Backpackers with
gap year travel insurance can now make the most of the spectacular Andes mountains thanks to new country-by-country advice.
The Travel Trade Gazette Online has provided an overview of the whole range, from its starting point in Venezuela to highest peak in Argentina.
While acknowledging that the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu and the historic mountain city of Cusco are the most "instantly recognisable images of the Andes and a mainstay of operators' programmes," the website also recommends routes less travelled.
Neighbouring Bolivia, it agues, has "more of a developing world feel that appeals to adventure travellers".
Taking out comprehensive
worldwide travel insurance is advisable for intrepid backpackers here, however, as many routes are extremely dangerous.
In particular, the Latin American Travel Association guide notes the 70km journey from La Paz to Coroico is "like sliding down a giant helter-skelter - without the safety barrier."
In other Bolivia travel news, a report in the Guardian last month (April 24th) revealed that one of the Andes' oldest cultures, the Uru Chipaya, is facing extinction due to climate change.
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