peru trip plalnning- guides?

Old Oct 8th, 2007, 03:17 PM
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peru trip plalnning- guides?

I have read most of the posts on Peru and am trying to decide on whether to plan this myself or go with a tour company. My question is..How much would a private driver/guide cost per day. One poster mentioned David Choque would pick you up at your hotel each day and return you there or to the next destination. I was wondering how much that costs. Thanks for any insight or guides names and recommendations.
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Old Oct 8th, 2007, 04:27 PM
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We used David Choque for portions of our trip to Peru. I've never used a private guide so I don't have a basis for price comparision. I do know that we could have gotten from village to village for much less money than what we paid David. Taxis, or even cheaper the bus, would have worked and cost far less than private tranport. I think David provided an extra dimension to our trip and we very much enjoyed the time we spent with him and the tours we did with him.
I can give you some idea of what he charged us. He picked us up at our hotel in Pisac, took us to the ruins and then drove us to our hotel in Ollantaytambo--$38 per person (there were 2 of us). He drove us from Ollantaytambo to Cusco and then we did tour of Cusco--charged $25 per person for drive and $38 per person for the tour. He picked us up at our hotel in Cusco and we spent the day touring including - Pikillaqta( the only pre - Inca town in this area) – Tipon (the water God Temple of the Incas) and Oropesa(the traditional bakery town)--$38 per person. We were in Peru in April 2007. David will tailor his time with you to whatever works best for you. We emailed back and forth to come up with an itineray. David called us once to ask a couple questions. Once in Peru, we did make some changes from what we had planned.

Be glad to answer any other questions you may have about David.

Have a great trip.
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Old Oct 9th, 2007, 04:25 AM
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Thanks so much for your quick response.This trip we're planning is for next summer so I have lots of time to figure everything out. So far after flying to Lima, spending the night, and I was thinking of flying to Cusco and being met there and taken to Ollantaytambo..staying there 2 or 3 nights and then taking the train to MP. You said that David picked you up at Pisac. How did you get there? Was that from Lima or Cusco? I may not be knowledgable enough yet to be posting, but I do know that Pisac was on my list along with Sacred Valley, MP, maybe Colca Cnyon, and possible Puno. And I do know that we want to go directly to Sacred Valley because of the altitude acclaimation. Any help you can give me would be wonderful. Did you do a trip report on this forum? Thanks
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Old Oct 9th, 2007, 05:16 AM
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We also hired David for our trip in January 2006 - costs were similar to the ones yestravel outlined - in addition he booked all our hotels and train (and overnight on Lake Titicaca) - overall his prices were the same or less expensive than I saw on hotel websites.

I would go independently versus a group but I don't like groups!

Your itinerary sounds similar to ours - here's a link to our blog so you can see how we split our time

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...aca/index.html

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Old Oct 9th, 2007, 06:06 AM
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We arrived late in Lima and spent that night and the following day there. From Lima we flew to Arequipa for 3 days where we stayed at a lovely B&B, Casa Arequipa. They arranged a trip for us to Colca Canyon which we did in 2 days and 1 night. Colca Canyon was fascinating and seeing the condors was great. Can't recall the cost of the trip, we went in a van with about 14-16 people. Tour guide was very good. We stayed overnight at Colca Canyon Lodge. We flew from Arequipa to Cusco and David met us at the Cusco airport and drove us to our hotel in Pisac. I don't have his transportation costs for that ride. It's about a 30-45 minutes drive from the Cusco airport to Pisac. Along the way David pointed out sights and gave us useful background information about the Incas and Peru in general. We spent the day and night on our own in Pisac and David picked us up the next day for the tour of the Pisac ruins which are fantastic. After the ruins David drove us to Ollantaytambo where we stayed for 3 days and were on our own. I loved Ollantaytambo and highly recommend spending some time there exploring the area and seeing the ruins. We visited MP from Ollantaytambo. David did not go with us to MP. He arranged for another guide to meet us there. This guide was okay, but no where near as good as DAvid was. The guide was with us for about 3 hours and we had the afternoon free in MP. It was pretty deserted after lunchtime.

