Travel Mishaps in South America
Traveling isn’t always easy, but through a combination of good planning and good luck, I usually don’t have any major issues. I’ve never missed a flight, lost my passport, been robbed or scammed abroad, or gotten seriously injured while traveling. I don’t have many “worst travel moments” to speak of.
But things aren’t always totally smooth sailing.
Some of my biggest travel mishaps occurred on one particular trip. A few years ago, I went backpacking in South America (specifically Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) and had some crazy travel moments.
I spent several weeks in each country and had an amazing time overall. But there were definitely some misadventures on this trip, which I’m going to walk you through below. Some of these were unavoidable, but others were totally preventable, so I’ll share the lessons I learned from my mistakes.
Here’s a look at seven travel mishaps I had, and the takeaways from each one:
Altitude Sickness in Ecuador and Peru
My trip started off in Quito, Ecuador, a city with an elevation of 9,350 feet. I experienced some mild altitude sickness and had a pretty severe headache for the first few days I was there.
Later, I experienced a bit of altitude sickness again in Cusco, Peru, where the elevation is 11,150 feet. Luckily, it subsided faster this time, and I really only had a headache for about a day when I arrived.
After this, I stayed at a high altitude for weeks, so by the time I arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, where the elevation is 11,975 feet (the highest capital city in the world!), I was fully acclimatized.
But altitude sickness is something that affects a lot of travelers in South America. Unfortunately, there’s no way to prevent it. And it can affect you regardless of your age, fitness level, or any other factors. Symptoms of altitude sickness include headaches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and loss of appetite.
Although you can’t avoid it entirely, there are things you can do to reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness. You should take the proper amount of time to acclimatize at high elevations, drink lots of water, avoid alcohol and caffeine, and take ibuprofen. After a couple of days, it will normally subside.
I wrote more about it in my guide to avoiding altitude sickness, so give that a read for more tips.
Food Poisoning in Cuenca
When I was in Cuenca, Ecuador (a lovely city aside from the fact that I got sick there), I got the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever had. It completely incapacitated me for about 48 hours. And while I didn’t feel 100% better for a couple more days after that, I was at least able to start keeping food down.
The culprit of my food poisoning was the Mercado 9 de Octubre, a bustling market in Cuenca. I went there for lunch one day and made two mistakes. First, I ordered a fruit smoothie. As refreshing and delicious as it sounded at the moment, fresh fruit is unfortunately a common trigger for food poisoning. It is often washed in tap water (which isn’t drinkable in most of South America) or handled in an unsanitary way.
Then I got a meal from one of the market stalls without doing any type of research beforehand. What I thought was a fully vegetarian dish actually contained little bits of chicken. And I ate a few pieces of it before I realized. As a vegetarian since I was about ten years old, accidentally eating meat can make me extremely sick. Either the smoothie or this mystery dish (or both) probably caused my food poisoning.
I’ve written about how to avoid food poisoning while traveling if you’re curious.
But basically, I should have been more careful and cautious about what I ate. Food poisoning is a common travel illness, but there are definitely things you can do to reduce your risk of getting it.
Visiting Machu Picchu at the Wrong Time
When I traveled to Peru, it was the middle of March, which is still considered the rainy season. The dry season, which lasts from April through October, is generally considered the best time of year to visit Machu Picchu. You’ll be able to enjoy this ancient site in all its glory with clear, sunny skies.
Although I was technically there towards the end of the rainy season, it was pouring the day I visited Machu Picchu. I worried when I first arrived that I wouldn’t get to see it at all. Imagine traveling all the way to one of the Wonders of the World, only for it to be raining and covered in dense fog?
Fortunately, the fog cleared up somewhat. I finally got to see some cool, moody views of Machu Picchu, even though it was still raining. And exploring the ruins was a wet, slippery, and muddy affair that day.
If I were to go back to Machu Picchu (which I want to one day!), I’ll definitely go during the dry season. May and September are good months for better weather, but not as many tourist crowds as in the summer.
…And Rainbow Mountain
Another mistake I made in Peru was visiting the Rainbow Mountain at the wrong time. Just look up photos of the Rainbow Mountain on Google, and you can see what it’s supposed to look like. Amazing, right?
There are actually two Rainbow Mountains in Peru, Vinicunca and Palccoyo. I opted to visit Palccoyo because it’s supposed to be a less strenuous hike than Vinicunca. (And I found it to be very reasonable!)
Unfortunately, much like Machu Picchu, I did not visit Rainbow Mountain at the right time. The best season for a Rainbow Mountain hike is April through October. But you should always check the weather forecast before you book a tour to hike the Rainbow Mountain to see what conditions are like.
In my case, the Rainbow Mountain was covered in snow! So everything was mainly white, and I barely glimpsed the famous rainbow colors of the mountain. No matter which Rainbow Mountain you choose, it’s a long day trip from Cusco. So you want to make sure the conditions are right before you visit.
