Los Angeles-Peru-Bolivia Budget & Itinerary

This was the itinerary that worked for my time and budget. This may not be the best itinerary for your travel style or your budget. I am a backpacker, but I also want comfort (di na bagets eh :P). Some hard-core backpackers would scoff at flying instead of taking a bus. But hey, my time is more important that my money!

Those are airport codes there. I flew to get from one point to another.

My Los Angeles-Peru-Bolivia Itinerary:

Date	Flight	Location	Activity	Accommodation
Day 0	MNL-LAX	Flight to US	Flight	Flight
Day 1		Los Angeles, California	Beverly Hills Tour, Rodeo Drive, recover from jet lag	USA Hostels Hollywood
Day 2		Los Angeles, California	Hollywood Sign Tour	USA Hostels Hollywood
Day 3		Los Angeles, California	Getty Museum	None. Midnight flight to Lima
Day 4	LAX-LIM	Lima, Peru	Arrive in Lima. Explore Plaza de Armas	Lima Backpackers, Surco
Day 5	LIM-CUS	Ollantaytambo, Peru	Early morning flight to Cuzco. Pisac Ruins. Pisac Market. Ollantaytambo.	Hotel Iskay, Ollantaytambo
Day 6		Ollantaytambo, Peru	Morning: Maras, Moray, Salineras. Afternoon train to Aguas Calientes	Ecopackers Machu Picchu
Day 7		Aguas Calientes, Peru	Machu Picchu. Afternoon train to Cuzco.	Kamila Lodge, Cuzco
Day 8		Cuzco, Peru	Explore Cuzco. Shop for souvenirs in Peru.	Kamila Lodge, Cuzco
Day 9	CUS-LPB	La Paz, Bolivia	Morning flight to La Paz. Walking tour in La Paz.	Hostal Ananay, La Paz
Day 10	LPB-UYU	Uyuni, Bolivia	Morning flight to Uyuni. Rest. Shop for supplies. Book Salt Flats Tour.	Hostal "Oro Blanco", Uyuni
Day 11		Uyuni, Bolivia	Salt Flats Tour Day 1.	Salt Flats Uyuni
Day 12		Uyuni, Bolivia	Salt Flats Tour Day 2	Salt Flats Uyuni
Day 13		Uyuni, Bolivia	Salt Flats Tour Day 1. End of tour. Back in Uyuni	Hostal "Oro Blanco", Uyuni
Day 14	UYU-LPB, LPB-LIM	La Paz, Bolivia Airport	Flight day	Airport & Airplanes
Day 15	LIM-LAX	Los Angeles, California	Morning arrival in LAX. Rest. Shop in Citadel. Watch Phantom of the Opera in Pantages	Friend's House - Norwalk, LA
Day 16		Los Angeles, California	Shopping day: Trader Joe's, Target, Camarillo Outlet	Friend's House - Norwalk, LA
Day 17		Los Angeles, California	Palos Verdes, Santa Monica	Friend's House - Norwalk, LA
Day 18	LAX-MNL	Flight to HK		Flight
Day X	LAX-MNL	Arrive in MNL		Flight

 Expense Breakdown

Pre-trip costs. I booked all of these using each provider's website. These were paid before the trip.

Item	Cost (PHP)	Forex Amount
Amaszonas LPB-UYU-LPB	14,906.23	BOB 2,272.00
Peruvian Air CUZ-LPZ	5,775.45	$ 128.62
Lan Airlines tickets	58,920.69	$ 1,312.64
Peru rail	5,252.20	$ 117.00
Peru rail	2,873.19	$ 64.00
MNL-LAX ticket via CX	45,383.35	$ 1,025.42
Canon Camera Battery	2,650.00
Medicine Supply	212.50
Tripod	88.00
Monopod	150.00
8 GB Memory Card	300.00
Groceries	350.00
Uniqlo Airism Pants	990.00
Groceries (snack stash)	206.90
AXN Sports Shades	699.75
TOTAL	138,758.26

 

Notes:

• I bought an extra camera battery and memory card in preparation for the Uyuni Salt Flats Tour. A very good decision. The battery lasted for 5 days even though I was taking tons of photo per day.
• I bought some pants that will work out for hiking, but also something that I can wear aside from that. Uniqlo Airism pants turned out to be really comfortable (I scored them at a sale).
• There are four flights in the Lan Airline ticket that I booked: LAX-LIM, LIM-CUZ, LPB-LIM, LIM-LAX. The price of a round trip LAX-LIM, LIM-CUZ was $1,199. I had a flight in La Paz and the fare increased to $1,312.64. Not bad.
• The roundtrip flight from La Paz to Uyuni is expensive: cost me $332. There is a night bus from La Paz to Uyuni which costs way less than that, around $30. Even though I would consider myself a seasoned solo traveler and a lot of other backpackers do the bus ride, I was a bit iffy when I read horror stories about the bus (then again, maybe MY imagination just went wild). Feel free to take a bus for a fraction of the cost.

LOS ANGELES:

Los Angeles	USD ($)
Food	72.99
Tours	70.00
Accommodation	119.00
Transportation	93.00
Miscellaneous	30.00
Total, US	384.99

Notes:

I stayed at a friend’s house for 3 nights in LA.

Because I had really good friends, I had some free meals too!

 

PERU

PERU	USD	PEN
Food		344.10
Tours		519.00
Accommodation	77.00	36.00
Transportation	104.00	325.00
Miscellaneous		3.00
Total, Peru	181.00	1,227.10

*I paid some expenses in USD because I didn’t want to withdraw additional Peruvian Soles.

BOLIVIA

BOLIVIA	USD	BOB
Food	-	362.000
Tours	-	913.00
Accommodation	29.00	490.00
Transportation	-	201.00
Miscellaneous	-	10.00
Total, Bolivia	29.00	1,976.00

 Summary:

Item	USD	PEN	BOB	PHP
Food	72.99	344.10	362.00	-
Tours	70.00	519.00	913.00	-
Accommodation	225.00	36.00	490.00	-
Transportation	197.00	325.00	201.00	-
Miscellaneous	30.00	3.00	10.00	1,620.00
Total	594.99	1,227.10	1,976.00	1,620.00
Forex	45.00	15.00	7.00
In PHP	26,774.55	18,406.50	13,832.00	1,620.00
Total expenses during trip, PHP				60,633.05
Pre-trip cost, in PHP				138,758.26
Grand Total, PHP				199,391.31

I like pie charts. So here's one reflecting the expense breakdown:

 

Food – a mix of restaurant food and street-priced food, bottled water

Tours – Machu Pichu guide, Pisac ruins guide, entrance tickets, tips to guides, entrance fees,

Accommodation – hostels. I chose some nights to have a solo room with ensuite bathroom.

Transportation – plane fares, buses, trains, cabs

Miscellaneous – travel tax, toilet fees, shower fees, parking

You will spend seventy percent (70%) of the budget BEFORE you actually fly - that computed by dividing the pretrip costs over the total expenses. Yes, that’s 70%. Not a typo there. Flying to South America is expense coming from this this side of Asia. I don’t think the tectonic plates will move in this lifetime to bring South America closer to Asia (and that is a scary thought). You can hope for Cebupacific to fly that route and wait for a seat sale. Or hope that you’ll be assigned in that side of the world.

I took the most proactive route: I saved like crazy for the trip - instead of placing my destiny on luck just to save on airfare. 

I'll discuss the details of the bookings in the next blog post.