Oct 21- Nov 3 Hotel San Roque
·Cartagena, Colombia
N 10º 25.360’ ·$35,000 pesos ($17.50 USD) for a double with fan
W 75º 32.653’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Street parking- but we were waiting for our truck on the ship so we didn’t really have to worry about it.
·Private bathrooms
In a cheap part of town (a bit dicey at night) but only a minutes walk to the old town. Very friendly receptionist, but owner lady not very friendly. Clean and pleasant- much cleaner than surrounding hostels. Laundry service. Small kitchen with communal fridge. Two blocks from Plaza Trinidad, where all the locals and travelers hand out every night of the week- cheap and delicious street food. Hotel was the best deal we found in the whole town.
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Nov 4 Camping at the Caciques Hotel
·Curumani, Colombia
N 09º 12.012’ ·$10,000 pesos ($5 USD) for camping in parking lot
W 73º 32.805’ ·No internet
·Parking included
·Public bathrooms
Small truckstopish type town, but nice little hotel with pool and restaurant. Good chicken plate. No hot water or soap in bathrooms.
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Nov 5-6 Hotel Alcantuz
·San Gil, Colombia, Carrera 11 No. 10-15 Tel: (097) 724-3160 hotelalcantuz@hotmail.com
N 06.5517º ·$40,000 ($20 USD) room with double and single bed and fan
W 73.1326º ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking in garage around the corner $7,000 pesos ($3.50 USD) per night
·Private bathroom
Clean modern hotel with cable TV, beds and pillows were rather firm, but still comfortable. Had to pay extra $5,000 ($2.50 USD) for hot water, and extra for AC (but it is cold there, so no need). Reception lady was very nice- set up a few adventure tours for us. About 3 blocks from the main plaza, cool coffee bean consortiums on the same street. And the coup de grâce: free hot morning coffee delivered to your room at about 7:30am each day.
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Nov 7-11 Hotel Fatima
·Bogota, Colombia
N 04º 35.913’ ·$45,000 pesos ($22.50 USD) including 10% discount for ISIC card.
W 74º 04.202’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking in garage down the road for $5,000 pesos ($2.50 USD) per night. Had to leave keys with garage and the owners kid broke in and stole our iPod- little jerk.
·Shared bathrooms
Really a hostel. Teeny tiny Alice in Wonderland room with slated roof and double bed. Shared bathroom was big, but dirty and the water was only warm (not hot) about 20% of the time. Very cool inside architecture and decorating, and pretty great location compared to other nearby- right in the middle of the old town Candalaria.
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Nov 12 Villa Martha
·Pereria, Colombia Tel: (096) 322-9994 www.fincavillamartha.com
N 04º 51.924’ ·$140,000 pesos ($70 USD) for giant 6-bed cottage
W 75º 45.140’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking included
·Private bathrooms
Beautiful surroundings, pool, hot tub. Owners were amazingly hospitable. Breakfast and dinner included. Stayed there on accident due to guide books price ($35-$45 USD) so had to check out early L
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Nov 13-14 Camping in Farmer Joe’s Field
·Salento, Colombia
N 04º 37.707’ ·$15,000 pesos ($7.50 USD)
W 75º 35.613’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·Shared bathrooms (with the cows!)- the world is your urinal
Could have gotten it for less, but he was a nice old man. Not a normal camping spot, we just asked him if we could while we were driving by. Cows in his field, so there were a few cow patties to watch out for. Right by the river in a beautiful valley, at the end of a long dirt road. The place in town was charging $15,000 per person for camping.
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Nov 15 Hostel Trail Guesthouse
·Popayan, Colombia, Carrera 11 No. 4-16 Tel: (314) 686-1866 www.hosteltrail.com
N 04º 37.707’ ·$45,000 pesos ($22.50 USD) for a nice big room with double bed
W 75º 35.613’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking in garage around the corner $4,000 ($2 USD) per night
·Private bathroom
Run by a couple from Scotland, but in a little shady area of town. Pretty clean, but thin walls. Cheap beer! There website is not just for their hostel, it’s a good source for a bunch of hostels in Latin America.
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Nov 16-17 The Samay Inn
·Otovalo, Ecuador
N 00º 13.658’ ·$20 USD for double bed
W 78º 15.794’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking municipal lot 2 blocks away $2 USD per night
·Private bathroom
Nice hotel right on the main street in the middle of town. Room was very clean the first night, but the same sheets were on the bed the 2nd night even though we had checked out and they didn’t know we were coming back. Best shower, hot water and pressure, of the whole trip! The owner/manager was incredibly friendly and helpful.
