Noted. I’m harassing him on Facebook in about 15 seconds then. Thank you!
So, we booked our tickets and got a great deal: $528 round trip. So, even with taxes and fees and such, it’s still pretty low. We’ve recently seen prices between $800-$1000, so we got lucky.
It looks like we’ll have a 15 hour lay over in Lima, getting there at 2 pm. I hadn’t been planning anything for Lima- anyone have any suggestions? I’ve heard that catacombs are really neat and those are totally my type of thing- any thoughts on that? Other suggestions? Places to eat? Best way to get around?
Lima is a pretty shitty city. The catacombs are definitely worth seeing, and the church sitting on top of them is also pretty interesting. There’s a cool gold and armament museum that’s a bit tough to get to on the outskirts of town. It has a fascinating collection of guns.
Miraflores is probably the part of Lima you want to stay in. It’s cosmopolitan and hip and a lot safer than old town Lima. The bus system is functional but very confusing. I got lost on it and ended up in the equivalent of south central L.A. I’d probably take a cab to old town since you are likely to be disoriented after that bitch of a plane flight.
I second the Miraflores recommendation. Take a cab there and visit the Mercado Indio. There are also restaurants nearby as well as a number of restaurants around the nearby park.
Even if you’re not staying overnight, you may consider getting a hotel for day use to store your luggage (are they checking it through, or do you have to pick it up and re-check it?) and maybe rest up for a few hours. They can also set you up with a driver do you don’t have to worry about your cab driver.
Just re-read your post, Diosa. 5AM flight to Cusco? Ouch. Yeah, get a hotel room and rest up a bit. You can find one that’s not too expensive in Miraflores.
There’s also a mall-type place overlooking the beach as you’re riding along the highway toward Miraflores.
Hey wow, I think that’s it.
All the flights to Cusco from Lima are at ungodly hours of the morning. I think it has something to do with the altitude.
It’s hard to say whether or not you’ll have serious altitude sickness. My husband (a strapping fellow generally more robust than me in every way) felt it much worse than I did; I got a sudden, brief headache if I hustled uphill, but that was it. We also took it very easy, arriving in Cusco on Friday morning, strolling around, seeing Qorikancha (highly recommended), and buying our train tickets to Aguas Calientes. As noted above, train tickets can be hard to get in advance, and when we were there not all that long ago, they had to be bought in the country, so by the time we went shopping on Friday, tickets for Sunday/Monday were very limited, and we had to get the more expensive option on the way home. We’re Sabbath-observant Jews, so Friday night/Saturday was obviously pretty relaxed as well. (If you are Jewish, the Chabad there is kind of a trip - there were about 125 Israeli backpackers between the ages of 22 and 25, and six Americans, including us. We felt old, and I was only 27 as the time!) Our guidebook recommended seeing the stars from Sacsayhuamon at night, so we hiked up there (feeling uncomfortable the entire time for safety reasons) only to be kicked out by a night watchman. We both felt physically fine on the hike, though. Cusco was cold in May! I hadn’t really brought a coat, but I spent the time in a t-shirt plus two sweaters over the top, a medium-warm hat, and tights, and was still shivering unless I was in the sun. It was highs in the upper sixties, but somehow those were the chilliest upper sixties I’d ever experienced, and the nights got pretty cold. We liked our hotel, the Rumi Punku.
We took a local bus for a few dollars from Cusco to Ollantaytambo in the morning, which was a reasonably pleasant experience, and way, way cheaper than taking the tourist trains or buses. Ollantaytambo itself is a very pleasant little village with very interesting ruins. We asked a tour guide if we could tag along with his bus tour group, so we got the guided experience in exchange for a small tip, then hiked up all the way to the top, beyond where most tourists go, by ourselves. We had a panoramic view of the narrow river valley, with its classic patchwork of tiny farms, between high Andean peaks. Totally go there if you have time.
