exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino-style budget backpacking
To achieve greatness, one must first dream of it. - Simon Bolivar, "George Washington" of Latin America.
"Be Brave, Take Risks. Nothing can substitute Experience." - Paulo Coelho
My First Continent with Countries All Visited as a Budget DIY Pinoy Solo Backpacker - Philippine Passport Holder only.
The Quest to visit all 12 Countries of South America is now completed (2018-2024).
My journey to this Beautiful Continent is now signing off. Timog Amerika, pinapalaya na kita.
Muchos Gracias Sur America. #livealifeyouwillremember #southamerica
#brazil #argentina #uruguay #chile #colombia #bolivia #paraguay #peru #ecuador #guyana #suriname #venezuela #philippines #pinoy #travel #backpacker #pilipinas #spanish #latinamerica
Philippine passport holders need to APPLY BEFORE ARRIVAL:
Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela
My Remarks based on my experience traveling to these awesome 12 countries;
I wanna go back - Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela. Chile
Enough of one-time visit - Guyana, Suriname, Paraguay, Uruguay
Hardest visa to apply - Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile
Easy public transport - mostly I think (Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina)
Hardest public transport - Suriname, Guyana
Best food - All Spanish-speaking countries (I think they offer the same sets of menus, cheaper also)
Did I study their language before traveling - NO, just offline Google translate and I learned Spanish Numbers through Bingo game when I was young.
Scariest Experience - Venezuela Police checkpoint during 17-hour overnight bus trip due to language barrier, lost around $130 for robbery/bribery plus whole body frisking.
Memorable Adventure - traveled to most of these countries during the pandemic for 7 months (PCR tests, travel requirements, cross-border restriction, Philippine passport weakness, flight availability, lockdown, tourist landmark closure, limited public transport, etc).
Any Surprising Observation - Venezuela has better public transportation (Caracas has 7 lines of metro subway and 2 carousel bus lines) than the Philippines and other South American countries. The huge inflation reported by Mainstream Media is not even felt as most of the expenses I made (transportation, food, hotel, basic goods) are the same comparable to other South American countries. Yes, it's safe as a Solo Backpacker like traveling to other South American countries.
Other remarks - If flying from MNL, flights are very expensive and usually transit to US airports which requires a US visitor visa.
Interesting Facts about the Continent of South America;
1. There are 12 countries in South America. These are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
2. The Andes Mountains is the longest mountain range in the world. It stretches for 4,400 miles along the west coast of South America, from Chile to Venezuela. It passes through Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
3. The Amazon Forest is the largest natural rainforest forest in the world. At 2.7 million square miles, it covers 40% of South America. Its square area can fit about 40 USAs.
4. The Amazon River has the largest water volume of any river in the world. In fact, it has more water than the next seven largest rivers combined.
5. South America was named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
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| Continent: Grandeur of South America (all 12 Countries visited) |
| COUNTRIES OF SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT(all visited) | |||||||||
1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 11 | |||||
2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 12 | |||||
3 | 6 | ||||||||
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