Our suggestion would be to take a picture of a friend's - everyone at the hostels will have them. You could also print out some less detailed maps from online sources, though we found free versions difficult to locate for South America. Plenty of paid apps will do the trick though.

We can also not suggest the Pike's hiking and biking guide to The Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash enough. It has intuitive maps of this and many more treks as well and tons of information and tips. It’s really great.

Also do yourself a favor and download maps.me if you haven't already. The whole trek is marked on the map, and your phone will track you via satellite the whole way so you can tell if you're on track even offline. Bring a waterproof bag and a power bank or solar charger, though.

safety

We had no trouble with the locals along the way - everyone was very nice. We did have some unpleasant encounters with dogs though. Carry trekking poles and stay alert, especially near homesteads. God forbid - rabies shots are free in Huaraz.

cash

There are no ATMs after Caraz, so bring the money you'll need.

Costs

We love cost guides, but honestly the costs of this trip will vary widely depending on your situation. To give you an idea:

Transport

🚐

With colectives, you're looking at about 15 soles one way. If you catch a bus, 30 soles one way. Taxis will cost you significantly more.

Fees

💸

Ahh, the subject we've avoided thus far. Most of the hike is in the Parque Nacional Huscaran or PNH. Recently, tickets to the park went up stunningly. It now costs 30 soles for a day, 60 soles for 3 days, or 150 soles for one month. Because tickets are pricy and rather difficult to buy (the office in Huaraz is almost never open), we suggest waiting to buy one until someone forces you to. There are NO checkpoints along the Alpamayo Basecamp trek, we repeat NONE. However, you will almost certainly have to pay on the Santa Cruz. There are checkpoints just outside of Vaqueria and at the trailhead in Cashpampa, plus roving ticket checkers along the trek. There is also a checkpoint on the road between Chacas and Carhuaz. If your bus from Pampabamba crosses through here, you may be asked to pay. So basically, keep your money ready.

Food

🍔

Cooking fuel (butane/propane) in Huaraz is expensive, generally 20 soles for a small and 40 for a large. We did not look for other kinds of fuel in town, and are not confident anything special exists. Through a fluke of free checked bags, we brought our backpacking food from home. If you buy in town, head to the market for fruit, vegetables, nuts, candies, and the like. Pasta is very cheap and lightweight. So are oats. You won't be able to get any fancy dehydrated backpacking food here. Your food budget could vary wildly from 5 to 50 soles a day, depending on what you want to eat.

Gear

⛺️

Again, completely depends. We brought all our own stuff from home, so while this particular trip cost us nothing, we've invested nearly $500 each in our gear over the last year. Minimally, the guidebook will cost $20 and should be ordered before you get to Peru if at all possible. A map will be 30-100 soles if you want an official one. A janky set up for two could be purchased around the streets of Huaraz for 300-500 soles and you can sell it later. You can ask around gringo plaza for deals on rentals, but unless this is the only hike you'll do, it's not a good deal.

Our Itinerary

We tend to hike pretty fast. After a year on the road hiking almost constantly everywhere from Kyrgyzstan to New Zealand, we're well used to it. 

That being said, Peru is coooold, and we never got out of the tent before first light (about 7:00 AM in June). We tried to arrive to camp between 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM as we never felt like hanging around outside after dark at 6:30 PM. Instead, we found we needed to be cosied up in our down bags by then.

Days involved several short water and photo breaks and a lunch break of up to an hour, but usually much less. Our timings do not include this longer break.

If you want less (or more) intense days, adjust accordingly.

Day 1 - Cashpampa (3000m) to Huishcash (4300m)

Distance: 20km

Climb: 1600m

Descent: 300m

Time: 7 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: easy

Cashapampa is the cheapest place to start the trek, with a few caveats. 

The walk can be enjoyable, as the first part takes you from Cashpampa to Hualcayan through small villages and rolling foothills. However, we found it hot and tiring and would start from Hualcayan if we could do it over again.

Also, if your colectivo stops at Cashapampa center and doesn't continue on to the outskirts of town like ours did, you will pass a PNH checkpoint there.

If you do want to make the journey, take the Cashapampa colectivo from Caraz as far as you can (some continue all the way to the town of Huancarhuaz). You'll get out on a dusty dirt road that you can follow all the way to Hualcayan.

The hike drops significantly from Cashpampa before climbing again. There are many points where you can slide off the road and onto shortcuts, which will make your walk much faster. Most of these are marked on maps.me  and there are plenty of local villagers to ask if you're confused. However, do keep an eye on the map to avoid wandering too far off track.

It should take you about three hours to reach Huaylcayan. We hitched a ride the last few kilometers, which is highly recommended if you can manage it.

By the way, although we looked for a menu del dia along the way, alas we found none. Make sure you carry enough food for the day and don't count on finding supplies along the way.

After passing through the small town center, you'll reach a park boundary sign and a place to camp. The town charges for this luxury, so continue along the trail a little farther toward a cement resivior. If you're tired, ask the campesinos if you can camp next to it and you shouldn't have to pay any fees.

The trail starts to climb from here, zigzagging its way up the steep but grassy hillside. It's a very clear and easy path to follow, and although you may be a bit winded by the end, it's not a hard hike. Most of it is in the sun, with small patches shaded by blissful patches of quenales trees. There's plenty of water along the way, so don't feel like you need to carry too much.

There are several camping options as well, the first of which is an hour up the trail. After that, it's about two more hours to the first official campsite marked by a single red post.

At this point, you'll have the option to take a small, faint trail off to the left toward Laguna Yanacocha. This pretty little lake sits directly below the Huishcash campsite, but isn't accessible from there as far as we could tell due to steep cliff sides. 

We skipped this side trip in favor of many other pretty lakes later in the trip, and continued along the main trail toward camp. It took one more hour of a somewhat more gentle climb.

The campsite isn't great, as it's not super flat and overrun by cows. We camped a bit above it next to the small ruin of an old house. There were great views, though it was a 10 or 15 minute jaunt to get water from the main camp.

Day 2 - Huishcash (4350m) to Ruinapampa (4000m)

Distance: 12km

Climb: 700m

Descent: 1000m

Passes: Osuriri (4850m) and Ichicvientona (4750m)

Time: 6.5 hours

Navigation: easy

Trail: easy/moderate

Although this day might seem intimidating with two passes (the first one being the highest on the whole trip), they're actually quite doable, especially the second one. It's an enjoyable day with the first taste of the big mountains to come.