We then got up at an ungodly hour of the morning (again!) and took the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, which was much cheaper than doing so directly from Cusco, and much faster. Right near the train station, we used a bag check at one of the local hotels to dump our stuff, then bought round trip bus tickets to and from Machu Picchu next to the train station. (There is a one-way option for those who want to hike down by themselves, but you’re right, $12 for the round trip is about what I remember.) The buses run constantly. If you’re already in Aguas Calientes, and want to climb Huana Picchu (totally do it if you’re in not-terrible shape), make sure you get there early, as there are only 400 slots daily. I thought we wouldn’t be able to do it because we were taking the train in the morning and wouldn’t get there until several hours after it opened, but Machu Picchu was totally fogged in that morning, and they didn’t let people start climbing until later than usual because the path gets slippery in the wet. When we got to M.P., as mentioned, it was crazy, crazy foggy, and you couldn’t see more than 5-10 feet in front of you, but this dispersed an hour or so later, and I’m actually typing this under a blown-up picture of MP as seen through the last of the mists. Bring tons of water with you, as the only shop on the mountain, which is located outside MP itself, is majorly overpriced (like an American tourist location - something like $3.50 for a small bottle of water) and only has non-reclosable glass bottles. We didn’t make any arrangements with a tour guide, but in the central areas of MP, there are so incredibly many tour groups that you can’t help but hear the information in a half-dozen languages. Make sure to spend some time getting away from the central regions, so you can appreciate it without the mob scene.
We then went back to Cusco, and flew out the next morning to the Amazon. This was an awesome experience in a jungle lodge, one of my favorite touring experiences anywhere, but it doesn’t sound like this is on your itinerary. I’ll go into detail if you like.
We had more time in Lima on the way home than I would have liked. The only interesting thing we did there was this park full of very cool fountains, all of which are lit up at night. Some dance to music, some create interesting shapes, some you can go into yourself, etc. If you have time to kill on a Lima evening, definitely go there. We went there on a recommendation from the local synagogue’s rabbi; at the time, it had just opened, and wasn’t yet in any of the guidebooks, so we were the only non-Peruvians there.
I hope you have a great time! My husband and I have done a good bit of international travel together, and we both agree that Peru was our favorite.
If you arriving at Lima,Peru Airport,I found a place online and I booked it, turned out to be the best service in town in my opinion, ON TIME everytime and great communication, the driver contacted me here in the us via email and is very fluent in english, and really knows his way around town, had him pick me up form the airport, gave me a tour of the city (all the main areas) and when the sad time came, he took me back to the airport. VERY Relaxing and pleasant trip that was.
If any of you are interested, I found him thru Google, the website is www.Limo.pe and ask for Luis, he’s the one I had.
hello DiosaBellissima,
I just return from my peru luxury vacations, and I must say it wasn’t as expensive as other places can be what I notice is that when you are in MP there are many guides explaining you can just walk with them they won’t even notice also the food it’s great!!! and cheap!!! clothes are also cheap I tried something called mana that I just happened to love it’s kind of like a snack made of corn sweet.
Be prepare to walk and try going to the marked fruit and vegetables are so cheap!!!
Good Luck!
I did the day trip to Machu Picchu too.
You have to get back to the bus for the return trip to Cusco by mid-afternoon.
I wish I’d had more time just to explore and take in the ruins.
I would have also liked to have gone to Huayna Picchu, the ruins on top of the peak there. What a view that must be. But it’s an arduous hike that must be prearranged, and obviously if you’re doing that, you’re not checking out the ruins below as well.
A must-see while you’re in Cusco – Sacsayhuaman (not “Sexy Woman,” but kind of). Incredible place.
Congratulations on going. You’ll love it, and remember it forever.
It’s not close to Cusco, but another thing we did on one of our trips to Peru that I loved was go to Ica. It’s a rather remote part of the country but the boat ride to Paracas National Reserve is beautiful. So much nature to see – seals, millions of sea birds – we even saw a penguin out in the wild.
From there you’re within a few hours’ drive of The Nazca Lines, which must be seen in person to be believed. They offer very affordable small airplane tours.
Well, that’s a bummer, because when I was there in 2002 you could just go ahead and climb up the damn thing (I did the Inca trail, so it might have been more flexible). Paracas was cool! It was weird seeing pre-coiumbian skeletons just out in the open in exposed pits. It’s always great seeing penguins, I’ve seen them at the equator at the Galapagos.
Hey, where is my picture from Aguas Calientes?
We actually never got to the hot springs! We took the train in, in the morning. Went straight to MP, then came back and passed out. Next morning, we hopped early on the train and were off.
For those who have done the Inca trail (or similar, like Salkantay) how feasible is it to carry your own pack? I’ve done some research online and everyone recommends hiring a porter to do it for you, but if you’re very fit - though with very little backpacking experience - can it be done? And even if it can be done, is it worth the extra effort or is it just making it difficult for yourself for no good reason?
Oh…