Hello,

We will be in Peru late March, early April and are trying to figure out our itinerary. We are looking to do the 4-day trek to Machu Picchu (just need to decide which tour operator). To give some background, we are in our early 30's, are excited about the trek, but have not done a hiking/camping trip before. Soooo, we're looking for something to do after the trek for a few days that is a little more on the relaxing side! We're not sure what/where that would be so any advice would be great. Also, any advice for tour operators to Machu Picchu that might be good for two people who aren't used to camping out?? ;-)

Thanks so much in advance!!

The 4 day trek is quite rigorous at times and involes many steep climbs, many steps and narrow paths. I would suggest you thoroughly discuss it with your proposed tour operator before committing. Alternatively, you can also do a 2 day trek in the event you feel the 4 day trek is a bit too ambitious.
As for other places to visit, I would suggest Cusco and the Sacred Valley with, perhaps a day or so in Lima, assuming that you are flying in and out of Lima. Good luck.

My husband and I (early 30s) did the 4 day Inca Trail last August with a company called Llama Path. I did extensive research and they seemed to come out the best from all the reports I read on many different websites. They were absolutely superb and I would have no hesitation in recommending them. For other excellent reports see the Lonely Planet forums. There is also a big thread on the Inca Trail that I found invaluable. It's tough in parts but for the most part it's a lovely trek.

I would recommend you spend a while acclimatising before you do the trek - save it for the end of your trip. We spent a while in Arequipa which is a lovely city, and also visited Colca Canyon. It was lovely and relaxing and really helped us acclimatise. We also spent some time at Lake Titicaca, but going there directly from sea level would probably be tough.

Please ask if you have any more questions - I would be delighted to help!

When I hiked the Inca Trail I used Widerness Travel.

Our group had brand new North Face tents. The porters carried everything. Hot water was brought to our tents every morning for washing. In the morning we would hike & the porters would go ahead & get our lunch ready.

Same with dinner. By the time we walked into camp the porters had set up camp for us & they prepared our dinner.

A few words about the Trek itself. You say that you have not done a hiking/camping trip before. I cannot stress enough the importance of being in shape before you go. I was on the Stairmaster for 45 minutes/day for 3 months before my trip. The first full day of hiking you have to climb 4,000 ft. That is equivelent to hiking out of the Grand Canyon. Be prepared for altitude sickness, especially if you are from sea level elevation. Then of course you have to get all your innoculations and meds, tetnus, typhoid, maleria, hepatitis (I am sure that there are others that I forgot). If you are hiking the Inca Trail you need to start your innoculations and meds NOW! You can't get them all at once. You have to space them out. Have I scared you off yet?

The main reason I went with WT was b/c I got to stay over night at the hotel at Machu Picchu. That meant that I had access to the ruins after the tourist buses left for the day & before they arrived the next morning.

Imagine being alone in the ruins of Machu Picchu!

Oh yeah, the hotel makes a mean Pisco Sour.

After the Inca Trail I went to Explorama Lodge in the Amazon. That was relaxing. Nothing to do all day but go on boat rides to see wild life & lay in a hammock!

Hi,

Thanks for all of your advice! Cheribob, this is the first time I'm hearing about needing innoculations to visit Peru. Is this just to go to the Amazon? If we are not planning on visiting the jungle, would we still need to get shots?

Thanks,
Brett

According to the Peru travel advisory website:

No inoculations are currently required for Peru. However you should consider immunization against the following:-

Typhoid

Polio

Tetanus

Hepatitis A

I had all of those PLUS Hep B & yellowfever & malaria meds. WT recommended I have all of those innoculations. Hey, better safe than sorry. Especially if you are eating in restaurants. Now WT was very careful about where they let us eat & on the trek the water was always boiled for 20 min.

You know you are out there camping....

We did not do the hike in to MP because we had our four children with us, so can't help you much there. However, there are some important things to stress that were noted on previous posts. First off, do not underestimate the altitude, regardless of your fitness level. It would be wise to begin your trip in Cuzco for at least two days just to become adjusted. Cuzco is a wonderful city and you could easily spend three nights there and do a day trip into the Sacred Valley. Hire a private tour guide as it is reasonably priced. All of the hotels we stayed in Peru were Orient Express and they all exceeded our expectations. The Monestario in Cuzco was amazing. The hotel at the top of MP, the Sanctuary Lodge (Sanctuario) is a definite must if you can swing it. One of the previous posters mentioned their tour company offered a stay at this hotel. It is most definitely worth it.