We chose to wake up early and walk without packs briefly up the side trail toward Laguna Yurracocha. The trail clearly splits off to the right about 15 minutes above camp. In 45 more minutes, you'll reach a lovely viewpoint of Nevada Santa Cruz, which is normally especially clear in the morning. It takes another 30 minutes to get back to camp, so the side trip will add about an hour onto your day if you decide to do it.

Optional Day Trip: If you have the time, and the weather is good, consider walking all the way to Laguna Yurracocha. It sits right below Santa Cruz, so offers some pretty incredible glacial views. The round trip takes about 6 hours, so it'll eat up most of a day if you decide to do it. The weather was not in our favor, so we skipped this trip.

Back at camp, the main trail climbs gently toward the pass. It skirts around the valley leading up to Laguna Cullicocha and the large dam there. Although it may be tempting to walk along the canal adjacent to the path, you can't follow it all the way to the dam, so stick to the path.

After the dam, water becomes scarce till close to the pass, so make sure to keep some on hand.

It takes about two hours up to this point. The path becomes faint as you pass some maintenance buildings, but follow it up to the right as it climbs over rocky ground above the left side of the lake. 

There are great views and the good path climbs higher and higher above the lake, eventually bending left to the somewhat disappointing pass. High rock walls hide the views at the pass itself, but they're lovely approaching. It should take no more than two hours and maybe closer to one, as we spent time purifying water, enjoying the views, and preparing for a very short and very odd blizzard that obscured the trail.

Until this point, there aren't many camping options. At the pass, there are several flat options, but it would be quite high to set up camp.

It's an easy descent about an hour down to Osuriri camp, which is perfectly adequate but not spectacular.

Climb for less than an hour to the next pass, which feels more like a hill than a mountain.

Then it's all down to Ruinapampa. After about an hour of switchbacks, you'll reach a junction in the trial. You can head left toward some houses to check out small ruins. There are also a few camping options at the junction.

In theory, you might be able to ask a local family for help if you need it at this point (i.e. if you busted your knee and couldn't continue walking). There's no road access but you may be able to find a horse or donkey or at least a trail out to the main road. This won't be true for all days of the trek.

We skipped this and turned right. It's 30 min more of gentle downhill to Ruinapampa. There are a million flat spots to camp next to ruins, as the name would suggest. It's not the most spectacular camp, but it's much flatter with better access to water than Huishcash.

Day 3 - Ruinapampa (4000m) to Alpamayo Basecamp (4500m)

Distance: 9km

Climb: 550m

Time: 4.5 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: easy/moderate

This easy day sees you walking up the valley toward the highlight of the trip: Alpamayo. This is the mountain with the perfect little pyramid peak. Honestly, there are many other mountains on this circuit that are just as stunning if not even more jaw dropping, but you've got to give the "prettiest mountain" its due time. 

It's a gentle meander up the valley along the right side of the valley to start. Sometimes the path becomes faint in the pampa, but it's never too hard to find again and the gentle incline means that nothing is too much of a big deal.

After 2.5 hours you'll reach Jancarurish camp, right below Gara Gara pass (which comes tomorrow). It has pretty views and a good placement, but if the weather is good keep heading up toward Basecamp. This is the camp on the north side of the mountain, which will give you a completely different view from the camp accessible from the Santa Cruz trek.

You'll turn right into the next valley, cross a small river on rocks, and head steeply up the moraine of Laguna Jancarurish. When you see a split in the path, head left up to the ridge of the moraine for good views. This takes just over an hour from Jancarurish camp.

After photos of the pearly blue lake, continue on the trail down the other side of the ridge and up switchbacks on a grassy hill. It's steep in places, but very manageable. Another hour after the lake and you'll reach Alpamayo Basecamp.

You'll camp pretty high, but the views and solitude are spectacular. Plus, it'll give you plenty of time to continue walking up the valley toward more lagunas and the other side of Santa Cruz if you wish. There are faint paths and the valley is pretty manageable even if you can't find them. Just walk toward the mountains!

Day 4 - Alpamayo Basecamp (4500m) - Laguna Safuna (4250m)

Distance: 15km

Climb: 800m

Descent: 1000m

Passes: Gara Gara (4800m) and Mesapata (4500m)

Time: 7 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: moderate/hard

The big challenge of the day is Gara Gara pass, but with that comes the absolute best views of the trip. The vista of Alpamayo is the best you'll get. Toss in a few blue lakes and it rivals the possibly slightly more spectacular but also much more popular Huayhuash circuit.

It's a quick jaunt of an hour or so from Basecamp down the same track to Jancurish. Here you'll be able to see what you're up against: the intimidating looking high alpine Gara Gara.

Ford the river on rocks and locate the well trodden donkey trail heading up the left side of the valley toward the pass. You'll climb the grassy slop on gentle zags until you reach a plateau with good views behind you. We'll be honest, it's hard not to stop every five minutes to take pictures of the terrain at your back.

Keep climbing to the next plateau and some small lakes. There's water along the way until the very top where the trail turns to scree. We didn't see any ideal campsites, but it may be possible to pitch a tent on one of the plateaues next to the lakes. It would definitely provide a lovely backdrop to dinner.

Looking forward, the pass will be slightly right of center, so watch as the trail swings you across the valley. The path becomes steep and slippery in places. When we were there, it was also extremely windy, which made it a bit difficult to keep footing.

Still, it's not overly exposed and you'll be totally fine with decent footwork. Good boots and walking poles are very helpful.

At the top, take one last look at those great views behind, and embrace the new mountains in front of you. It took us 2.5 hours to reach the top.

It's a much more mellow descent to a lovely lake about 20 minutes below the pass, with sheltered rocks and opportunities for camping. We stopped here for a nice long lunch.

Just over one more hour will take you gently down the gorgeous valley, verdant and green. There are plenty of potential camp spots but beware much of the land is boggy.

Once you make it down past the rocky outcroppings to the valley floor, you'll stick mostly to the left side of the valley on a path that fades in and out. Cross the river to the right side at the end of the descent and prepare for the easiest pass of your life.

It's only just over 100m and about 30 minutes up Mesapata "pass." On the other side, follow a clear trail down until it fades into cattle tracks. It's a gentle slope so some off roading here isn't the end of the world if you get lost.

From the top of the pass, it's about an hour to the campsite near Laguna Safuna - start  decending toward your right hand side to make the trip up the valley to the lake shorter. You'll be able to see it tucked into the mountains from the pass.

