LIM | Jason Around the World

La Paz, Bolivia to Medellin, Colombia on TACA Peru (via Lima)

Airports, Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Colombia, Flights, Peru 1 Response »

May 302014

Thanks to the hotel, had another “taxi of death” experience up to El Alto, where the driver showed absolutely zero fear weaving in and out of traffic as he worked his way up the side of the mountain to the airport. There was no traffic at this hour, and we made great time. Got to checkin, and only had to wait one person to get an agent…who was so uncomfortable in English that we carried on the check-in in Spanish. I mean, I really appreciate all the practice, but I was blown away by just how reluctant Bolivians were to speak English. All four boarding passes came out, and I was set for today and tomorrow. Then, it was off to passport control. There was a 15 minute wait or so, but no problems at all…but again, the whole thing was conducted in English.

Most surprising, was after exit immigration…there was a luggage check. Open it up, and go through everything. Not too sure what they were looking for, but I got really good at the phrase “es ropa…sola ropa!” (it’s clothes, just clothes!) on this trip…and they let me go with a fairly minimum check.

Headed into the lounge, which was surprisingly nice. Juice, water, etc and a few small munchies on display, but more importantly there were outlets and a comfortable quiet place to wait for the flight. I could have used Priority Pass to get in, but Avianca business class also did the trick.

When it was time to board, the lounge agent came and got us, and escorted us to the plane. The jetbridge had an entrance from the lounge, so there was no need to go back into the terminal. A very nice touch which I never would have expected in La Paz!

Avianca flight 908 (Operated by TACA Peru)
La Paz, Bolivia (LPB) to Lima, Peru (LIM)
Depart 8:00, Arrive 9:05, Flight Time 2:05
Airbus A320, Registration N492TA, Manufactured 2005, Seat 2A

OJ and water offered prior to pushing back, and a view of the airport:

There was a great graveyard of old planes, but unfortunately with the sun and earlier rain, it was hard to get a good shot:

A view of El Alto on climbout. It was really unnerving taking off from El Alto, because with the high altitude the plane takes what feels like forever to get off the ground. I was hoping we’d go over the city to get a shot of how it sits in the valley, but no such luck. I was so excited to take pictures that I asked for a window seat, something I rarely do. Didn’t matter, because the aisle ended up staying empty.

Plenty of Salt, Not Enough Oxygen…a Trip to Boliva, Colombia, and Ecuador

Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Colombia, Ecuador No Responses »

Apr 232014

I’d been thinking about this trip for a long time. For about a year, I’ve had only two countries remaining to visit in South America, Bolivia and Ecuador. I’d always planned on doing it with American, but earlier this year when United seriously devalued miles I wanted to burn every last one. I started looking for weeks I could get away, and possible routings. Getting into La Paz and out of Quito were pretty easy, but getting between them was harder.

I could have done the easy thing and just buy it, but I had some more miles left, and United was giving me all sorts of exotic routings that would allow 23 hour connections in cities I hadn’t been to before. In the end, I decided on Medellin as it sounded the most interesting and exotic. I’ll admit, I didn’t do much research when putting this together. I had over 500,000 United miles to burn, and under a week to get things done, so I planned the in and out flights…and left the middle to chance a bit. That said, I leave in barely a week and still don’t have everything booked. It’ll all come together I suspect.

…any last minute “musts” or advice are certainly welcome.

The planned itinerary, and rough plans for this report:

Part I: Washington DC to La Paz, Bolivia on US Airways and Avianca (via Charlotte, Miami, Bogota)
Part II: La Paz, Bolivia
Part III: La Paz to Uyuni, Bolivia and the Hotel Luna Salada
Part IV: Salar de Uyuni – the Salt Flats
Part V: Uyuni to La Paz, and daytrip to Lake Titicaca
Part VI: La Paz to Medellin, Colombia on TACA Peru (via Lima)
Part VII: Short Stay in Medellin
Part VIII: Medellin to Quito, Ecuador on Aero Republica and COPA (via Panama)
Part IX: Quito, Ecuador
Part X: Quito to Washington DC on COPA and US Airways (via Panama, Cancun, and Philadelphia)

Routing:

I promise this won’t be one of those post and run trip reports….it’ll go live in just over a week with the first update! I also can’t resist sharing, as a teaser, the BIG trip I’m planning in October/November. Suiffice to say with a trip report name like “From Bula to Shalom!” I hope it will be epic…four weeks in the south pacific, a couple days in DC for laundry, and then Israel and Palestine.