Pisac is approximately an hour from Ollantaytambo, so you can easily visit Pisac from Ollantaytambo if you want. We enjoyed our day and night there just hangng out and watching the activities in the little village. We deliberately planned ot be there on a non market day to avoid crowds. The market is up everyday, so you can see it on days other than Sunday.

We had already booked most of our hotels by the time I contacted David. He did manage to get in touch with the little hotel in Pisac which we were having trouble contacting. Even though he didnt book our hotels, he woul dalways go in and make sure everything was fine before he left us. He got our train tixs to MP and the entrance fee and bought the pass for the various ruins. He charged us the costs of the tixs and entrance fees.

Didn't do a trip report and didn't go to Puno. We spent a little over 2 weeks in Peru.
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Old Oct 9th, 2007, 12:47 PM
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Thanks so much I will definitely contact David. Does he actually work for a tour company or is he on his own? I really think I can plan this without a package deal if I get help from David. To other posters, fi anyone has taken the train from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca I'd love tohear from you...where you stayed and the price of the train one way because if we do that last we can fly from there back to Lima I think. Thanks to all.

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Old Oct 9th, 2007, 01:42 PM
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David has his own company - his email is

[email protected]

He drove us to Puno and then we flew from Juliaca (an hour or so from Puno) to Lima via Cusco.
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Old Oct 10th, 2007, 02:33 PM
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Thanks so much for the email address and info.
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Old Oct 10th, 2007, 05:28 PM
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My daughter and I just returned, and we used Percy Salas. His prices were slightly lower than David's, although comparable. I checked with both of them before deciding. Percy, too, was wonderful. We really enjoyed our time with him. He picked us up at the airport in Cusco and drove us to our hotel in Ollantaytambo with a stop at the Sunday market in Chinchero (he recommended it over Pisac, as a look at a more traditional market). The next day he took us on a Sacred Valley tour. We visited Moray, the salt pans at Salineras, and Pisac (where the tourist market was in full swing although it was Monday). He picked up our train tickets to Machu Picchu and arranged our hotel in Agua Caliente. After our MP visit, he picked us up again in Ollantaytambo, toured the ruins there with us, and drove us to our hotel in Cusco. Next morning he gave us a city tour, and on our last day in the area, he picked us up in the morning and took us to the bus station and sent us off on our trip to Lake Titicaca. He's definitely another option worth considering. I'll be starting my trip report (maybe tomorrow) and will provide more details in it. Will also check on the prices Percy charged and get back to you.
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Old Oct 11th, 2007, 01:41 PM
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Thanks so much for posting. Your itinerary sounds just what we are looking for. We considered Colca Canyon but it was such a drive from Arequipa and condors are not my cup of tea. However I would like to see alpacas and llamas. I'm anxious to hear about your train ride and where you stayed in Lake Titicaca. Snf ig you flew from there back to Lima or on to another destination. I'll definitely check with both guides.
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Old Oct 11th, 2007, 01:44 PM
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Sorry about the typos....and if you flew back to Lima or onto somewhere else. Also do you have an email address for Percy? Thanks
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Old Oct 11th, 2007, 02:02 PM
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Good question about the tour guide. My family of 4 just returned from Peru. We spent 2 nights in Lima, then flew to Cusco for 2 nights and through a travel agent while in Cusco arranged for a driver to take us to Pisac ruins for 1 1/2 hour visit then to Ollantaytambo - all for 130 soles, about $43. On the return a few days later we found a taxi in Ollantaytambo who agreed to drive us to the salt mines, then to Chinchero and to Cusco for 60 soles -about $20. We tipped him well. We did not arrange much of anything in advance (except the train to MP), it's a very easy country to figure out. Taxis are cheap. We did not have guides and may have missed their insights but we worked from books. Enjoy
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Old Oct 11th, 2007, 02:12 PM
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Percy's email address is:

[email protected]