I don't know if time will permit, but we flew to Arequippa and the Colca Canyon where we stayed in a parador (Parador del Colca, also OE). We spent 3 nights on this segment of the trip. It was one of the highlights. Saw the Milky Way...no light pollution. As of now, this is pure, unadultered Peru.

I always try to find positive things about the cities we visit, but Lima really doesn't have that much to offer the casual tourist. We were there in June during the "guarana" (spelling????). Anyway, it's a dreary haze that covers the city for much of the year. We couldn't wait for the sun to set because the haze was so depressing. We stayed at the Miraflores which was a wonderful hotel near the sea.

Assuming you are coming form the US, keep in mind the flights are strange...arriving and departing late at night. This alone will require you to spend some time in Lima. On the first part of the trip, we spent two nights in Lima and at the end, we had a day room before our flight departed late at night. It was worth it. Two nights in Cuzco is the bare minimum I would recommend. We stayed three and could have spent four. We were rushed in Arequppa with one night, but we had an excellent guide who really helped us to cover the major sights in one evening and a morning. The drive to the Colca Canyon is rough, but fantastic. Again, we had a private guide and driver for our family of six which made it nice. The Parador was rustic heaven and two nights in the canyon were fine. We could have done another.

I think our itinerary was 2 nights Lima, 2 nights Cuzco, 1 night MP, 1 night Cuzco, 1 night Arequippa, 2 nights Colca Canyon, last day was connection to Lima, then all night flight home.

Check out the Orient Express website. I can't recommend their hotels enough.

My boyfriend and I are in our early 30's and were just there in July and had a great time. I didn't feel that the hike was that strenuous but I'm a pretty regular exerciser. My boyfriend does not exercise or even walk much for that matter and is definitely not a hiker/camper like and he was fine on the trek too. He had to take it slow now, would glare at me as I waved from the top of a hill, and passed out as soon as we reached camp each day, but even he was surprised that it was tiring but not THAT bad. Two gals in our group did cry on the third day on the long hike up but they were also smoking, wearing sandals(!), and not really taking the whole thing seriously, but even they were all smiles on the last day. If you're in decent shape you should be fine.

I would buy your hiking shoes now and start breaking them in. Headlamps were great to have. Cards to play with other trekkers and the guides made for good fun. Candy, allergy pills, and packets of electrolyte powders for those with diarrhea were appreciated by those who we shared with. Travel packs of handy wipes are great for touch up "showers" and to clean stinky feet. I took acetalzolamide (sp?) for altitude sickness and felt chipper the whole time. My boyfriend who isn't usually sensitive to altitude didn't take it and didn't get altitude sickness but felt like he had a hangover every morning.

We went with Peru Treks. They seem to do a lot of work with local organizations and are involved in donations to schools (you can bring stuff to give to them to distribute to local schools). They were great, food was great, and it is certainly not even close to roughing it. Car camping is rougher than the set up they provide. All the other groups seemed similar to ours really, but I did like that it was locally run and there was effort to contribute to the local communities.

We went to Lake Titicaca before the trek and spent the night with a local family on Taquile Island. It was quiet, peaceful, and the floating islands of Uros were interesting to see and learn about (even though they seem to be keeping it going mostly for tourism, so be it). Because Lake Titicaca is even higher than Cusco (13,000 feet) it gave us some time to acclimate before our trek.

Our trip: Land in Lima and pull out our sleeping bags in the airport so we didn't waste time or money in Lima(just wait and other people will start gathering near elevators and internet store by the foodcourt to sleep). Wake up (cheap digital watches with alarms are a must) and catch first flight to Puno (airport near Lake Titicaca). Catch early boat to Taquile Island. Stay the night. Back to Puno so my boyfriend can eat a pizza and next day catch bus to Cusco. Day in Cusco exploring the beautiful city. 4-day trek to Machu Picchu. Two days in Cusco. One day shared a cab with other travelers to some of the ruins further away and to Pisac's market. Another day walked to Sacsayhuaman (sp?) and to the big Jesus statue where people come to offer you horse ride tours to the other ruins. Then back who to sunny California.

bookmark