I have an idea of where I will be going and how I will be traveling, but it seems a bit much in my time frame. Is this possible?
In January I will be leaving for my first ever backpacking excursion. I will leaving for South America for 3 months and am really excited! The plan as of now is to start in Bueno Aieres, make my way by bus (always bus I think) to Cordoba, then Mendoza. From Mendoza I plan to either cross over into Chile to Santiago and make my way south towards Puerto Montt, or stay on the Argentinian side and make my way to Bariloche. From Bariloche I would head south to Puerto Natales for some of that amazing glacier experience I've hear so much about.
Like I said, I have 3 months, so I would bus or fly up north and try to make my way to Peru.
Does anyone think I will feel rushed in any of this if I try to make my way up to Peru from southern argentina? Is this feasable? I'd love to see Lake Titicaca and Machu Pichu but in my head, bussing from the southern end of south america up towards Peru is such a long journey......Please let me know what you think as this is my first real backpacking adventure.
My budget is around $5,000 US
To top it all off and add to the excitement,my spanish is very minimal.
Reply to this One thing I'd consider is a LANPass which covers flights between South American countries. From Patagonia, it should be possible to fly to La Paz and work your way to Lima from there. I did this in just over 2 weeks, including 3 days at Lake Titicaca and two in Machu Picchu, which is simply amazing! Only thing is you need to allow time to acclimatise to the altitude which can be very draining - my first 3 days in La Paz were knackering even though I had planned to take it easy. It's not much better on the bus I hear especially as the roads can be rathr dangerous.
Hope this helps a bit.
Reply to this I haven't been to SA yet but I'm planning it in 09.
The one thing I'll say though Nate is if you do go by bus, sit in the middle...its safer than sitting in the front or back IF there is a crash.
Reply to this I did a similar trip, but I started in peru and worked my way south. My recommendation is to fly to El Calafate. (3-4 days) The perito moreno Glacier is the best one in the area. Then immediately work your way north to Bariloche(3-5 days). There's a lot of outdoorstuff to do (hiking, paragliding, etc) From there you can go to puerto Montt and then Santiago. Mendoza is good if you really like wine, but I'd recommend making sure you have enough time to do the Inca trail to Macchu picchu. A good idea is to book overnight buses to save money on hostels and when you wake up, you'll be in the place you wanna go. I added more information
website if you're interested.
P.S. don't worry about the spanish. there will be other travelers in a similar situation, and you'll end up making friends and figuring it out. Reply to this 