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Nov 18-21 Travelers Inn
·Quito, Ecuador
S 00º 11.923’ ·$22 USD for double bed
W 78º 29.386’ ·Free Wifi internet
·Parking included
·Private bathroom
Sketchy part of town, but possibly the best sketchy part since the whole town is sketchy. Very nice owners, speak English. Very extremely incredibly clean! $1 giant beers for happy hour. No food allowed in rooms though- 1st hostel ever to say that!?
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Nov 22-27 Hostal Chimenea
·Baños, Ecuador Tel: (03) 2742725 www.hostalchimenea.com
S 01.3985º ·$7.50 USD per person! We were given a private room with a
W 78.4193º double bed and 2 singles, and a balcony
·Free internet in lobby
·Parking included
·Private bathroom
Pretty clean, no TV. Pool, Jacuzzi, and wooden steam boxes (like personal saunas that just your head sticks out of). Block or two from main plaza, and a few blocks from public hot spring pools. Cool upstairs restaurant and patio. $1 giant beers! on honor system from the fridge. Good view of waterfall and valley.
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Nov 28 Hotel Tren Dorado
·Riobamba, Ecuador, Carabobo 22-35 y 10 de Agosto Tel: (03) 2964890 www.hoteltrendorado.com
S 01º 40.162’ ·$26 USD
W 78º 39.174’ ·No internet
·Parking included in garage beneath hotel- low clearance!
·Private bathroom
Dodgy part of town, but half a block to the train station for the Nariz del Diablo. Felt like sleeping over at your grandma’s house- the room was a little gaudy, but it was, without a doubt, the most comfortable bed we had stayed in yet.
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Nov 29 Camping
·Parque National Volcon Chimborazo, Ecuador
S 01º 28.377’ ·$10 USD per person entrance fee- good for 5 days
W 78º 50.812’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Camped out in truck above tree line on side of volcano, close to the 2nd refuge hut (a cabin with bathrooms and fireplace that we could have stayed in for free). Elevation was 4,800m ~16,000ft! The altitude got to us though and we had very uncomfortable and fitful sleep- but it was one of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen!
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Nov 30- Dec 3 Casa Cuencana
·Cuenca, Ecuador
S 02.9022º ·$7 USD (I think it was supposed to be $7 per person, but she only
W 79.0027º charged us $7 total!)
·Free WiFi internet only worked on main balcony and was actually stolen from a neighbor, they didn’t have their own, and it only worked sporadically.
·Parking in lot next to hotel for $4 USD per day
·Private bathroom
Small room on 3rd floor with queen bed and small balcony with a bathroom off the balcony, though the toilet clogged, and the shower wouldn’t drain, and their “hot water” all day long was not realistic at all. The room was nice and cozy though, with wood floors. They sold giant beers downstairs for $1, and the owner lady was incredibly nice- she arranged for us to park in the lot next to the hotel, but the lot owners were the meanest spirited people we had met yet so it wasn’t really worth it.
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Dec 4-7 Casa Betty
·Mancora, Peru
S 04º 06.425’ ·S/40 ($13.94 USD) for big room with big bed
W 81º 03.414’ ·No internet
·Parking included in gated private courtyard right by the room
·Private bathroom
Room with balcony overlooking the beach. The free breakfast was not very good. Hotel was right in the middle of town. Could have camped on the beach south of town for free.
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Dec 8 Pirate Camping with the Ramblewriters
·Desert south of Piura, Peru
S 05º 30.828’ ·$Free!
W 80º 35.762’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Off the main highway going south, took a right into the sand dunes, no road, just picked a spot. Drove far enough off the road so you couldn’t see our trucks or the glow of the fire on the tall bushes. Little pokey plants everywhere and lots of deadfall for a fire.
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Dec 9 Pirate Camping with the Ramblewriters
·Beach in Huanchaco, Peru
S 08º 05.285’ ·$Free!
W 79º 07.340’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Right on the beach at the south end of town. Might have been sketchy if we had been by ourselves.
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Dec 10-11 Pirate Camping
·Mountain pass west of Huaraz, Peru
S 09º 33.005’ ·$Free!