Getting Caught in Civil Unrest in Peru
When I traveled to Peru in 2023, there was a lot of civil unrest happening with protests against the government, particularly in the southern part of the country. Machu Picchu even closed due to protests for over a month in January and February, right before I traveled to Peru the following month.
Although things had mainly settled down by March when I was there, especially in and around Cusco and the Sacred Valley, there was still a lot of civil unrest happening further south in the country.
I was going to Bolivia next, and from Cusco, this journey involved taking an overnight bus to the Peruvian city of Puno, which shares a border with Bolivia across Lake Titicaca. While you can normally take another bus from Puno into Bolivia, the land border was closed at the time, and my only option was a boat across the lake. This was an adventure in itself, but the real drama occurred on the overnight bus ride.
I had settled in for a good night’s sleep on the super comfortable bus. It even had privacy curtains and seats that reclined all the way back. But a few hours later, the bus ominously jolted to a stop.
Thankfully, I speak some Spanish, so I was able to understand the bus conductor telling us that there was a blockade on the road and we’d have to get off the bus. There were no other foreigners on the bus except three Chinese tourists, and I attempted to translate what was going on for them.
It turns out, we’d reached a town that had set up a road blockade as part of their protest activities (still not clear why exactly…) It was 3 AM, and everyone on the bus had to get all their luggage and start walking in the pitch dark while a steady rain fell. I had no idea where we were walking to, but we literally trudged along for an hour and a half through the town and past the other side of the blockade.
Lo and behold, a bus from the same bus company was waiting there, which had presumably been traveling in the opposite direction from Puno to Cusco. So we all hopped on that bus and carried on our way.
There’s not much I could have done to avoid this, but it was one of my craziest travel experiences!
Painful Sunburn in Bolivia
I’m no stranger to bad sunburns, being very fair-skinned and prone to forgetting sunscreen, but this was uniquely terrible. I actually got this sunburn the day that I was hiking Rainbow Mountain. Right after that, I hopped on my overnight bus from Cusco to Puno. And by the next morning, I realized I was in big trouble.
Basically, I had remembered to put sunscreen on at Rainbow Mountain on all my exposed skin (which was really just my face and hands), but I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my lips.
Because I was at such a high altitude at Rainbow Mountain (16,000 feet), and the blindingly bright sun was reflecting off all the white snow, I ended up getting a truly insane sunburn.
First, my lips swelled up to double their normal size. Then, they began oozing (yes, I know that sounds disgusting.) Finally, I ended up with painful, dark scabs on my lips. This literally lasted for a full week. And there was nothing I could do to speed up the healing, even after buying some random ointment from a Bolivian pharmacy. I felt so self-conscious the whole time, plus it really hurt!
So the lesson here is to always apply sunscreen very thoroughly, especially when you’re at high altitude, where the sun is stronger! (I wish I could say I’ve learned this lesson, but I still haven’t…)
Failing the Death Road
Finally, my last travel mishap in Bolivia was failing the Death Road. The Death Road is a popular activity I had heard of before, but assumed I wouldn’t be able to do. It involves cycling down a winding, 40-mile path that was once known as the most dangerous road in the world (hence the name Death Road.)
I love adrenaline-pumping activities (I’ll be the first to hop on a zipline or a rope swing or jump off a waterfall), but when it comes to physical feats like intense hikes or cycling endeavors, I’m more limited. That’s why I didn’t even consider the three-day Inca Trail trek to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. From an outside glance, I might look like I’m in good enough shape to do things like that, but I’m truly not.
So as cool as the Death Road sounded, I didn’t think I could do it. Then another traveler mentioned that there’s actually a van that follows behind you, and you can get in if you don’t think you’ll make it.
Knowing I had this safety net, I decided to shell out almost $90 for the Death Road tour. The first hour or so was great: cycling downhill on a beautiful paved road with scenic views all around.
It turns out that was just the warm-up, and then we arrived at the actual Death Road. The weather changed; it was suddenly raining steadily, with a dense fog encompassing everything. The path went from paved to bumpy rocks. I quickly fell to the back of the pack, trying not to lose control of my bike.
My hands started going numb from traversing the rocky, slippery path while clutching the brakes. Did I surprise myself by pushing through and making it to the end of the 40-mile road? No, I did not!
After maybe twenty minutes, I told the guide I couldn’t go on, and I wanted to ride in the van. Because of the weather, the van was about to leave, so I wouldn’t be able to continue the route. And you know what? I was fine with that. I was the only person in the group of a dozen or so not able to finish.
But when I met up with the rest of the group afterwards for lunch before returning to La Paz, I didn’t feel bad about it at all. Even though I totally failed the Death Road, I gave it a go. But I ultimately knew my own personal limits, and I stopped before I put myself in a risky or dangerous situation.
My Worst Travel Mishaps
So those are some of my biggest travel mishaps in South America, including some mistakes I made and some simple bad luck. Like I said, I’m fortunate nothing too terrible has ever happened to me.
Hopefully these travel stories were entertaining for you to read. Maybe you even picked up some tips if you’re planning your own trip to South America and want to avoid the mistakes I made.
Happy travels!
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