His spoken English is much better than his written English! I was a little nervous because his writing isn't great. But he's very easy to understand in person - and loves practicing his English. Like David, he's a university graduate with a degree in tourism. It's a 5-year program.
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Old Oct 13th, 2007, 05:31 AM
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We hired Choque for a big chunk of our trip last month and were so sorry we fired him midway. He charged $2400, of which I paid him half last March. That kind of money, in Peru, is worth premium service. Choque said he charged so much because he, personally, would be our guide for all except Macchupicchu.
That price covered the following for 3 of us: airport pickup at Juliaca, hour-long drive to Puno, tour of Sillustani ruins (roughly 90 minutes), day on Lake Titicaca (6-hour boat ride, lunch, visits to 2 islands), 3 hour drive Puno to Cuzco with stops at other ruins and lunch, half-day tour of Cuzco, drive to & from Ollantaytambo for train to Macchupicchu, day at MP w/another guide, and 3 days in the mountains, spending 2 nights at a hospedaje (rustic inn).
Choque said he was sick, and had us met by a driver who spoke no English. At the last minute he hired a guide he didn't know for Titicaca, whose English was insufficient. There were no stops at other ruins on the way to Cuzco. He was so petty that he demanded we pay for our own soft drinks ($4) at lunch (this may be standard for the usual tourist, but it isn't for first-class service). He failed to show when scheduled for the half-day tour of Cuzco. That did it. We cut out the side trip into the mountains and said good riddance.
If doing it over again I'd not schedule a guide ahead of time. We did find some good guides in Peru, and there is a website listing those who are certified, along with the language(s) spoken. There are loads of tour agencies, and booking a tour via van (not bus) can include hotel pickup.

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Old Nov 3rd, 2007, 05:22 PM
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We traveled to Peru last November and also used David Choque; he was fabulous. We never hire guides when we travel, and are very independent. Although I booked my own hotels and B&B's, David picked us up and showed us around. This was especially helpful in the Sacred Valley. We took the train to Machu Pichu and arranged for a guide for a few hours when we were there. Otherwise, you can really used your guide book to explain the ruins. David did take us to Lake Titacaca and arrange an overnight stay with a family, which was magical.

You can view my trip details from a post I did under kbc Peru Trip-Guide Recommendations and Trip Comments.

I hope you have fun! We explored Ecuador two years ago, Peru last year and are heading to Chile/Easter Island this December.
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Old Nov 4th, 2007, 04:25 AM
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Manzie -- we're thinking about a trip to Chile, been reading up on it. Would u mind sharing where you'll be going? thanks
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Old Nov 4th, 2007, 01:49 PM
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Yestravel,

Here's our Chile itinerary:
1. 2 days/nights Santiago (Casa de Newen B&B). As we have several other full days in Santiago between the following itinerary's flights, we will use one of these full days to go to the coast for the day and visit Valapariaso.

2. fly to Temuco and rent car. Stay in Pucon area at Hotel Antumal 3 nights. We plan on driving around and exploring the Lake District

3. We then fly via Santiago to Calama and spend 3 nights in San Pedro de Atacama; staying at Hotel Altiplanico. We plan on exploring this extraordinary desert area for 3 days and make day arrangements when we arrive.

4. We then return to our B&B in Santiago for one night before flying to Easter Island where we are staying 4 nights at Hotel Gomero.

5. 1 night back in Santiago and a full day before we leave on our flight home.

This gives us a variety of sights in two weeks including the Lake District, Atacama Desert, Easter Island and Santiago. We didn't feel there was enough time to give Patagonia justice, and the wine area wasn't a priority for us given that we will have our, now 13 year old, son travelling with us. We leave next month, but I planned this all last Spring. It's been hard finding other traveller resources for Chile similar to other South America trips we've planned. At least for us, the itinerary seems to allow for some rest by staying in one place a few days at a time, yet a taste of various areas of the country. Good luck with your planning.
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Old Nov 5th, 2007, 07:41 AM
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Thanks so much, Manzie. We've just begun researching a potential trip to Chile and its always helpful to hear what others are doing.
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Old Nov 6th, 2007, 06:37 AM
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Question for Yestravel:

Do you remember the name of the guide you had at MP? We have hired David for our trip to Peru next spring and he is arranging the MP portion with a local guide.

Many thanks.
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Old Nov 6th, 2007, 12:04 PM
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JudyN--wish I could remember the name of our guide at MP. If you have a name, maybe if I hear it, it will trigger my memory cells. Sorry.
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