W 77º 37.149’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Off the main road to Huaraz on a small road to the south. Camped in abandoned gravel pit or something. Very, very high altitude ~12,000ft. During the day, a few buses would go by and all wave. No one ever stopped or questioned us. Got really cold at night, but the sunset was incredible.
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Dec 12-13 & 17 Olaza’s B&B
·Huaraz, Peru
S 09.5314º ·S/50 ($17.42 USD) Room with 2 single beds
W 77.5240º ·Free WiFi internet- only worked well on roof terrace
·Parking in lot across the street- inconvenient hours of access, but only S/4 ($1.39 USD) per night.
·Private bathroom
Very comfortable beds, nice warm showers- cold rooms, but extra blankets and warm beds. Simple breakfast (included) on roof top terrace. Lady worker was big bitch- but guy who owned the place was incredibly nice- let us borrow his MSR fuel bottle for our 3 day hike. They had lots of info on local hikes and activities. The brother of the owner owned the local Mt. Bike rental company and published the city tourist guide- very good. They helped us arrange parking in the lot across the street.
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Dec 14 Pirate Camping
·Plaza in Olayan, Peru
S 09º 29.009’ ·$Free!
W 77º 08.991’ ·No internet
·Street parking- felt safe
·The world is your urinal
Olayan is an extremely small village on the east of the mountains (with Huaraz on the other side) where our hike started. We camped in front of the small general store (only thing there) on the plaza. The lady who owned the store was extremely nice and watched our truck for the days we were gone (we left her S/10 when we got back) and even got up at 5am and led us 2 hours up the mountain to start our hike so we wouldn’t get lost on the dozens of splitting trails.
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Dec 15-16 Camping
·Cordillera Blanca, Huaraz, Peru
S 09.4747º ·$Free!
W 77.2858º ·No internet
·Left the truck parked in the Olayan plaza- felt safe to do so
·The world is your urinal
Unlike the other entrances to the park, this one was free- though that might have been because poor sheep and cow herders still lived there. It was very beautiful, with a nice view of 5 huge snow capped peaks and a bunch of glaciers, but was rainy and very cold most of the time. The hike took 10 or 11 hours, uphill the whole way- I would suggest doing a different hike, this one wasn’t really worth it.
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Dec 18 Pirate Camping
·Beach on peninsula near El Pariso, Peru
S 11º 12.920’ ·$Free!
W 77º 36.816’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Big sand duned beach about 20 to 25 minutes off the main road out on a mostly uninhabited peninsula. Kacey was a little spooked by some fishermen we saw earlier so it led to a fitful night’s sleep, for both of us, but I think in reality it was completely safe.
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Dec 19-20 Pirate Camping next to Hostel Rocha
·Huacachina, Peru
S 14.0881º ·$Free!
W 75.7617º ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Set up the truck in a sand lot next to the hostel (asked first). They said we could use their bathrooms if need be (but it was easier to go in the bush). A little loud at night from the hostel’s outside bar, but no problems with anyone bothering us. Took a sand dune tour through the hostel (definitely worth it) and then got to hang out and drink at their pool that afternoon (for free!).
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Dec 21 Casa Grande Hotel
·Nazca, Peru
S 14º 49.496’ ·S/50 ($17.42 USD)
W 74º 56.276’ ·No internet
·Parking in gated lot right next door
·Private bathroom
Nothing special, but had a big bed. Hot water didn’t work. Dicey part of town, but maybe the whole town was dicey.
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Dec 22 Pirate Camping
·Roadside of high mountain road on the way to Capaya, Peru
S 14º 07.426’ ·$Free!
W 73º 18.727’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Parked in a cut-out for passing on a steep one-lane dirt road up the valley from the main highway on the way to the little village of Capaya. Pretty high elevation, and cold. One or 2 cars passed after we parked, but no one gave us trouble.
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Dec 23-25 Pirwa B&B Hostel
·Cusco, Peru
S 13º 30.933’ ·S/76 ($26.48 USD)
W 71º 58.739’ ·Free WiFi internet- didn’t work in room very well
·Parking in garage- La Playa- a few blocks away- pretty much the
La Playa Parking only nearby overnight parking lot in all of downtown S/12 ($4.18
S 13º 30.831’ USD) per day.