At the base of the valley you'll reach a 4x4 track that will make the walk easy. The river can be tricky to cross, though. Look for a place to hop it or suck it up and freeze your toes off in glacial water.

Optional day trip: If you want an easy but rewarding day, consider ending this day early and camping at the bottom of the pass. The next day, hike past Safuna to Llullacocha. Simply continue up the valley as far as you can go, swinging to the right at the very end to catch a glimpse of the lake (and a few others) surrounded by glaciers. It should take 4 or 5 hours round trip depending on how far you go.

There are plenty of other camp spots in the valley if you don't want to make the trip up. You could even walk another hour down the valley to your left on the 4x4 track to the small village (read: 3 houses) of Huillca.

You could in theory organize transport out of the valley as well, but it's by no means well serviced. You'd be more likely to catch a horse out to the nearest town than a collectivo from the looks of things. 

Day 5 - Laguna Safuna (4250m) to Jancacuchu (3600m)

Distance: 17km

Climb: 700m

Descent: 1400m

Pass: Yanacon (4600m)

Time: 7 hours

Navigation: moderate/hard

Trail: moderate/hard

Despite there being only one relatively low pass this day, we found it to be one of the hardest. The navigation is quite tricky, the pass steep, and the descent knee crushing.

On the plus side, good views abound from the top of Yanacon and you're reaching the finale!

Head down the valley to Huillca on the 4x4 track for about an hour and a half.

Cross the bridge and then cross the wide pampa diagonally across the path of least resistance. You're heading for the far right corner, where there's a small house built in the middle of the path.

Pass on the right side of the house, keeping the small river to your left. You'll see a lovely waterfall in a side valley on your far left as you pass the house.

The trail crosses the river a few times until you reach a wide pampa, where it all but disappears. You'll be hugging the left side of the valley at this point all the way up to the path. Navigation can be tricky, so make sure to have a map or the track on maps.me.

Look for the trail starting to climb up a small ridge on the left hand side of the valley, up and away from the pampa before it ends completely. Once you find it, you'll be able to follow a good donkey trail on switchbacks.

There's a pretty camp spot about half way up the path, if you're interested, though there wasn't a ton of water when we were there. If not, keep climbing on the clear path until it turns to scree.

Remember, the donkeys can do this. Nothing too crazy, just a bit vertigo inducing as you climb up. You're aiming for the left of a little rocky protuberance. As you get closer, you'll see there was a rock wall built to the right of it to prevent you from going on the wrong side.

Another huge, lovely mountain will come into view before you inevitably have to desend to escape the wind. It took us 3 hours to reach the pass from Huillca.

There's a short, exposed section immediately on the other side that could be tricky in bad weather. It only lasts for about 5 minutes, so grit your teeth and dig in your heels. 

Shortly after, there's a nice flat spot to rest. You'll follow a good path down the right side of the valley for another 30 minutes to a pampa. 

Here, the trail disappears and we got more than slightly lost. We would suggest sticking to the right side of the valley and avoiding Laguna Sactaycocha if you're short on time. 

There seem to be multiple possible paths through this section, so none are particularly clear or easy to locate. If you lose the path, continue bushwacking, but try to keep pushing toward the right side of the valley. You'll need to make it over there to avoid a large rocky drop off (on maps.me, aim for where the three visible trails converge). It took us an hour to find the trail again at this point.

Finally, the trail becomes much clearer. You'll drop steeply down, following along the river. There are several places to camp, but we suggest dropping all the way down (about 1 more hour) to the valley floor. 

Houses will come into view over a large pampa and there's a fabulous glacier view. Good camping exists just before the town of Jancocucho in the terraced land of old ruins, just above a large glacial river.

Day 6 - Jancacuchu (3600m) to Quishar (3900m)

Distance: 13km

Climb: 850m

Descent: 550m

Pass: Tupatupa (4400m)

Time: 4.5 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: easy

This is a really lovely day, and also an addition on to the traditional Alpamayo Basecamp Trek. 

Jancacuchu is the first town on a road en route to Jancapampa and then Pampabamba. You can easily walk a few kms until you find a colectivo to make like a baby and head out.

However, we would highly suggest adding the walk to Quishar. The pass is gradual and easy. We meandered up the big climb easily in 3 hours.

This leg is also the first step to linking the Alpamayo Basecamp trek with the Santa Cruz trek to create the Alpamayo Circuit. As we had already done the Santa Cruz, and were looking for something a bit off the beaten path, we didn't choose to link them. However, many guidebooks and blogs describe the endeavor.

Leaving camp, you'll cross the big pampa heading for the obvious town. There are a few earthen bridges, so look for those to cross the steam if you don't want to get wet.

You'll reach the road and walk for about a km. Before reaching Jancapampa you'll turn right on a small path marked on maps.me, about 30 minutes after camp. The trail is clear, meeting and crossing a small river and joining another path before making it's way up through consecutive valleys. 

2.5 hours of walking more brought us to the pass, just a normal looking hill with great, expansive views. Spend a few moments here at least exploring the ridge top.

The trail drops to a lake, where you could camp. Continue dropping on lower and lower plateaus until you reach the valley floor. 

There are several trail options, but we found it easy to stick to a clear path on the left side of the river all the way to the outskirts of Quishar, where there's good camping (1.5 hours).

Day 7 - Quishar (3900m) to Yanama (3400m)

Distance: appx 15km

Climb: appx 900m

Descent: appx 1400m

Pass: Yanagrahirca (4300m)

Time: 7 hours

Navigation: moderate

Trail: moderate

There are some very cool things about this day. It gives you the opportunity to interact with lots of local villagers. You also get the chance to explore a lively commonly used trail that's not on a lot of gringos' maps. Plus at the end, there's easy transport back to Huaraz, no PNH checkpoint, and the opportunity to connect more treks,

Unfortunately, it comes with some downsides. It involves a lot of guesswork to follow the trail, which isn't on maps.me or easy to find gps coordinates for. There are also lots of local dogs and the descent down to the river before Yanama is mind numbing oh long.

We recommend it, but be aware before beginning!

If we had to do it again and were exhausted, we might follow the road out of Quishar, past some old ruins, and head for the main highway until we met a colectivo.

But, we didn't. And for those of you who may be interested, this is how it went:

Approaching Quishar, you'll be able to see a large slash above the town heading diagonally up to the right. This is your goal.

Walk into town and ask the locals for "el Camino al Yanagrahirca para Yanama." Once you find the trail, there's no way to get off it. It's massive, a downright highway and will take you up and over the pass in no time (1 hour from Quishar and 2 from camping before the town).

