3 Weeks in South America: Peru, Brazil, Uruguay & Chile

[Mattg]

I recently spent a little over 3 weeks in South America!

This was my third visit to South America, and I must say, I'm falling in love with the place just a little bit more with each visit. I thoroughly enjoyed my previous visits to Brazil & Peru and this trip I visited Peru and Brazil once again. I also visited two new countries - Uruguay and Chile.

I was travelling by myself for most of the trip, although I was with an Aussie friend in Peru and met with friends in many other places along the way.

I didn't go to Rio de Janeiro this time, and I'm not going to the Olympics. But I was able to benefit from visa-free travel to Brazil thanks to the Olympic Games!

The whole trip looked something like this:



This trip report will include well-known destinations such as Machu Picchu...



Lesser-known cities, like Montevideo...



Plenty of street art...



And even Brazilian beaches...

 

[Mattg]

The primary mode of transport used on this trip was flying. In total, 14 flights were taken - most of them on LATAM Airlines.

I booked this trip while Qantas was having an excellent sale on flights to Santiago. I was going to just book flights to Santiago, then book the internal flights later. However, I discovered that Qantas was actually selling flights to Lima (via Santiago) for the same price as Santiago. So I decided to fly to Lima, then book a lengthy stopover on the return leg (of more than two weeks) in Santiago. The Santiago stopover added about $60 to the price, presumably in taxes. From Santiago I travelled to Brazil and Uruguay on a separate multi-city ticket.

I also discovered that it was the same price to start the trip in Brisbane as it was to start in Sydney (even though you have to fly via Sydney). So, I began the trip in Brisbane and essentially added on another domestic flight for free.

The Qantas sale on flights to Lima extended to Premium Economy. I was keen to try this out, but didn't want to commit to paying for it both ways. So I booked Premium Economy on the outbound, and Economy on the return. The "upgrade" to Premium Economy on the way to Lima ended up costing me a little under $500. As I'll explain shortly, I feel that this was well worth it. As it happened, the Santiago-Lima flight on LAN also booked into Premium Economy. And the Brisbane-Sydney domestic connection booked into flexible Economy, so I upgraded to Business for 5,000 points.

To top it all off, I booked the Qantas flights during a double points promotion. So overall I think I did pretty well!

 

[Mattg]

I arrived at Brisbane Airport early on a Wednesday morning, ready and excited for 24 hours of travel! That day I would be flying from Brisbane to Lima, via Sydney and Santiago.



Check-in in Brisbane was completely painless, and my bag was tagged all the way through to Lima. Before long I was enjoying a hot breakfast in the Business lounge. The food options were reasonable and the lounge wasn't too full. The lounge staff were great too, passing around bacon & egg muffins and offering to deliver drinks to each passenger's table.

Flight: QF507 Brisbane-Sydney
Boeing 737-800
Departure time: 07:45
Arrival time: 09:20

This was my first time in Business on a refurbished (non-BSI) Qantas 737. The seats seemed to be the same as before, except that they are now covered in a soft, maroon leather. The seat was pretty comfortable.

Business was about 2/3 full, and the service from the CSM was excellent. The meal choices were a hot breakfast of bacon, poached eggs, spinach, grilled tomato & mushrooms; or an oats dish. Most of us chose the hot breakfast. This came with a bowl of fruit.



One thing I did notice about the refurbished aircraft was that there is no longer a curtain (or any other divider) between Economy and Business class. This resulted in a constant flow of Economy passengers using the front toilet.

The IFE on this flight was via the Q-Streaming App. The range of movies and other content seemed reasonable.



After an on-time arrival into Sydney I was quickly on the transfer bus and making my way to the Business lounge in the international terminal. Again, the lounge was pleasant and there were a wide range of options for a (third) breakfast until 11am, when the lunch buffet opened.


Qantas Int'l Business lounge in Sydney

 

[Mattg]

Flight: QF27 Sydney-Santiago
Boeing 747-400ER
Departure time: 12:30
Arrival time: 11:10 (Yes, that's before the departure time!)

This was my first time in Premium Economy on Qantas and I was keen to experience it.

To make a long story short: I was very impressed.


VH-OEI, our 747 waiting at the gate

Boarding was delayed slightly, we were told, due to a delay in getting the aircraft catered. But all was forgiven once I stepped on board. I was greeted immediately and warmly by the two ladies that would be looking after the Premium Economy cabin on my flight. I was also offered a glass of pre-departure champagne or water.



This flight had been scheduled to be operated by one of the older 747s, but a last minute change resulted in one of the refurbished birds operating the flight.

The hard product was great. Admittedly the seats are only recliner seats – not lie-flat like in Business class – but they offered ample legroom and seat width. I was easily able to stretch my legs out completely under the seat in front. The seat recline was also pretty good. So, while perhaps not ideal for sleeping in, the seats are IMHO still worth paying extra for.

This was my seat (37K):



Legroom shot:



And the rest of the cabin:

 

[kpc]

I recently spent a little over 3 weeks in South America!

This was my third visit to South America, and I must say, I'm falling in love with the place just a little bit more with each visit. I thoroughly enjoyed my previous visits to Brazil & Peru and this trip I visited Peru and Brazil once again. I also visited two new countries - Uruguay and Chile.

I too love South America...I have been 4 times, the last being 4 years ago unfortunately Have you been to Argentina? I spent a fantastic 2 weeks there in 2010. Look forward to your TR!

 

[Mattg]

We took off to the north, then did a series of turns which made for some great views over Sydney. Soon we had set course for Chile. The flight path would take us to the south of New Zealand, and fairly close to Antarctica before heading north again towards Santiago.

Views of Sydney on departure:




Our flight path:



More drinks, along with nuts & pretzels were served after take-off. This was shortly followed by lunch.

This was the menu:

 

[SuePa]

I love South America!
Looking forward to the rest of your TR.

 

[Mattg]

For lunch I tried the lamb moussaka, which was tasty:



The catering was almost identical to Qantas' domestic Business catering.

We flew straight into the sunset just a couple of hours after take-off.



Throughout the night the dedicated Premium Economy flight attendants were only too happy to deliver drink top-ups and snacks.

The in-flight entertainment (which is stowed beside the seat) was very good too, with a wide range of content, although there is no difference as far as I could tell between the IFE in Economy and Premium Economy.

Breakfast was served around two hours prior to landing. By this point the sun had come up again, although it was still Wednesday as we had crossed the international date line.

Breakfast was very similar to the domestic Business breakfast I'd had on the previous flight. I thought it was pretty good.



We soon reached the west coast of South America and had some spectacular views of the Chilean Alps as we flew towards Santiago.

There were some air traffic control delays in Santiago which meant that we had to hold for around 15 minutes to the north of the airport. I don't think too many people minded as the views were fantastic!




We eventually arrived in a foggy Santiago around 40 minutes late.

This was a really nice flight. The Premium Economy service was nothing short of excellent, and I even managed a few hours of sleep in my seat. I would definitely consider paying a bit more to fly it again.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Great TR so far and you have certainly inticed us to visit South America in the near future

Did you score an empty besides you on the flight over or did you a seat mate?

 

[Mattg]

As I had an international connection in Santiago, I simply headed to the international transfers checkpoint and then upstairs to the departures area. A painless connection.

The LATAM lounge wasn't the easiest to find, but it was a very, very nice lounge. It spans two floors and includes a dining area, play room for kids, a sleeping room, showers and various other sections.

A particular highlight though was the Louis Roederer champagne.

Various lounge pics:

 

[Mattg]

Flight: LA642 Santiago-Lima
Airbus A320
Departure time: 13:25
Arrival time: 16:15

This was our aircraft. As we boarded, the Qantas 747 was preparing for its next flight.



As I mentioned earlier, this flight also booked into Premium Economy which was a nice bonus.

Interestingly, nearly half the flight seemed to also be connecting from the Qantas flight.

Boarding for this flight did not commence until after the departure time, although there were no announcements made advising of the delay or the reason for it. I would later discover that this is quite normal for LAN/TAM.

Premium Economy on LAN's A320 is very similar to intra-Europe Business class. The seats are essentially just Economy seats, but with the middle seat blocked. There was a drinks tray on the middle seat (which Qantas might describe as a "work station"). Not the greatest of hard products, but at least the soft product was good.

There are three rows of Premium Economy on the A320, with rows 3 and 4 separated by a curtain. I was in row 3. Upon boarding there was a pillow and blanket on my seat, which was very welcome as I was getting tired. There was also an amenity kit, which was basically a cloth bag containing an eye mask and socks, from memory.

Legroom shot:



Hot towels were handed out after take-off. After this, there was a long wait (well over an hour) before the lunch service even began. I would have liked the service to be quicker.

This was the menu:



I chose the steak for lunch which was pretty good, albeit slightly overcooked. Overall, the meal was quite acceptable.



The flight attendant looking after Premium Economy was friendly. Her engagement with the English-speaking passengers was somewhat limited due to language barriers. Nonetheless, I felt that an effort was made to provide good service and we were encouraged to choose from the impressive list of wine and spirits. I didn't partake as I was already falling asleep by this point.

We landed in Lima around 30 minutes late on a cloudy afternoon. The cloudy weather seems to be normal during winter – I didn't once see the sun while in Lima this time around.


Landing in Lima

Arrival was once again painless and a short taxi ride later I was at my friend's place. That was the end of a long but enjoyable 24 hours of travel!

