saregama

Appreciate any help - we are two early 30s women visiting South America for the first time.

We were told that the rain is not too bad at the end of Feb - is this true, especially in the mountains? That is, will it hamper the Machu Picchu experience?

Here is our tentative itinerary - appreciate any suggestions:
1 (Sat): Arrive Lima, fly directly to Cusco (o/n Cusco)
2 (Sun): Ollanta, Pisac (o/n Cusco)
3 (Mon): Cusco (o/n Cusco)
4 (Tues): Machu Picchu (o/n Aguas Calientes)
5 (Wed): Machu Picchu, Cusco (o/n Cusco)
6 (Thurs): Tourist bus to Puno (o/n Puno)
7 (Fri): Titicaca, Uros, Tequile (o/n Tequile)
8 (Sat): Fly to Lima
9 (Sun): Lima (fly out)

A few questions as we finalize plans, appreciate your assistance:
1) What is the best way to see sunrise & sunset Machu Picchu - take the train the first day, spend the day through sunset at MP, stay o/n in AC and then take the early bus up for sunrise the next day before heading back? Assume both sunrise & sunset are spectacular. Any other suggestions?

2) Train vs. bus from Cusco to Puno - I've heard the train is unreliable, and over-hyped - any opinions? Is the luxury tourist bus with the stops along the way a good idea? Stops worth it?

3) O/n on lake Titicaca - worthwhile? Difficult to arrange?

4) Favourite hotels in Lima, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Puno?

5) Is it worth paying a travel agent to take care of the internal hotels/transfers/tours/etc - or is it easy to pick up a tour/guide at each place?

THANK YOU so much in advance for any feedback - look forward to posting a trip report after what promises to be an incredible trip!

Elizabeth_S

Hi - a few thoughts

- seeing sunrise/sunset - when we were there in January/06 it wasn't possible to see sunrise/sunset at the site unless you had hiked in via the Inca Trail. The ruins don't open until 7am and close at 5pm (or at least they did then) which was too late/early. Also at that time of year it does tend to be foggy in the morning - the day we were there the hikers had not seen the sunrise due to heavy fog (which lifted about 9:30am)

- we didn't stay in Cusco upon arrival - we went to Ollantaytambo and stayed there for 3 nights - better for altitude acclimation and we preferred it to Cusco. You might want to consider arriving in Cusco, transfer to the Sacred Valley and do your day trips from there......then you take a short train ride to AC to see MP. Then you can spend one night in Cusco at the end (or maybe two and two).
- Not sure you have enough time to do an overnight on Taquile - we did one on Amantani and it was 3 nights nights in total ... the first night in Puno, second night on the island and third night back in Puno. It's quite a long boat ride but maybe you could get to Juliaca for a flight that day. (At that time we could only get an early morning flight to Lima) We really enjoyed the night on Amantani

Re travel agent/guide - we used a Cusco based guide/travel planner and were very happy with our trip - he booked our hotels/train/etc and was our guide/driver as well. We booked the air portions. His name is David Choque and his email address is:

[email protected]

There are other posters here who used him as well and were happy. We found his prices were less than what we could have booked for on the web. Regarding picking up local guides - I think it depends on how your Spanish is. At Hotel Sauce people were taking local cabs to the sites but weren't getting much commentary.

Re hotels - we loved Hotel Sauce in Ollanta and splurged on the Sanctuary Lodge at MP. In Lima we stayed at the Marriott on points - called it "the bubble".

Here's a link to our blog - happy to answer any questions


http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...lake_titicaca/

crellston

Firtly here is a link to our blog. The bit covering our 2 covering our 2 months in Peru starts at entry 55

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...5860/tpod.html

You only have a short time so you will just have to live with any altitude probs you will encounter.

In Sept we got the first bus up to MP from AC at 5.15 and still did not see the sunset and you aare always at the mercy of the weather!

Puno is well worth it. The only negative was the tour guide who talked incessantly for 5 hours!! ( I had to escape on my own at every stop! The places visited were very picturesque,

O/n on Titicaca is easy to arrange on the day but with such a short time I would not bother.

As for hotels budget??
Don't bother spending too much in AC as it is renowned for its awful hotels in all price ranges. (plus be very careful of the food there! I ignored teh warnings of friends in Ollantaytambo and really suffered as a result.

As for using a tour guide, we had the luxury of time as we were on a year long trip but with 8 days I would be v. tempted to use a tour operator to maximise your time in each place although you will pay a large premium for this

saregama

Thank you, Elizabeth_S and crellston.

mlgb

I just got back so maybe my experience will help. See trip report for further details.

I agree with other posters, consider staying in Ollanta the first few nights rather than Cusco. Then you can take the early backpacker train (5:37 am) to Machu Picchu, arrives something like 7 am. You might only need a day at MP, and if you take the late train back to Ollanta, and it's not raining, you might see a sunset. If it starts raining I think you'll be able to trade in your return tickets (10% penalty) for an earlier train to Ollanta, since it's low season.

Your first day, see Pisac, since it's Sunday. You may or may not feel up to the Ollanta ruins, as an alternative you can walk around Inka Town in Ollanta. On Monday I'd go to Machu Picchu. That allows for a little flexibility on Tuesday, either for a rainout Monday or to see the Ollantaytambo ruins. You might even return on Tuesday and see Moray, Salineras and Chinchero. Wednesday for Cusco.

For hotels I liked El Balcon in Cusco, if you book direct and pay cash you'll get a very good rate (I paid $25 US). I stayed at El Albergue in Ollanta but Hotel Sauce also looks like a good choice, they just didn't respond to my email inquiry.

I wasn't especially pleased with my two hotels in Lima, so I won't recommend either. I like the looks of Second Home Peru and think I'd give it a try next time. Miraflores didn't impress me much, so I wouldn't go out of my way to stay there. I enjoyed an evening tour of the colonial center (Mirabus tour on the double decker bus) and the Larco Museum the most.

mlgb

Forgot to post link to trip report

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35179840

And about guides... there were freelance guides at Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Machu Picchu and even Chinchero's church. You don't need one at Moray or at Salineras.

I used the hotel's transfer service between Ollanta and Cusco.

Hotels and train are easy to book, email to hotels (or their own websites if they have them) and Perurail's website. Hotels should give you a discount if you pay cash and book direct. Hotels are also helpful in telling you how to use local taxis and busses.

So no, I don't think it's necessary to use an agent, especially in the off-season.