Curious if anyone has had any experience with doing a hiking trip down to the Amazon or something of that nature? I've looked online for a lot of these things like hiking through Machu Picchu and those type of things but they seem crazy expensive! I want to find something that isn't going to break the bank and would be more camping outside and being out with nature and not so much hiking from one hotel to another.. I'm also not against just doing something in the USA but I really would like to do something abroad this summer. Any suggestions or personal experience with this would be awesome! Also, probably will be going at this alone since most of my friends don't have the money or the time to get outta the country for a week+ so not sure if that comes into play for these things.
i took my first solo camping/hiking road trip last year. i hit a lot of the state parks in southwest texas. unfortunately my timing sucked because it was during the government shutdown. so i didn't spend any time at Big Bend NP even though i stayed a couple of nights at Big Bend Ranch SP. it was a great experience. you meet some great people along the way. if you're shy and introverted it really gets you out of your comfort zone. i'd love to do one out of the country eventually too. the only thing i can really add is better be prepared for the elements. don't underestimate how easy it is to get lost on your own. maybe even take some sort of survival course.
Have you considered Alaska? The wife and I went there last year and it was incredible. Scenery was crazy and there's wildlife everywhere. We flew into Anchorage, then drove down to Seward, then spent some time fishing in Kenai and Homer. If we had more time, would have also liked to head north and check out Denali and Mt McKinley. A few highlights: - hiking up to the Harding icefield - run-in with a black bear during a hike - moose all over the place - regular humpback and orca sightings during boat tour of Kenai Fjords - watching and hearing glaciers "calving" (i.e. crumbling and cracking) up close - catching massive halibut out near Homer
Going to Machu Picchu is not that expensive if you plan properly. Depending on what kind of airfare price you can get to Lima, once there a trip to Machu Picchu should not cost more than $500 per person. Another thing about hiking around the Sacred Valley in Peru is you need a permit in order to hike the Inca trail. There are only so many permits given each year and they are usually gone by spring.
We only stayed like 4 or 5 days. I think total cost was around $2k per person, but you can cut a lot of corners depending on where you want to stay, do, and see.
Any ideas where to find this 500$ per person ? So far I've only found things that are $1,100+ not including airfare.. seems kinda pricey to just have me follow a guide through the woods for 5 or 6 days.
I nearly shat myself. Going uphill on the trail, went around a corner and it was about 30 feet away in some brush on the right. I yelled out "oh sheet" and turned and nearly ran over the wife. She told me to stop being b**** and calmly talked the bear down for about 30 seconds before it lost interest and walked away. Scary thing was that it was early and we were like the only ones on the trail.
You want a cheap outdoor adventure? <iframe id="dit-video-embed" width="640" height="360" src="http://snagplayer.video.dp.discovery.com/856667/snag-it-player.htm?auto=no" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
You can book online for airfare from Lima to Cusco. Air Peru and Star Peru are much more affordable than LAN and Taca. I just found $270 round trip between Lima and Cusco. From Cusco you can catch a train round trip to MP for $85. http://www.starperu.com/en/index.html http://www.peruvian.pe/en https://www.perurail.com/index.php You can go on Trip Advisor and find a decent hotel room in Cusco. I wouldn't recommend staying overnight in Aguascalientes (the town outside of MP). I would recommend catching the early, early train to MP. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294314-Cusco_Cusco_Region-Hotels.html I stayed at Hotel Unumizu. Do NOT stay there. The rooms are decent, but the noise at night from the surrounding buildings is too !@#$ing loud. When I was living in Lima and had family come visit, I would try and plan the trip for only 3 days in Cusco/Sacred Valley. It is awesome the first time, the second tme is still ok. My gripe with the Sacred valley is that the best way to explore it would be by car with a guide, but that is way too expensive. It's not impossible to find a good guide who offers a reasonable price but very rare. Most of the time it's group tours and some are good, but more often than not they're fair to bad. And anyway, Arequipa is a much better place to visit and relax. Lots of things to do and not so crowded with tour groups herding foreigners from one place to the next.
i said "a lot" which was actually 4 in 7 days: Seminole Canyon, Big Bend SR, Fort Davis, and Enchanted Rock. you can't go wrong with Big Bend especially if you can get a site right along the Rio Grande. but i think one of the most underrated parks is Seminole Canyon. if you make it out there try to do so when they're giving guided tours for the petroglyphs. and if you really want seclusion, that's the place.
Want some adventure, along with some great jazz, blues, and world music? Go to Kaslo, British Columbia, for the Kaslo Jazz Etc. Summer Music Festival! A buddy of mine, a native Texan who moved to BC many years ago, and is now a dual citizen, started it over 20 years ago (has it been that long? Damn!). It's on the 3 day Canadian Labor Day weekend, generally the first weekend in August. The scenery is stunning, the setting of the festival couldn't be more picturesque, and there are countless things to do in the area. Hot springs, both "civilized" and in the mountains in places that you just have to know about to find, places that the locals go to. Terrific parks all over the place. Kaslo sits on a small peninsula that juts into Kootenay lake, much of which looks like a Norwegian fjord (and I've been to Norway), with high mountains on both sides. The festival is like a big party, with limited attendance. The stage floats on the water, and the musicians hang out on a tethered houseboat before going on. It's like a natural amphitheater with remarkable acoustics. Here's a couple of pictures and the link. No, it isn't the Amazon, or Peru, but it's a great time in a remote area north of Nelson, BC. We fly into Spokane, rent a car, and drive up to the village. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Visitor Info Kaslo, it has been said, is the little Switzerland of Canada. With its towering, snowy crags and beautiful isolated beaches, Kaslo is fast becoming a world-wide hit in the tourist industry while still maintaining its small-town atmosphere. The town of Kaslo is nestled on the western shore of magnificient Kootenay Lake and sheltered between the spectacular Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges. Seen here (image above) from Mount Buchanan on a warm summer’s day, looking South down Kootenay lake, one understands why Kaslo provides such a unique venue for the annual Summer Jazz Festival. Kaslo’s location in southeatsern British Columbia is about a 9 hour drive from Vancouver, BC; about 4 hours from Spokane; about 5 hours from Kelowna; 1.5 hours from Castlegar; and about 7.5 hours away from Calgary. Directions Kaslo is a pretty village with an abundance of Victorian architecture that echoes back to the sunshine days of the British Empire. The people of Kaslo consider their “Victorian Village” a special place – rich in history, strong in spirit, spectacular in location. It offers those who live here a quality of life others can only envy. Kaslo is a self-contained community possessing a complete range of retail outlets and essential services. These include a college extension campus, a hospital, a manned RCMP station, Provincial and Municipal government services, not to mention the best-looking downtown core area to be found anywhere in a village of this size. http://www.kaslojazzfest.com/v3/