Follow it clearly down for about an hour on the other side. When other side trails begin to encroach, bear left of the ridge visible ahead.

Ask campesinos directions if necessary, but again it's pretty obvious until you reach a small bog with a grove of trees. Cut sharp right around the bog and again sharp left back on the path.

The trail will begin to ebb and flow, but you’ll eventually link up with a well marked path into the proper village of Amapampa about 2 hours after the pass. The trail is marked on some topo maps, but honestly there's nothing much to do but ask locals for directions. With even a bit of Spanish you should be fine.

In Amapampa it's 3 hours to either Colcabamba or Yanama. We chose Yanama, and started heading left on the road out of town. It's pretty much six of one for either of these towns (you can get transport from either), but Colcabamba might be a slightly easier walk. We can't vouch for sure.

If you choose Yanama, walk along the road for 1 km. Ask for the trail to Yanama and you'll be rewarded with a wide trail all the way down to the river. It's a very popular route for villagers, so you'll have plenty of people to ask with questions. If you keep an eye on Yanama in the distance, it should be obious which way to go even when turn offs appear. Be warned: it's a gnarly, 2 hour descent.

At the bottom of the very steep gorge, cross the earthen bridge to the other side and begin climbing. One hour on a good, wide, popular path will bring you to Yanama and civilization.

You can either pick from one of the few accommodations in town or camp on the outskirts.

We chose to link up with one final day on the lovely Quebrada Ulta trek. More info about that later.

That’s it!

our thoughts

We’d definitely recommend this trek if you’re comfortable with multi day backpacking. There are so very many great options in this town - just figure out your budget, time, and comfort level and pick at least one!!

Got any more questions for us? We'd love to help, just shoot us a comment below.

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A love affair

It may sound cliche. Every American and their mother is obsessed with New Zealand, maybe even more than Ireland or the U.K. But we fell hopelessly, haplessly in love with the place.

I thought, in writing this, that I could pick one or two experiences that epitomized our time there. Turns out, I could not. Let’s go over just a few of the magical things that happened:

• we met Craig, perhaps the kindest Couchsurfing host in history, who took us on trips to far off coves, shared his secret pepper sauce, and generally took pity on our tired travelling bones

• we met Grace while working at our favorite little lodge in Marlborough Sounds, and we later spent a lovely few days meeting all her doctor friends, drinking wine, and baking cooking in her beautiful flat overlooking Nelson

• we met Vaughn and Tim, two Kiwi dads reuniting on a long weekend of tramping, and proceeded to finish an entire 5-day loop together (Vaughn later took our smelly selves into his home for beer and venison when we couldn’t afford Arrowtown)

• we met Aref, who along with Craig is in the running for the kindest man in the world, and saw Christchurch’s Afghani community thriving despite everything while eating cows feet and traditional bread made in a garage turned makeshift oven

• we met Hank, and later his splendid wife Melanie, who drove us all the way from Blenheim to Christchurch, let us into their cozy home, and whipped us around in their insane vintage Mini Cooper and Land Rover

• we met Kam, who gave us a much needed ride (twice), and treated us to the best Indian curry we’d had in ages so we could meet his wife and see the life they were starting in Te Anau

• we met Dustin and company, who took Stefan out deer hunting after an hour of introduction, and made us do a whole lot of thinking about sustainability and alternative ways of living

More than great

You may have noticed something about that list. New Zealand was made by all the absolutely spectacular human beings we met. Ironic, for an island so sparsely populated (yes, there are still more sheep than people, but the cow population is on the up and up too).

However, we can’t keep from addressing the fabulous natural beauty of the place. From the picture perfect Marlborough Sounds, with rolling green hills descending spectacular into blue ocean, to the white capped stunners of the Southern Alps.

We spent almost a month hiking, and none of it (except three day hikes) was on a so called “great walk.” These are the hikes NZ is most popular for. While they are spectacular, they’re also overrun with people at times and very, very expensive - we’re talking $90 a night per person to stay in a basic hut along the way.

There are many ways to see this country, more than the average traveller would have you believe: camper, car, hitch, foot. And all are completely worthwhile.

Homes Sweet Homes

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fabulous backcountry hut system in the country - Stefan’s pictured packing up in one of our favorites, Hunters hut, above.

Not many foreigners understand the vast network of huts in the country. They’re everywhere, on practically every trail you can walk, and there are a whole lotta trails.

We lived out of huts for about 40 nights in the country, all for the one time price of $90. Not a bad deal in this very expensive country.

Not fancy, but always clean, cozy, and warm, we will forever have a soft spot for our many homes. THANK YOU to all the department of conservation workers and volunteers that make the huts possible.

Maybe one day we’ll build our own little cabin in the hills;)

♡ Stef and Tor

Terminating tasmania

As our time in Australia’s loveably oddball island came to a close, we reveled in the connections we created. Tooting around in the camper of a hitch-hike-turned-friend on the Bay of Fire, hiking into the hills with our favorite Germans, and being shown the secret huts of Hobart by some very trusting locals (shh… we can’t say more).

And of course we went out with a bang, stealth camping in the forest next to the airport because our flight was early early in the morning and unfortunately the tiny Hobart Airport is not 24 hours.

A Serendipitous Arrival

We arrived in New Zealand on March 15, 2019. We landed at the airport and dozed groggily after our red eye. We watched as a Muslim couple quietly laid a mat down for Friday prayer. We grocery shopped, walked to the highway, and hitch hiked up the coast and away from Christchurch.

When we arrived in Picton, at the very north of the South Island, we heard the news. Christchurch had experienced New Zealand’s largest mass shooting in history, just hours after we had left it.

We sat shocked at the news, so familiar in the US. We applauded Jacinda Ardern and her quick action on gun control even as we talked to locals that didn’t want to give their firearms up.

It’ll be a day we forever remember, but hopefully not for the reason the gunman wished. Instead, for how we failed to keep our Muslim brothers and sisters safe. For how bad things can happen anywhere, but so can change. And how we need to come together to do better.

Post-Summer Nights

We were heading north to work for a short while at Hopewell Lodge.

If you ever go to New Zealand and don’t stay here for at least two nights, you’re doing something wrong.

It’s set in Marlborough Sounds, home to tasty wine and equally tasty mussels (though these were infected with a dangerous algae bloom while we were there 😢).

We had a marvelous time learning to take care of chickens and clean industrial kitchens, all while making lots of quiche, going for daily bike rides and kayak tours, and watching the stars in the hot tub.

