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The Travel Bucket List - pt 1

South America


10. Motorcycle Diaries Route -And to start off, here's a bit of a cheat. But it isn't a bucket list without a road trip. And who hasn't dreamt about a motorcycle trip around South America. It's cliched and it breaks the criteria rules cause it involves almost all the Spanish speaking countries of South America. But this one is about the trip.





Fulfillment criteria : Must follow route of Che Guevara around South America on the full 8000km ride. Have to use motorbike, single-cylinder not racing.



Suggested music: The Motorcycle Diaries (Soundtrack). What else?

9.Patagonia, Argentina & Chile - The plains, the rivers, the glaciers, the lakes with icebergs. Patagonia is a beautiful place. Check out the beaches on Rio Negro, chill with penguins on Punta Tombo. See some volcanoes, step on Tierra del Fuego-almost the end of the Americas.




Fulfillment criteria : None. It's all good, summer or winter. Just have to get there.





Suggested food to check out: The chocolate bars and fondue restaurants of San Carlos de Bariloche. Specifically La Bonita Fondue and the Chocolate Museum.



8. Amazon Rainforest, Brazil & Peru - This one spans a lot of countries too, but in this case it isn't a cheat since any one works once I get to the rain-forest. This one somewhat counts as a repeat since I've been there (technically). This one is all about the beauty of nature. Green tourism has to have something to it or it wouldn't be popular. And wild animals are better to seen when they aren't in cages and in their own habitats (unless they eat you, of course).



Fulfillment criteria: No technicalities. Actually go to the jungle, spend some time. Trek the forests, see some animals. Stay over. Be eco-tourist and see what that's like. Doesn't count if the river isn't seen.




7. Paramaribo, Suriname - This one is a personal favorite. I like Suriname a lot. It says Paramaribo, but really the whole of the country counts because you can drive to almost anywhere in three hours or less now that the roads are fixed. Except maybe for the jungles, which aren't that traversed anyway. It'll be a lazy trip, but sometimes that's a good thing



Fulfillment criteria: Have a Parbo Bier. Eat some soto. Read a book on the riverfront of the Suriname river.



Suggested food to check out: Get coffee at Zus and Zo, follow up with lunch at Roopram's Roti shop.




6. Santiago,Chile (and Easter Island) - Easter Island is a huge cheat but I want to see the statues. Staying away from mines seems like a good idea too. Check out the wines and the beaches, maybe go fishing.



Fulfillment Criteria : Head to Vina Del Mar, Take a wine tour in the Mendoza region.See the three houses/museums of Neruda





Suggested Cliched Activity: Sit at a grape farm drinking a bottle of wine grown on the property and read Pablo Neruda; Selected Poems.




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