I’ve spent a lot of the free time in my life traveling — through Europe, Australia, Egypt, India, the Caribbean, etc. — but South America always stuck out as one glaring to-do flag that just never was crossed off the list. And now, after 4.5 months through Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia, I can’t believe our time in this continent is over. (For now! I’ll be back to conquer giant Brazil some day soon.)

We’ve seen such awe-inspiring lanscapes and done some pretty gutsy things (i.e. zip-lining on six consecutive cables in Peru, cliff-diving in Argentina). We ate a lot, A LOT of food (mostly steak and dulce de leche). We made friends who made strong, sometimes life-changing impressions on us, even though we may never see them again. (By the way, it’s really hard to keep perspective that what you’re doing is cool and interesting when you constantly meet other travelers who are doing even cooler and more interesting things.)

But I also learned a lot about my personality, as well as Eaman’s and how we travel together. It’s not easy to be together 24/7, but aside from the minor flare-ups, I’m proud to say we make it work. Our relationship gets stronger every day, and perhaps that’s because we’ve gone through so much — from grueling hikes and nights out until 7 a.m. to language barriers and food poisioning.

Zarate, Argentina. Look at how short Eaman’s hair was!!

I’m pretty impressed with how well I can understand even the fastest of Spanish speakers now, but my conversational skills are stagnant. I wish I had taken tango or salsa lessons, though that was more of a money issue. I wish I had volunteered. And wish I Couchsurfed in at least one place. Laziness accounts for the last two, and it’s unfortunate that only when something is ending that you realize just how lazy you’ve been.

But if anything, our time in South America was a good introduction to long-term travel, and we’ll keep the things we learned in mind as we move on to Asia later this year.

Colca Canyon, Peru:

We don’t want to end up like that, which is why living in an apartment in
Buenos Aires was so important and why living in Hawaii (again, hopefully!) will be the change of pace and lifestyle refresher we need.

But that isn’t the end of my dissertation on South America. In lieu of a superlative list — I find it way too hard to compare countries, as they’re all so different — I wanted to give you a rundown of South America by the numbers because everything — even 24-hour bus rides — sound fun in retrospect.

Number of hostels: 19

Largest number of roommates in one hostel room: 9

Number of “rustic” accommodations: 3 (one in the Peruvian jungle had a shower that was hooked up to the electric wires for heat, so we’d constantly get shocked when touching the faucets)

Number of inter-South America flights: 7

Number of times in Bogota’s airport (for layovers or landings): 3 (Archana) and 4 (Eaman)

Number of plazas visited named Plaza de Armas: 4

Number of nationalities met: 24 (mostly Germans)

Number of hikes/treks: 9

Number of personal belongings lost between the two of us: 7

Number of local dances learned: 4

Number of puppy friends made: 9

Number of new songs purchased on iTunes after hearing them in South America: 11

Number of times we ate at El Turko, a shawarma cafe, in Arequipa, Peru: 9

Number of days in hospital: 1

I´m not sure how it happened, but we had one month in Peru, three months in Argentina but just a few days in Santiago, Chile — three for me and two for Eaman. We’ve loved how our itinerary has shaped up — especially since we wound up with two weeks in Colombia, where I’m writing this post from — but it’s funny to take a step back and look at the breakdown, especially since Chile was on the top of Eaman’s destination list.

And never have we had such little concept and grasp of a city as we did when we arrived in the country’s capital.

We did have some impressions of Chile as a whole from our nine-day stay in Torres del Paine, and they mostly had to do with how much more regimented and organized the country is compared to Argentina. For example, Chilean border control guards usurped fruits and veggies we had brought from Argentina on our bus to prevent alleged cross-country contamination.

And as we soon realized, Santiago is laced with the same strictness. At the bus terminal — of all places, a crazy South American bus terminal! — to go to the bathroom, you first pay a small fee, then you get a receipt with a bar code and then you scan that bar code to pass through a turnstyle. It definitely ensures clean stalls.

But we wanted to know more about Santiago. We took the advice of a British backpacker in our six-bed hostel dorm — the wonderfully chill Don Santiago hostel in Barrio Brasil — and headed out for a free walking tour of the city. (Well, not really free because the guides, deservedly so, expect some sort of tip.)

The tour, which lasted a solid four hours, was a fantastic way to break down the neighborhoods, learn some history and get restaurant recs. It made me realize how livable of a city Santiago is; it’s clean, the public transportation is great, and, like I said, it’s very uncharacteristically efficient for a South American city.