Not too shabby.

The South Island By Foot

April will see a return to walking. Less home cooked meals, but more mountains. Ah, the trade offs we make.

Cheers to that.

♡ Stef and Tor

Accepting Defeat

After what felt like ages in Myanmar, we decided to terminate our time in Southeast Asia. We’ve had brilliant times in the region, but it can begin to feel stifling. What with the heat and the tourists, it’s taxing to get remote and banal to remain on the beaten path.

Now, it is well worth a trip. A long, slow one where you can fully take in the myriad of possibilities and cultures.

But for us, it was time to head back into the woods. And that meant it was time to get the fuck away from the equator.

Unfortunately, this meant doing the unthinkable: changing our flight with a budget airline.

Although we like to keep our plans flexible, we do plan and we do budget. That means booking a few flights in advance, the only realistic way to get rock bottom prices (US to Europe for $89 anyone? Or how about New York to Lima for $200?).

Unfortunately, if you renege on those most basic of basic economy flights, you get absolutely nothing back and have to book a completely new flight. We sucked this up (for the first time this year) with as much humility as we could muster.

Searching for WiFi

Because of our last minute decision to change continents, we had a week to kill. As we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur, we decided to spend it in Penang, home of wildly famous street art and food.

Turns out both of those things are abundant and awesome. Malay food is an interesting mix of Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian. We ate many curries and noodles and soups and only got a little ill (unusual for us in Southeast Asia). There were also some spectacular Chinese New Year celebrations and gnarly hot air balloon shows.

Another big goal of the week was to get some work done (writing and planning for the future). Wouldn’t you think that the most popular tourist destination in Malaysia has decent wifi? Well, you’d be wrong. That plan certainly didn’t come to fruition, but we did enjoy our hostel and its pool. $4 was never such good value.

Fighting Fire

So where were we planning to go after our untimely exodus?

Tasmania.

Yes, home of the Tasmanian Devil, although we did not see one.

This little-explored island is the only place we’ve travelled in Australia, and we bloody loved it. It’s rural and coastal and mountainous, with lovely people and some of the best access to the outdoors on the continent.

Unfortunately, it was also on fire. With unprecedented summer temperatures, much of the bush was burning. This meant that we couldn’t do some of the hikes we wanted, but we had an absolutely brilliant time in and around the South Coast Track, Bay of Fires, and Walls of Jerusalem National Park. We saw many snakes, only nearly got bitten once (yes, Stef walks tracks with poisonous snakes in sandals), and enjoyed our time in the boonies immensely.

We actually had to walk the South Coast Track twice (out and back), which took about two weeks, as our original exit plan was consumed in flames and we couldn’t afford the $200 light aircraft ride that everyone else takes. Ah, the joys of being on a budget.

Hitch hiker’s Guide to Tasmania

Some of our favorite times in Tassie were spent hitch hiking. The island is absolutely wonderful for this, the best experience we’ve had anywhere.

We caught rides with fabulously interesting people, most of whom were completely different than us. Hitch hiking puts you in a very interesting predicament where you must be engaged, grateful, and open to every single human you meet. Driver says something you whole heartedly disagree with? Better figure out how to have a respectful, open dialogue real quick. This is a lesson that many people we know (especially Americans) could desperately use right now.

It’s sometimes hard and sometimes you have to put your foot down regarding your safety or the safety of those you care about. But the humility that this sort of travel begets and the opportunity it provides to meet not-so-like-minded people and see their flaws and their points of view as well as their generosity, is unparalleled.

You’d be surprised how many disapproving looks we get on the side of the road. Or maybe you wouldn’t, because you’ve given them out before. One of these day’s we’ll write up a big long article about the joys, triumphs, sadness, and lessons that we’ve gained this year, sitting in the back seat of a stranger’s car.

But for now, we’ll just tell you this: if you see hitch hikers, and you are able to muster up the courage, pick them up. And if you can’t, smile and wave and don’t judge that which you don’t understand. Just as we try to do on the other end.

Cheers!

♡ Stef and Tor

Most people fly into Myanmar, and for good reason. Relatively cheap flights are possible to come by, especially from Thailand. We’re talking around $50 from Bangkok to Yangon on Thai Lion, Nok, or Air Asia.

Plus, and this is a big plus, it makes it MUCH EASIER to handle visas if you fly in. The country is just opening to tourism and has some tricky regulations (and border guards that seem to do whatever the hell they want half the time). We saw one woman get turned away, told that she would need to enter via air in her particular situation.

For us, using United States passports, we were able to enter at this border with a relatively simple eVisa. However, please make sure you check the situation out online first and note that this is not true for all land borders and nationalities.

If you can navigate it, the crossing at Mawaddy will save you a bit of money, as well as give you the flexibility to arrive when you wish.

Here goes:

Thailand to Myanmar

We had an easy border crossing with few snags. That being said, our trip was made in January 2019 and things may change. Below is the full story and tips to make the journey smoother.

Leaving from Bangkok

We started our journey in Thailand’s capital, but it’s completely possible to begin in a variety of other places in Thailand.

Busses leave Bangkok from Mo Chit, the biggest bus station to the north of the city. You can metro easily and get off either at Bang Sue, Mo Chit, or Chatuck Park (by the big weekend market). It’s a bit of a walk from some of the stations there and if it’s late the park will be closed and you’ll have to walk around it, so take note it could take longer than you think.

You’re looking for a bus to Mae Sot, the border town on the Thai side. There are a few different counters selling tickets on the ground floor near the main entrance, so ask around.

There seem to be plenty of late at night options (our goal was to get an overnight bus). We took one at 22:00 in “2nd” class, which was very comfortable, for 290 baht each. It stopped a few times, but it’s possible to sleep relatively well for the 8 hour journey. The trip may take less time during the day, or if you get an express bus.

There’s free working WiFi at Mo Chit, but not on any busses we found. 

Reaching the Border from Mae Sot

When you arrive in Mae Sot, you’ll be about 5 km from the Friendship Bridge where you need to go for immigration proceedings.

Honestly, we should have walked it, but instead we took a song thaew (the little shared mini busses). We’re fairly certain it should be 20 baht a ticket (which is still expensive for the length of trip), but everyone on ours paid 50 baht, which felt like a huge rip off. Bastards. 

Crossing into Myanmar at Mawaddy

Thai immigration is easy, though make sure to keep your departure card (which you received when you arrived in the country) and fill it out. Thai officials will check to make sure you have the documents required to enter Myanmar before they allow you to stamp out.

After you do, you’ll walk across the bridge to Myanmar.

On the other side, they’ll help you fill out an arrival card or at least give you a pen (it’s free, don’t pay of course). An officer will take your photo and put a stamp in your passport after checking your visa.

You’ll need to have your visa printed out and ready to go - a couple copies would be smart actually as this country loves its paper trail. You need a photocopy of your passport also, so try to have that on hand - there are places around the border, but they’ll charge more. Indeed you’ll need many more shortly.

Immigration was extremely easy and no questions were asked, not about funds or proof of onward travel. This may be a bit variable, however, depending on your immigration officer and nationality. Check and recheck the regulations online and be sure of your responsibilities before you go.

On the other side, it’s possible to buy a SIM card, but we chose to wait till Yangon. If you turn left after arriving, you should be able to find a cafe or hotel with WiFi if you need it. 

Onward Travel

It’s possible to get a bus to a variety of places from the border, the easiest being Hpa An, followed by the transport hub that is Bago. We chose to take a longer bus to Yangon.

Getting to Yangon

Around town, people will try to sell you a mysterious “bus” to Yangon. We think most of these offers are for mini busses and we got them down to 12,000 kyat.

We chose to walk out a little farther to the bus station (marked on the map), though, thinking we’d save money. That did not exactly happen.

Here, they charged 14,000 kyat for an extremely nice AC bus with huge and comfy seats.

Honestly, we were surprised it wasn’t cheaper as we thought it’d be 10,000 kyat, skipping the middle man and going straight to the source. It wasn’t, at least for us, and we tried bargaining for 30 minutes.

You’ll also need 5 - count ‘em FIVE - passport copies for each checkpoint along the way. This never again happened to us on a bus in Myanmar, but we asked every single person on the bus that spoke English and they all insisted it was true? Scam to get you to buy more photocopies at the border? Maybe. But, have them ready to go and it shouldn’t matter.

Although the bus is comfortable, the road isn’t nearly as good as Thailand. It will be slow and bumpy going for awhile. It’ll make stops for the toilet, gas, food, and even ‘exercise,’ which consisted of us walking over a bridge.

The meals looked extremely tasty, though we were feeling a bit green at first and skipped them. Similar to daal baht in Nepal, you can have virtually unlimited portions of white rice, but here it was served with about 7 salads, soup, chili paste, and a huge bowl of green veg. The one we saw cost 2,500 kyat.

It was 5 hours to Hpa An and another 6 hours to Yangon, although the roads improve and you’ll stop again for food.

Arriving in Yangon

The bus station is to the north of the city near the airport. If you walk to the end of the road, you can get share taxis to Sule Pagoda in the center of town.

Don’t let the taxis talk you out of it. They run at most hours of the day. It’s 1,000 kyat a head and takes about 45 minutes in traffic to get into town.

From there, it’s a doable 10 - 30 minute walk to most of the best hostels in town!

Have you crossed the border or dealt with Myanmar’s immigration? Let us know if our guide was helpful, offer updates, and suggest improvements in the comments below!

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On a Beach in Hawaii

We eased in to 2019 with much appreciated family time on the Big Island. Before this year, we’d never have dreamed that we could afford the most expensive state. But, after visiting places like Scotland and Norway on less than a shoestring, the island doesn’t seem nearly so daunting anymore. Hitch hike, utilize local farms and gardens for produce, ignore the limited police force and stealth camp on remote beaches: we wish we would have stayed longer to try some of this out. Of course, if you want to go cushy, those $9 gallons of milk can be a real doozy…

Entering Controversy

Hawaii happened to be conveniently placed for an easy route back to Asia. Our main goal there (and why we decided to go back even after a nasty mosquito sidelined Stef for almost a month) was to visit Myanmar. This country, known under colonial rule as Burma, just recently opened to tourism. And even more recently was internationally condemned for the genocide occurring there, which targets the Rohingya Muslim minority.

There is no danger for tourists. The government makes sure of that, and much more, with bothersome regulations. No homestays. No couchsurfing. No unregistered busses. No camping. It’s a pain in the ass to deal with their bureacuracy.

After a lot of thought, we decided to visit the country, despite the crisis. This was based off of the opinion that sanctions don’t often work and a desire to see and meet and understand the people that make up the troubled country. That was our decision, but we’d certainly understand those that want to stay well clear.

Accepting the Whirlwind

All in all, our time in Myanmar did not go according to plan. Stuck on long busses to far off destinations, we rarely slept in a bed. When we did, they were overpriced or hard to come by. This country may be less explored than the rest of Southeast Asia, but there’s a definitive tourist trail and it’s harder to break free.

That being said, we met some lovely locals who were happy to interact with us and ate an absolute boatload of (very cheap) noodles. People give the country slag for its cuisine, but the Shan Noodles and other bowls of glutinous goodness were a highlight for us.

And of course the Temples of Bagan, the country’s signature attraction, really are spectacular.

Deserted Beaches

The end of January was spent in our favorite portion of Myanmar, the otherworldly Dawei peninsula. Beaches abound, with very few people and crystal clear water. Being Myanmar, it can be a logistical nightmare to actually get to said beaches. However, we think it was worth the nights spent hiding from cops in our bright red tent.

Here’s to more noodles next month.

♡ Stef and Tor

The Diagnosis

You may have heard it through the grapevine: Stefan did what all travelers hope they won’t do and contracted a mosquito-born illness. Thankfully, it wasn’t Malaria, but Dengue Fever. This painful tropical disease sent him home, in case his poor little immune system couldn’t handle the drop in blood cells (spoiler: it could).

The plus side? We got to spend a lot of time with our oft-neglected family:)

Before, there were Bubbles

The Philippines wasn’t entirely a bust, though. In fact, not at all. We finally broke the bank a few times and experienced some really breathtaking scuba dives. It’s us we’re talking about, remember. When we say “broke the bank,” we mean we spent under $20 a dive, making it some of the cheapest in the world.

Highly recommend the diving on Malapascua Island, where you can see the friendly (but still intimidating) thresher sharks. We write more about that, here.

Tori the Flower Child

Well, not quite. But she did concede to meditate once or twice.

We spent much of December learning to love small communes of travelers that have made their homes on the islands. There are a lot of expats, probably thanks to the lovely tropical location and the prevalence of English.

It turns out that if you look on Workaway hard enough, you can find opportunities to hang out and/or do art in exchange for free accommodation. This chill lifestyle is very unlike us, but it’s a great way to embrace the islands and get to know some communities (local and foreign alike) better.