W 71º 58.927’ ·Private and public bathroom
One of a few Pirwa hostels in town. The second night they made us change from our room with a queen bed and private bathroom to a triple room (three single beds) and no private bathroom for the same price. Was pretty clean and comfortable, but rather cold inside. Free breakfast was actually at a different hostel (they gave you a coupon to present to the other hostel- but it was ok because it was right on the main plaza up on the second floor with a good view- but very plain jane). There was a much better breakfast cafe across the street from our hostel with a S/10 ($3.48 USD) menu. Location was great, about 200 yards from the plaza and before the roads get too steep. They weren’t very hospitable though, and ended up kicking my mom out even though she had a reservation for 2 weeks of staying there- they just said “Well, we have given your room to someone else, so you’ll have to leave now.”
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Dec 26 Mosoqinti
·Aguas Caliente, Peru- Ave. Inca Roca
S 13.1535º ·S/30 ($10.45 USD)
W 72.5232º ·No internet (even though they claimed they had it)
·Left truck in Cusco at La Playa Parking Garage
·Private bathroom
Big room with double bed and nice clean bathroom with plenty of hot water. Guarded our bags for the day when we left early to see Machupicchu on the 27th.
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Dec 27-29 Samana Pata II
·Cusco, Peru
S 13º 30.850’ ·S/60 ($20.90 USD)
W 71º 58.777’ ·Free WiFi internet in lobby
·Parking at La Playa Parking Garage (see above)
·Private bathroom
Nice big clean room with comfy bed. Bathroom was rather small and “hot water” was a joke. The hostel was as up quite a few steep stairs. Mom had a hard time of it. Never tried the free breakfast, but it didn’t look too appealing. The people running the place were pretty friendly and nice, but only spoke Spanish (Mom would have proffered a place where they spoke some English and ended moving from here to a different hotel when she got back to Cusco from Puno after New Years).
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Dec 30- Jan 1 Los Pinos Hostel
·Puno, Peru
S 15º 50.247’ ·S/60 ($20.90 USD)
W 70º 01.752’ ·Free WiFi internet- worked best in sitting area outside of room
·Parking in garage just around the corner S/5 ($1.74 USD) per day
·Private bathroom
Big room, but cold at night. Shower with hot water was pretty good, but a bit fickle. Family was very nice and even gave us a key to let ourselves in on New Year’s Eve because we were going to come back so late. Was only a block or two from the main touristy part, but still very sketchy, especially after dark- when we were checking to see if they had a room, we were parked out front for just a few minutes and someone tried to break into the truck and ruined a lock on the tailgate.
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Jan 2 Pirate Camping
·Hills west of Ponduro, Bolivia
S 17º 32.474’ ·$Free!
W 67º 28.436’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Parked in an old rock quarry up away from the main road- had to drive across a fairly rough dried river bed with 4-wheel. Was pretty concealed but in the day you could probably see the tent on top of the truck. An old cow herder stopped by in the morning and asked us for any books we had in Spanish- gave him some tourist pamphlets of Peru and he was amazed!
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Jan 3 Pirate Camping
·Desert south of Challapata, Bolivia
S 19º 26.003’ ·$Free!
W 66º 56.115’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Drove for quite a ways off the “main” road (was a little better than a dirt track between Challapata and Uyuni- should have taken the longer distance paved road to Potosi and then to Uyuni- would have saved us several hours! of bumpy shitty road). Drove up over a hill past a gravel pit and were pretty concealed. In the morning a farmer stopped by to see what we were about- was very nice and much more educated than the guy the day before.
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Jan 4 Pirate Camping
·Isla de Cactus, middle of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
S 20º 14.419’ ·$Free!
W 67º 37.431’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
Entrance to the ·The world is your urinal
Salar de Uyuni: Found a dry camping spot in cove of the island on the north side.
S 20º 18.124’ Was pretty cool but when the sun went down it got crazy windy!
W 66º 56.507’ Had to close the tent and couldn’t cook dinner- the stoves
wouldn’t stay lit. It rained that night and the salt flats were
Exit to the Salar: covered in about an inch of water, but were hard and smooth
S 20º 35.067’ underneath so no problem driving- though amazing amounts of salt
W 67º 33.686’ water sprayed up and coated every surface under the truck with a
bunch getting in the engine! We had it mostly all washed off in Chile, but there was still a lot on the engine. Some tour trucks strapped a tarp underneath the engine while driving on the Salar- wish we would have!
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Jan 5 Pirate Camping
·South of Lake Hedionda?, Bolivia
S 21º 36.098’ ·$Free!