 

[Mattg]

For the next 5 or 6 days I travelled around Peru with a friend from Sydney. The first day we explored Lima, doing a walking tour and meeting up with a few other friends of mine.

Miraflores:



This park was full of stray cats, for some reason:


The historic centre of Lima:



We spent the evening in the trendy neighbourhood of Barranco...



Public transport isn't great in Lima, unfortunately. There are cheap public buses - but even if I could work out how to use them, I'm not sure I would really want to. We mostly got around using taxis or Uber. Taxis are inexpensive, and are pretty much everywhere. Just be aware that you need to agree to a price before you start the trip. Also be aware that pretty much anyone can be a taxi driver in Peru, so the quality of the cars and drivers does vary. I mostly had very good experiences with taxis in Lima, except for one guy that drove like an absolute maniac!

One thing that is excellent in Lima is the food. A popular local dish is a fish dish called ceviche. But probably my favourite meal in Lima was actually sushi. I ate at a sushi fusion restaurant which made different varieties of sushi inspired by Peruvian flavours. Absolutely delicious.

 

[Mattg]

I too love South America...I have been 4 times, the last being 4 years ago unfortunately Have you been to Argentina? I spent a fantastic 2 weeks there in 2010. Look forward to your TR!

Haven't been to Argentina yet, unfortunately. I was considering visiting on this trip but opted for Uruguay instead - I figured that Argentina would be easier to return to in the future, especially now that Air New Zealand flies there.

Great TR so far and you have certainly inticed us to visit South America in the near future

Did you score an empty besides you on the flight over or did you a seat mate?

I did indeed score an empty neighbouring seat. Actually, the Premium economy cabin was probably only 1/3 full. (Economy was packed.)

 

[LadyC]

Thanks for your TR so far. South America is somewhere i would like to explore a lot more so very interested in your report and look forward to reading more.

 

[Mattg]

The next morning, we were up early to fly to Cusco. We flew LATAM Airlines again for this leg.

If you're Peruvian, you can book a return flight from Lima to Cusco on LATAM for just US$69. However, these fares are only available to Peruvian residents. LATAM engages in active price discrimination - if you search for the same flights on the Australian version of the website, they'll cost you AU$492. Based on today's exchange rate, that's more than 5x the price! Even on the US version of the website, the flights are US$185 - more than double the "local" price.

Thankfully, we managed to avoid paying the "foreigner" prices. My friend booked the flight as part of a larger multi-city itinerary. And I used my Qantas points. The total cost for me was 10,000 QF points + $14.80 in taxes. The flight could not be booked on the Qantas website, but I was able to book over the phone after checking for award availability on the British Airways website. There was no phone booking fee.

Flight: LA2027 Lima-Cusco
Airbus A320
Departure time: 09:25
Arrival time: 11:00

The flight to Cusco is an interesting one. There are some great views along the way, and the landing into Cusco requires a steep descent and a rather exciting series of turns to avoid the surrounding mountains.

Shortly after leaving Lima we were flying over some rather high mountains:



And the view approaching Cusco:




In terms of on-board service, the flight was fine. We were served an unexciting snack box and choice of drink. The bright green drink is Inca Kola, a Peruvian soft drink. It tastes a bit like creaming soda.

 

[Mattg]

Cusco is somewhat of a tourist hub, being the gateway to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. But with a population larger than that of Canberra, it's also a city in its own right.

We'd planned just one afternoon in Cusco to acclimatise. Cusco is 3,400 metres above sea level, so the altitude can cause some issues. But we avoided strenuous exercise, ate lightly and drank lots of coca tea on the first day. And it seemed to work as neither of us suffered from altitude sickness.

We did a touch of sightseeing in Cusco. This is the main square:




The city is full of quaint streets like this one:



And a sunset shot:



I just wanted to mention that I was very impressed with our hotel, the Amaru Hostal. The location was good, the staff were friendly, the room was well-equipped and the free hot breakfast was fantastic. The place had a really nice vibe and the buildings themselves were beautiful. At well under $100 per night, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel.

 

[Mattg]

En-route to Machu Picchu, we joined a tour of the Sacred Valley the next day.



The first stop was the Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary, where the guide told us all about Peru's native animals.



The next stop was the Pisac ruins:

 

[Major]

Wow...really great photos

 

[amaroo]

Some great memories there! Looking good so far....

 

[Mattg]

After a stop for lunch in Urubamba, we headed to the town of Ollantaytambo to see the impressive Incan ruins there.




Looking back down over Ollantaytambo:



I won't go into too much detail about the Incan archaeological sites, as these were already covered recently in amaroo's excellent trip report. But all of these sites are well worth seeing, and provide a fascinating insight into the history of the Inca Empire.