We had a blast. Shoutout to Tinkerbell, our favorite, gender-bending cat.

A New Year

Post Christmas, we’ll be heading back to Asia. For now, some must needed rest and recuperation.

♡ Stef and Tor

Yangon is a quieter version of a big, Asian metropolis. The city still pulses, with the squeals of chickens at the market and the gurgle of stalled transmissions stuck in stagnant traffic. You’ll likely start your journey in Myanmar here, and it’s worth it to take a few moments to let the city sink in. Its sparkling pagodas and underrated food are worth further examination.

Quick and Dirty

In a Phrase

A big city with pockets stuck in the colonial (and otherwise) past.

How long?

A day. Or two, if you use it as a transit hub.

favorite + Least Favorite

The walkability of the main attractions. And at-times stifling traffic.

Hidden Gem

Some lovely modern art.

Recommended Daily Budget

50,000 kyat per pair.

WHAT TO DO

6:00AM Yawn your way off the bus/plane (14000-25000 kyat PER PAIR)

There’s good public transport into the city. You should be able to find a seat in a minivan heading to Sule Pagoda for 1000 kyat a head or flag a public bus down for 200 kyat. The journey will take about an hour either way.

Then check into a hostel in the downtown. This is the area surrounding Sule Pagoda, either toward the riverfront or near Chinatown. There are tons of places to choose from, and the hostels actually seem to be the cheapest option for once, because most guest houses are geared toward higher paying clients. That being said - Myanmar does not have the cheapest accommodation in the world, especially compared to neighboring countries.

We stayed at Lil Yangon, which was pretty clean and comfortable with good showers, capsule beds, and nice staff. However, they can definitely be sneaky bastards. We saw them try to pull a two-for-one trick with multiple guests, where they tried to get couples/friends to sleep in one bed and pay full price. Nothing serious, but annoying.

Most places offer decent breakfasts which is a good way to start the day saving money.

9:00AM Help the locals (0 kyat PER PAIR)

If you’re sitting in the lobby of Lil Yangon long enough, you may be approached by teachers at the local English school. Spend 15 minutes or two hours talking to the students there. You’ll get to know more about Burmese culture, which can be hard to come by otherwise (English isn’t too widespread, especially as you get more rural).

11:00AM FIND some local fruit or art (0-5000 kyat PER PAIR)

Afterwards, wonder Strand Street and the surrounding alleys. There are plenty of markets with fresh fruit, fish, and veg and lots of smiling faces. Many of the buildings are old colonial relics rotting away. There’re also several dope contemporary art galleries to check out, including River Gallery and Lokanat, just one street apart. These two will advertise many others in the city.

1:00PM See your first pagoda (0-5000 kyat PER PAIR)

Continue walking up along Strand St to Botahtaung Pavillion. They charge to enter, but you can walk around the outside and look at the monks frolicking. Plus, the walk to the Pagoda over to the train station takes you past some very non-touristy streets. Skip this if you’re short on time or if you’ve already been to too many pagodas to count.

2:00PM Slurp some noodles (2000-10000 kyat PER PAIR)

For lunch, check out 999 Noodle House, made famous by the New York Times, or wander the streets next door and look for any packed stall. Noodles will set you back about 1000 kyat at the local spots and you can get snacks for as little 300 kyat. Burmese curries are also popular on the streets, but we always preferred the noodles:)

3:00PM Take the slow train (400 kyat PER PAIR)

From the train station, you can take the circle line for only 200 kyat around the city to see some of suburban life. This tiny little train is a very slow version of public transport for the outer reaches of the suburbs. It’s become quite touristy, but it’s still a great deal and will help you beat the heat.

The whole circle wasn’t open when we were there, which was admittedly kind of lame. If you’ve taken one too many overnight busses/trains in Southeast Asia, maybe think twice. But it’s a lovely, serene look into local life. Be warned - it’ll take a couple hours.

If you get a chance, stop by the train station before lunch to check out the timings. Sometimes there’s an hour or so between each departure.

6:00PM Take in the Pagoda to end all pagodas (0 - 20000 kyat PER PAIR)

You can get off the train on one of the western stations, which will leave you a mile or two away from Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the biggest temple complexes in the country. It’s 10,000 kyat to enter for foreigners, which honestly seemed a bit steep to us. However, you can loiter around the entrances and see a lot of what’s inside.

Who knows, you might even find someone willing to give you their entrance sticker as they leave.

If you’re not in moral opposition, don’t go in the foreigner-only entrance pavilions, but head up the stairs as far as they’ll let you go and then walk around the complex through gardens and small buildings. We found a back entrance that wasn’t guarded with the normal hoards of employees and scuttled into the main sites for a few minutes.

Regardless, there’s lots to see inside and out and it’s a cool little community surrounding the main area. You’ll want to spend a few hours.

Try to catch the sunset, but make sure you see at least some of it during the daylight.

9:00PM Seek out the (limited) nightlife (2000 - 10000 kyat PER PAIR)

This isn’t the most happening town at night (which is probably good, because knowing Myanmar, you very well may visit the city after an exhausting overnight bus). However, we’d head to Chinatown, which is quite vibrant. 19th street is famous for bbq, but the surrounding alleys have cheaper dimsum and noodle shops, which are delicious. Check out inexpensive and yummy bubble tea shops for a more relaxing environment. An inventive drink shouldn’t cost more than 2,000 kyat.

Daily Spending: 18,400 kyat - 75,400 kyat per pair

Got your own recommendations or updates? Let us know in the comments!

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They told us it would be cheap, but we didn’t believe them. Turns out, they don’t lie. The Philippines is 100% the cheapest country we’ve been to in Southeast Asia.

It was hard to conceptualize what prices in the Philippines were going to be like. And it’s true that they can waver vastly between rural villages and posh resorts. However, if you’re on a budget, you can almost always find decent deals. Here’s a handy guide to some common necessities.

 Rooms

🏠

Single bed: 300 pesos

Cheap Double: 400 pesos

Rooms are decent in the Philippines. Unfortunately, on almost all the islands, there are some people that will be paying a premium for absolutely gorgeous resorts. That draws the prices up a bit and makes it seem like you’re getting a deal when you’re really sleeping on a shoddy bunk bed in someone’s spare room. Don’t fall for the trap: think about what you’re paying for and what it’s worth to you.

This is also one of those places where hostels are few and far between. They exist in the cities, of course, but we tried to avoid those during our stay. We had the best luck asking locals for the cheapest room in town or scouring Agoda for something on sale.