Aguas Calientes to DC via Cuzco, Lima, and New York

Airports, Flights, hotels, Peru, Peru 2013 No Responses »

Mar 262013

Fortunately our train out of Aguas Calientes was in the afternoon, so we had a chance to sleep in and take it easy in Aguas Calientes before we had to be at the train station for the ride back. We grabbed a casual lunch near the train station as I mentioned in another post, and then it was back to Cuzco first by train, then by shuttle bus, and finally a taxi to our hotel. We’d decided to stay at the Hotel Monasterio again, and they had our driver waiting at the train/shuttle station and our stored bags already in our new room. Absolutely perfect.

One last dinner in Cuzco, and it was up early for our series of flights back home. One last breakfast at the hotel, and they arranged a taxi for us to the airport. Once again, everything at this hotel was flawless, and geared towards people visiting Cuzco and/or Machu Picchu. A very early breakfast before our taxi, taxi to the airport arranged and on time…it was excellent.

The Cuzco airport is relatively small, and the business class/Star Alliance Gold line had a 15-20 minute line before we could check in. However, when we did, we were surprised to hear the agent say “I am adding your name to the list, you can ask about an upgrade at the gate.” I didn’t question her, but why was this? Are Star Alliance Gold members (and companions!) automatically upgraded space available at the gate on TACA?!

Immigration and security were maybe a 10 minute affair, and soon we were in the very congested departures area for our flight.

TACA Peru flight 830
Cuzco, Peru (CUZ) to Lima, Peru (LIM)
Depart 8:05, Arrive 9:30, Flight Time 1:25
Airbus A320, Registration N498TA, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K

About two minutes before boarding, the gate agent called our names, and wrote new seat numbers on our boarding passes…upgrade confirmed! I still don’t know why, since coach was only about 75% full, and we were two of four in business, but I’m not complaining at all!

It was a pretty routine flight, with a small meal offered. Seats were typical US-style up-front seats, so nothing special, but it was nice having all sorts of extra room! A shot of the meal:

DC to Lima, Peru on US Airways Shuttle and COPA

Airports, Flights, Peru, Peru 2013 1 Response »

Mar 052013

Last fall when I was working in Senegal there were posts on Flyertalk about a great fare on COPA in Business Class from JFK to Lima, Peru for around $800. I mentioned it to a few friends, not really expecting anyone to bite, and I was prepared to book and do the trip alone when a friend of mine got really excited about joining me. We booked, and soon added a US Airways Shuttle ticket to New York, and we were all set!

The plan was to spend a few days each in Lima, Cuzco, and finally Machu Picchu before heading home. Time flew by, and soon it was time to leave. The trip started in DC from the airport I still refuse to call Ronald Reagan National Airport – it shall always be just National Airport to me. US Airways was asking well over $300 for these flights when we booked, but the same flights purchased at united.com were under $150. The only complication was that because we had the United codeshare flight numbers US Airways wouldn’t offer complimentary upgrades with my platinum status. However, at 24 hours before the flight when we checked in, it let me choose seats in first. Who knows if this is supposed to be how it works, but it did….

Check-in was simple with maybe a five minute wait, we dropped of a couple bags with the TSA, and headed to the US Airways Club to get some water before boarding. It was pretty empty mid-morning, and soon it was time to board.

US Airways Shuttle flight 2164
Washington DC, National (DCA) to New York, Laguardia (LGA)
Depart 9:00, Arrive 10:17, Flight Time 1:17
Airbus A319, Registration N732US, Manufactured 2000, Seats 2D and 2F

The flight was pretty uneventful. Economy looked to be about 75% full, and every seat in first was taken. Pre-departure drinks were offered, and in-flight there was one round of drinks along with the typical US Airways snack basket full of munchies. Nothing special, but completely solid for a 45 minute flight. Of course, there was time for a morning wake-up…after all, this was the start of a big adventure!