Before New Year begins, we think it’s a good timing to look back and review the second part of our journey. HighlightsThis was always the most difficult question to answer when we conversed with fellow travelers. Honestly, the highlights were plentiful, which is not especially surprising, as we had tried our best to pick all cherries while planning our backpacking trip. Here is our selection in pictures. PlanningIf comparing backpacking with touring by bicycle, we quickly realized that travelling by public transportation and depending on lodging involved much more organization on the spot. We spent quite a bit of time looking for accommodation options, bus routes and supermarkets! By now, we enjoy “genius status” at booking.com :-) and we agree if someone states that travelling is not to be confused with being on vacation. Sometimes, we seriously grew tired of planning! Here, we fairly also have to admit, that we do not fit into the common description of a backpacker on his gap year. We have too much of a precise idea what we want to experience at a destination, too much money to keep always looking for the cheapest deals and we are too old to newly discuss the world all over again while staying at hostels. Means of transportationHaving taken buses in India, we were prepared for a very basic service when starting our backpacking travels in South America. However, we were surprised by the quality of long-distance buses and their booking system in Peru! Tickets could be bought online, paid for by credit card and the comfort inside the buses was significantly better than flying business class and even meals were served. In contrast, organizing tickets and finding bus companies in Chile and Argentina was more difficult (and surely more expensive, especially as foreigners sometimes pay up to double the price than locals). Sitting in a bus for more than 12 hours was soon a routine and made our flight home suddenly appear short. One of our best recipes to kill time on a bus was to listen to BBC's audio book "A History of the World in 100 Objects", which we highly recommend. FoodOne of our biggest gastronomical surprise in South America was the bread. Maybe our expectations were low, having accustomed to toast bread during our months cycling, but we felt exhilarated by the offered variety! Another fantastic custom, according to us, is the daily lunch menu, which is served throughout Peru, Bolivia and Chile. For an affordable price, fresh set meals of three courses are served. The food is traditional, but a great opportunity to try local specialties. As for the meat and wine, of course, Argentina was heaven. In general, we enjoyed eating out as much as we did cooking for ourselves. The big difference to the food at home was naturally the price: often, it was more expensive to buy our meals at the (super-)market than eating at a restaurant. SafetyWe consider ourselves very lucky with no loss or theft to declare for our entire nine months journey! The only exception is a handful of caramel sweets, that a boy took out of our backpacks while "guarding" them during a lorry hitch-hike ride in Peru! If we recall, what he could have taken instead and without us noticing, we think this is rather "sweet"... Neither did we feel threatened or unsafe at any moment. However, we had also been weary and attentive constantly. Fabienne felt utterly relieved when she could cease wearing the money belt and loose these optical 3 kg of weight :-). Also in this aspect, we appreciate the comfort of our home country! Back home
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