Of course, camping (or hammocking) is free.

Ferries

⛵

Short Ferries: 100 pesos

Overnight Ferries: 400 pesos

Transport between islands can add up, but it’s extraordinarily reasonable if you do it right. Because the entire country is full of islands, it means that normal Filipinos have to ride the ferries themselves. As long as you choose local boats, they won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Shorter trips are more standard, anywhere between 60 and 100 pesos for trips under and hour. Longer trips start getting messy. They can be completed on fast ferries or slower cargo ships. Overnight journeys on the big cargo boats are very comfortable (beds and calm seas). They won’t even cost more than a decent room. You can usually get em for between 300 and 700 pesos, depending on the length of trip. Of course, super-long-haul journeys will set you back a bit more.

Rumor has it, you can try to hitch short rides with fisherman. We’re ashamed to say we didn’t try, but would love to hear more about it!

Busses

🚐

Price Per Hour: 50 pesos

Aircon Minimum: 50 pesos

Much of the Philippines (at least the islands around Cebu where we explored) has a brilliant system of busses. These busses, run by the company Ceres, come in standard and aircon varieties. They have bus stations where you can easily choose a port labeled clearly with a destination or they’ll pick you up on the side of the road.

Either way, they’ll give you a ticket with a fair price. Standard busses are usually about 50 pesos per hour. Aircon busses will run you a bit more, between 20 and 60 pesos depending on the length of the trip. Do note that aircon busses usually have price minimums, so short rides can end up costing more than they should.

Tricycles

🚴

Short Trip: 5 pesos

Across Town: 20 pesos

Trikes are the Philippines’ answer to tuktuks. They’re motorbikes with small carts attached. Sometimes they’re public, especially to and from popular destinations and sometimes you’ll get them all to yourself. You’ll get similar prices from motos, if not a bit cheaper.

Jeepneys

🚗

Across town: 5 pesos

Per hour: 20 pesos

These are not only the creme de la creme of public trans in the Philippines, they’re also quintessential to the culture. Some people complain about them, but we thought they were great. Sometimes just called Jeeps, more often Jeepneys, these mini busses are open air and brightly painted affairs. You can’t miss them.

They’re not the most comfortable, but they’re super cheap and it’s fun to ride with the locals.

Beer

🍺

1L Red Horse: 80 pesos

Beer is pretty cheap in the Philippines, if not the tastiest. And oh do the local’s love it. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find Red Horse, the local nosh, for 80 pesos. Grocery stores are your best best, not corner shops. It’s about 100 pesos in local restaurants. There’s also San Miguel, which a bit tastier and slightly lower percentage. It’ll run you marginally more at some establishments.

Rum

🍹

1L Tanduay Rhum: 90 pesos

That’s right, one liter of rum is the same price as one liter of beer. Coincidentally, it’s about the same price as a liter of coke. Do with that what you may. If you’re wavering, the locals will certainly get you drunk sooner or later.

Dives

🌊

Normal Dive with Rental: 1200 pesos

Dives are very reasonable on the islands. In popular spots, a good starting point is about 1200 pesos, but this may not include errant reef or environmental fees. The very cheapest we found was 800 pesos for a beach dive. Well worth the splurge if you can manage it.

If you bring your own mask, of course, snorkeling is totally free!

Check out some of the Philippines’ best nooks and crannies.

(and honestly lots of other places too)

Moped Rental

🚲

Daily Rental: 200 pesos

1L Gas: 50 pesos

Moped rentals require a bit of haggling. You can either get them from many touters nears ports/airports or often from your lodging. Most people start by asking north of 300 pesos per day, but if you can get it down to 200 pesos you should feel pretty good about yourself.

We did find some varying qualities in mopeds (gas mileage and shitty breaks on our cheapest rental) so take not before you buy. We had absolutely no trouble with scams, though. Everyone we worked with was extremely helpful.

SIM Card

📱

SIM Card: Free

1G Data: 300 pesos

If you go with one of the big providers like globe, you should be able to find their SIM cards for free. You can then add packages depending on how much data you want and for how long. We just needed a bit of data and no calling, so we chose 1.5G for 30 days at 300 pesos. These companies love offering promos, so you might get a better deal or more data on a specific app like Instagram.

Globe’s data worked just fine for us. Note they have proper stores in most malls which are super helpful.

Water

🚰

1L Refill: 3 pesos

There is FABULOUS access to filter water in the Philippines. Most towns have streets lined with self-serve jugs where you can fill for about 3 pesos per liter. There’s absolutely no reason to buy bottled water here so bring a jug.

If you’re super cheap, you can often get free refills at even the simplest restaurants.

Prepared Food

🍗

Rotisserie Chicken: 180 Pesos

Veg Main: 20 Pesos

Portion Rice: 10 Pesos

Small Pastry: 2 Pesos

Although not the food capital of the world, the Philippines has some decent options. Cheap restaurants abound, and this is one of those countries where cooking pasta at the hostel will cost you more than eating at the local digs.

Our absolute favorite was the roast chicken, which is filling and delicious. Small establishments with spits are everywhere, but the freshness can vary. Look for pork belly there too.

Bakeries are a mixed bag, but the Filipinos love them. Beware all bread is sugary - even the chicken filled ones. We had good success with muffins, chocolate buns, and banana bread. Items start at 2 - 5 pesos and go up from there.

Most cheap Filipino restaurants will have a smorgasbord of dishes to choose from. One portion of vegetables is normally about 20 pesos, but it may take two to fill you, plus at least one portion of rice. Meat and seafood are marginally more expensive. Try soups for the best value.

Groceries

🍌

Bananas: 20-40 pesos/kilo

Eggs: 5 pesos each

We stuck to mostly fruit at the markets, although we made the occasional stir fry and scrambled egg. Roadside prepared food is just so cheap and easy. Hint: pasta is definitely not the way to go here. Plus, the store bought sauce is awful.

Rice is by far cheaper, although we never bothered cooking a whole pot just for the two of us. You can sometimes buy pre-made noodles from ladies on the side of the road in small quantities. We paid about 30 pesos for four portions to add to our stir fry.

Fruit isn’t always as cheap as you may think. Bananas are the best bet, ranging from 20 - 40 pesos per kilo depending on the size. Mangoes can be as much as 120 pesos per kilo, but if you’re lucky you can get them for 80 ppk or less if they’re on the ugly side.

Find this information helpful? Got any updates? Let us know!

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