W 68º 03.554’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Incredibly windy. Up next to a hill for some protection but it didn’t do much good. Was really beautiful and super remote. The map and signs didn’t agree on the name of the lake.
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Jan 6 Pirate Camping
·A little north of Laguna Verde, Reserva de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa, Bolivia
S 22º 44.191’ ·$150 Bolivianos ($23 US\D) per person to enter the park, but
W 67º 47.907’ camping was free
·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
The park wasn’t that impressive- after driving 4 days through the desert of southern Bolivia- and really we felt was a rip-off price wise: they had just increased the entrance fee from $30B to $150B on January 1st. No real camping spots anywhere, so we had to drive off the main road and park in the rocks, even though it said you are supposed to stay on the road. It was not protected or concealed from the road, but nobody ever stopped or questioned us.
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Jan 7 Pirate Camping
·El Tatio Gysers, Chile
S 22º 21.057’ ·$Free!
W 68º 00.940’ ·No internet
·Parked in parking lot- felt safe
·The park rangers let us use the bathroom in the visitor center
The rangers at the park entrance were very nice and let us camp right next to their building. We were right there when all the tour buses started showing up at 6am to go see the geysers- and we got to sleep in longer than all those sucker tourists who were taking day trips from San Pedro de Atacama.
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Jan 8-11 Pirate Camping
·Playa Capaya, Chile
S 22º 57.859’ ·$Free!
W 70º 18.630’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Rather picturesque, but the sand was littered with trash from previous campers, and the water was disgusting with bird poop and feathers- but there were a bunch of cool seashells. Was very crowded with other campers on the weekend, but everybody left and the place was empty by Sunday night.
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Jan 12-13 Hotel Costa Marfil
·Antofagasta, Chile
S 23º 39.098’ ·$29,500 pesos ($59 USD)
W 70º 23.627’ ·Free WiFi internet
·Parking included, but we didn’t need it since the truck was at the mechanics
·Private bathroom
Great mechanic Pretty clean room with 3 single beds- and they wouldn’t give us
shop: the same rate as the “matrimonial”. Pretty clean shower with hot
S 23º 39.170’ water but room got really hot at night- no windows to the outside,
W 70º 23.636’ just to the hallway of the hotel- was kind of set up like a prison
block. Never tried the free breakfast, but they did have quite the kitchen going on upstairs. The garage was always jammed full with worker’s trucks from the mines or something- that’s why they only had 1 room vacant. Was a little out of the way for downtown, but right next to the mechanic shop (the best one in Antofagasta), and a grocery store.
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Jan 14 Pirate Camping
·On the beach about 20 minutes south of Antofagasta, Chile
S 23.7774º ·$Free!
W 70.4859º ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Down on a deserted part of rocky coast. Was a bit trashy, but no-one else was there. And the road apparently ended soon after, so we weren’t afraid of people driving by in the night. Was a bit windy at sunset.
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Jan 15 Pirate Camping
·Bahia Inglesa, Chile
S 27º 07.336’ ·$Free!
W 70º 51.378’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Nice big curving beach- a bit trashy. Unlike all the other beaches we had ssen, no other locals camped out over night, though there were a ton of them there during the day. But then, one group showed up and camped next to us at about 2am! when the whole rest of the beach was completely empty!
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Jan 16 Pirate Camping
·A bit east of Vicuña, Chile
S 30º 01.852’ ·$Free!
W 70º 39.646’ ·No internet
·Bush parking
·The world is your urinal
Parked at an open spot next to the river close to a bridge where all the locals came in the day to wash a play. Could see us from the road, but nobody gave us trouble.
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Jan 17-18 Puerto Oscuro Camping
·Puerto Oscuro, Chile
S 31º 26.825’ ·$10,000 pesos ($20 USD)- $5,000 per person
W 71º 35.361’ ·No internet
·Parking included
·The world is your urinal or they also had bathrooms up the hill
Found the only real cheap option in this area (didn’t want to pay $30,000 pesos ($60 USD) as at a bunch of places we passed up). Was the first place we saw south of La Serena! Down a few kilometers from the highway into a gorge that opens into the sea, with nice grass huts and picnic tables. Incredibly picturesque. The lady and her little daughter that were there running it over the summer are incredibly nice. Some hikes along the headland look great and apparently they have petroglyphs and an observatory?!? Very windy at night. Very rocky beach, but they even have some wood platforms for sunbathing.
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