True, there isn´t a lot to see tourism-wise, but the culture and food scene seems dynamite. And what´s better is it all feels a lot less scene-y than Buenos Aires. The cool restaurants are actually still cool. And while three days were perfect to see the city, Eaman and I could spend a lifetime visiting all the restaurants.

Here, some snapshots of our stay…not just food:

Painting of Pablo Neruda near the Chilean poet´s home:

Of all the places we wanted to visit on this trip, Patagonia was the one place with the most vague itinerary. We knew we wanted to go, but to do what, when and for how long were all questions marks.

But Torres del Paine, the 242,242 hectare-size national park near Puerto Natales, Chile was a destination that constantly popped up in backpacker conversations. After Google-imaging the heck out of the place, we were convinced we had to go there, too. Turquoise-colored lakes, snow-capped mountains, brilliantly vivid wild flowers…yes please!

(Our own pics:)

They mapped out the famous ‘W’ trek as if there were no other option. It would be more than 80 km of hiking, camping every night and fending for ourselves without a guide.

It’s funny because there was never a moment when Eaman and I thought, “Hmm, should we do this?” We just went for it. And that’s how we ended up going on a five day/four day trek through Torres del Paine.

The path we took is certainly well worn, but even though you see other hikers, you’re often on your own. Its course takes the shape of — you guessed it — a ‘W’, with uphill, downhill, rocky terrain and magnificent scenery. But this trip was about way more than a series of beautiful paths.
This was a full-on camping trip (with rented equipment).

The days weren’t over until we pitched our tent, cooked our food, cleaned our pots, got water from the stream for the next day and hung our food so mice couldn’t get to it. This was the real deal.

Our home for four nights:

1. I will never, ever, in a millions years be OK with going to the bathroom outside or having dirt under my fingernails. Call me a priss, but both so fully and completely gross me out. Yes, I had to go to the bathroom in the wilderness during this trek, but I’m trying to block it out of my memory. As for the fingernails, it’s just a pet peeve.

2. Camping is the ultimate relationship test. I think all couples should go on a trek like this before committing for the long haul. Most of the time, we were practically giddy thinking of how happy we were to do this together. But there were times — like when we got lost for two hours or when we had to pack up our tent in the freezing rain — that really tested our patience and involved long portions of hiking without speaking to each other. And to top it off, you see your mate at his/her dirtiest and shabbiest while camping. No hiding. Lucky for us, we passed the test.

Beginning of the trek:

4. A piece of chocolate goes a long way. Chocolate, or any treat for that matter, should be a mandatory part of your packing list. It gives you that extra boost when you’re feeling low and energy-zapped. I think the chocolate donuts — they’re like candy, not real donuts — we purchased at the Los Cuernos campsite played a small part in the speediness of day 4.

5. I don’t love camping. I feel like people automatically write you off as a wuss for a statement like that, but that’s not fair. You can’t be built for everything in life, right? This trip has been a good way to figure out exactly what makes me tick. What I now know is I don’t hate camping; it’s just not my kind of thing. I have a huge problem with germs, I detest spiders, and I hate the idea of finishing a good workout only to fill myself up with sodium-filled instant pasta. And in the case of hiking the W, I was so cold at night in the tent, I wanted to cry. That being said, camping does make you appreciate little things like hot showers and good food. But just so we’re clear, I love hiking. I could hike for 8, 9, maybe 10 hours a day and be fulfilled. I’d just like to come home, shower and eat a healthy meal after. (FYI Eaman took to camping much better than me and really likes it.)

6. Always prepare for rain. Before the trek, a rental shop worker told me the weather would be beautiful and not to bother renting waterproof pants. I trusted him. Why would he lie if he could’ve made a quick buck? Well, it rained the last day and that hike uphill in my yoga pants to the final viewpoint of the torres (towers) was pretty miserable. Lucky for me, I was still half-asleep at that early morning hour that it didn’t hit me that much.

7. Bring ankle boots for a strenuous hike like this. In our low-cut hiking shoes, our poor ankles were going every which way. It slowed us down quite a bit on the slippery downhills.

8. Walking sticks are a godsend. Not only did they alleviate stress on our joints and help us maintan a rhythm, they also gave us a nice upper body workout. Get two; they’re a must!

Check out a few more snaps from the hike: