Just Back from Peru -- Questions Welcome
Jun 11th, 2008, 05:00 AM
#21
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JC98 - Thanks for all of the great info here. For our trip next year, we are thinking of doing a similar itinerary (maybe Arequipa instead of Lake Titicaca). Did you feel you had enough time in Ollanta, AC, MP, and Cusco? Anywhere would you would have added time?
Also, just curious what the total cost for your trip was? You don't have to answer that, of course. I am just trying to get a sense of costs as I am used to traveling in Europe, and this would be our 1st trip to S. America. We are going to Costa Rica in January, and I was surprised to find that hotel costs aren't any less $$ than in the US. It sounds like Peru is much less expensive.
Also, just curious what the total cost for your trip was? You don't have to answer that, of course. I am just trying to get a sense of costs as I am used to traveling in Europe, and this would be our 1st trip to S. America. We are going to Costa Rica in January, and I was surprised to find that hotel costs aren't any less $$ than in the US. It sounds like Peru is much less expensive.
Jun 11th, 2008, 11:29 AM
#22
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sessa, we thought going back to Machu Picchu the 2nd day would be good. We hiked Huayna Picchu, and wished we had more time to hike to the Moon Temple, the Sun Gate, and other peaks. The landscape there is very spectacular. I guess the point of Machu Picchu is its setting. The ruins are not as great as other more important parts of the Inca empire, like Cusco.
We spent 3 days in Cusco, and thought that was a bit too much. Maybe because of the ongoing festival, many churches and museums were closed, so we were walking around wondering what to do after seeing the festival for 3 days in a row (in Cusco alone) and every day elsewhere too.
Traveling in Peru is pretty cheap we thought. Don't know the total cost (usually not good at tracking these things), but you can stay in pretty clean, safe, decent (sometimes charming hotel) for around $40 USD a night. Taxis are inexpensive. A private taxi for going long distance in the Sacred Valley for the whole day costs less than $50 USD. Or you can try to take the public bus (in the Sacred Valley for instance). We didn't take it but heard from many travelers we met who took it, and thought it was a fun experience. The bus fare is only $1 USD for a 1 1/2 hour trip.
Only Machu Picchu is the most expensive. One day admission is $45 USD. Roundtrip bus from AC is $12 USD. The Vistadome train from Ollanta is around $70 USD one way. Backpacker train is $20 USD cheaper. You can do Vistadome one way and backpacker train back, like we did. We thought the backpacker train was pretty decent.
Overall, Peru is very easy and inexpensive to travel in. I'd highly recommend it. You get beautiful landscapes, ancient ruins, living indigenous culture, colonial architecture, interesting food. And it's pretty safe and clean too. That's another aspect that impressed us -- how clean the streets in Peru were--from the little towns to big cities like Lima. Cleaner than big cities in the US!
We spent 3 days in Cusco, and thought that was a bit too much. Maybe because of the ongoing festival, many churches and museums were closed, so we were walking around wondering what to do after seeing the festival for 3 days in a row (in Cusco alone) and every day elsewhere too.
Traveling in Peru is pretty cheap we thought. Don't know the total cost (usually not good at tracking these things), but you can stay in pretty clean, safe, decent (sometimes charming hotel) for around $40 USD a night. Taxis are inexpensive. A private taxi for going long distance in the Sacred Valley for the whole day costs less than $50 USD. Or you can try to take the public bus (in the Sacred Valley for instance). We didn't take it but heard from many travelers we met who took it, and thought it was a fun experience. The bus fare is only $1 USD for a 1 1/2 hour trip.
Only Machu Picchu is the most expensive. One day admission is $45 USD. Roundtrip bus from AC is $12 USD. The Vistadome train from Ollanta is around $70 USD one way. Backpacker train is $20 USD cheaper. You can do Vistadome one way and backpacker train back, like we did. We thought the backpacker train was pretty decent.
Overall, Peru is very easy and inexpensive to travel in. I'd highly recommend it. You get beautiful landscapes, ancient ruins, living indigenous culture, colonial architecture, interesting food. And it's pretty safe and clean too. That's another aspect that impressed us -- how clean the streets in Peru were--from the little towns to big cities like Lima. Cleaner than big cities in the US!
Jun 12th, 2008, 10:29 AM
#24
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Looking back at the questions, I forgot to answer this one:
BUS FROM CUSCO TO PUNO
The stops we made are listed below. The descriptions come from Inka Express's website:
http://www.inkaexpress.com/
I thought the sights were interesting. See athom (Karen)'s excellent trip report. She's more descriptive than me.
Andahuaylillas: Referred to as the Andean Sistine Chapel because of its magnificent frescoes, the church is but one example of the mestizo baroque architecture typical of the Cusco School which was prominent in the 17th century. You will marvel at the ceiling of carved panels covered with gold leaf.
Raqchi: (or the temple of the God Wiracocha) 121 kilometers from Cusco, this Inca temple is monumental:100 meters in lenght, 26 meters in width and 14 meters in height. Divided in two naves, each of these still retains the base of eleven giant columns. The base of the walls consists of Imperial Inca stonework with a top section of adobe. Adjacent to the temple, we can see many storehouses, used for various purposes: military and religious
La Raya: The highest pass on the route between Cusco and Puno, La Raya is 4335 meters above sea level. Beautiful landscapes await you, as well as the animals that are symbolic of the Andes: llamas, alpacas and vicunas. This is a region situated between two cultures, Quechua and Aymara, as well as a composite of two terrains: the dry and arid altiplano and the more verdant Quechua valleys and rivers.
Pukara: This is the most important and oldest ceremonial site this side of Tiahuanaco.Characterized by a serie of staired plateforms, the ruins also reveal some litosculptures and tombstones, all witnesses of a pre-Inca civilization, possibly one at the origin of the Andean culture of the Altiplano.
BUS FROM CUSCO TO PUNO
The stops we made are listed below. The descriptions come from Inka Express's website:
http://www.inkaexpress.com/
I thought the sights were interesting. See athom (Karen)'s excellent trip report. She's more descriptive than me.
Andahuaylillas: Referred to as the Andean Sistine Chapel because of its magnificent frescoes, the church is but one example of the mestizo baroque architecture typical of the Cusco School which was prominent in the 17th century. You will marvel at the ceiling of carved panels covered with gold leaf.
Raqchi: (or the temple of the God Wiracocha) 121 kilometers from Cusco, this Inca temple is monumental:100 meters in lenght, 26 meters in width and 14 meters in height. Divided in two naves, each of these still retains the base of eleven giant columns. The base of the walls consists of Imperial Inca stonework with a top section of adobe. Adjacent to the temple, we can see many storehouses, used for various purposes: military and religious
La Raya: The highest pass on the route between Cusco and Puno, La Raya is 4335 meters above sea level. Beautiful landscapes await you, as well as the animals that are symbolic of the Andes: llamas, alpacas and vicunas. This is a region situated between two cultures, Quechua and Aymara, as well as a composite of two terrains: the dry and arid altiplano and the more verdant Quechua valleys and rivers.
Pukara: This is the most important and oldest ceremonial site this side of Tiahuanaco.Characterized by a serie of staired plateforms, the ruins also reveal some litosculptures and tombstones, all witnesses of a pre-Inca civilization, possibly one at the origin of the Andean culture of the Altiplano.
Jun 12th, 2008, 10:33 AM
#25
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A clarification on the stop called Pukara above. The Inka Express website says you stop at the ruin, but we didn't. We went to a small museum instead and saw some interesting rock sculpture from some indigenous group (sorry, don't know the name. The problem for me going on a tour for this portion instead of doing my own research. 
). We also went into an old church ourselves. The church looked impressive, but sadly in disrepair.
). We also went into an old church ourselves. The church looked impressive, but sadly in disrepair.
Jun 12th, 2008, 11:54 AM
#27
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Just a quick add-on to the Inka Express bus ride. At the stop in Pukara, my son and I decided to walk the 5 minutes (300 m) up to the ruins instead of going into the museum. We had the place to ourselves, and though it's not one of the most impressive sites, it was in a prety impressive location and was interesting to walk around. Overall, I'm not sure I'd recommend this bus ride, it was a little long and I thought the Sistine Chapel analogy was quite a stretch. But the adobe Raqchi ruins were a real high point. I have never taken an organized tour before, and this gave me a taste of what that would be like -- descending en masse off the bus, into a courtyard to a tourist restaurant for a nondescript buffet lunch, milling around behind a tour guide and waiting for the bus horn to honk to pile back in, stopping at a place with people holding llamas and dressed up to earn a few soles for a picture and trying to sell the same stuff you see in every market in Peru. But I admit, those ruins at Raqchi were really nice.
For travel between Cusco and Puno, I would really highly recommend the overnight bus on Tour Peru. It was about $15 or $20 and its "bus cama" (bus bed) claim is not too far off the mark. It reclines almost as much as a business class seat in the air and the bus was heated and clean. Of course, arriving in Puno at 4 in the morning is not terribly convenient, but the owner of All Ways Travel and the Lake Titicaca tour we took had someone pick us up and bring us to his apartment, where we slept for a few hours -- pretty incredible, I thought.
For travel between Cusco and Puno, I would really highly recommend the overnight bus on Tour Peru. It was about $15 or $20 and its "bus cama" (bus bed) claim is not too far off the mark. It reclines almost as much as a business class seat in the air and the bus was heated and clean. Of course, arriving in Puno at 4 in the morning is not terribly convenient, but the owner of All Ways Travel and the Lake Titicaca tour we took had someone pick us up and bring us to his apartment, where we slept for a few hours -- pretty incredible, I thought.
Jun 14th, 2008, 05:37 PM
#28
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JC98,
I was wondering about the museums you saw in Lima. We are thinking about a full day tour in Lima and can't decide on which tour to do. If you have any advise I would appreciate it.
- A City Tour + Lunch + Museums of Lima
- B City Tour + Lunch + Gold Museum
- C Pachacamac + Lunch + Museums of Lima
- D Pachacamac + Lunch + Gold Museum
- E Pachacamac + Lunch + City Tour
- F Museums of Lima + Lunch + City Tour
- G Museums of Lima + Lunch + Gold Museum
WHICH ONE ???????????
Or is it better to take a half day city tour and combine it with a night tour with dinner & show. Thanks for any advise.
I was wondering about the museums you saw in Lima. We are thinking about a full day tour in Lima and can't decide on which tour to do. If you have any advise I would appreciate it.
- A City Tour + Lunch + Museums of Lima
- B City Tour + Lunch + Gold Museum
- C Pachacamac + Lunch + Museums of Lima
- D Pachacamac + Lunch + Gold Museum
- E Pachacamac + Lunch + City Tour
- F Museums of Lima + Lunch + City Tour
- G Museums of Lima + Lunch + Gold Museum
WHICH ONE ???????????
Or is it better to take a half day city tour and combine it with a night tour with dinner & show. Thanks for any advise.
Jun 16th, 2008, 01:08 PM
#30
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fides, the Ollanta festivity we saw was on Sat, 5/17. But people said the fiesta started the week before that. And on 5/18, the festival continued with a bull fight even, but we missed it.
The fiesta continued for the whole week after that. We saw it in Aguas Calientes and for all 3 days we were in Cusco. The last and culminating date of the festival in Cusco was on 5/22.
It's the Corpus Christi fiesta. The date might vary from year to year, so best to google it.
The fiesta continued for the whole week after that. We saw it in Aguas Calientes and for all 3 days we were in Cusco. The last and culminating date of the festival in Cusco was on 5/22.
It's the Corpus Christi fiesta. The date might vary from year to year, so best to google it.
Jun 16th, 2008, 01:13 PM
#31
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fishman, we didnt' take any tour in Lima. We went on our own.
Visited a bunches of churches and the Inquisition Museum (nothing much there; can skip) and the Larco Herrera museum (lots of pre-Colombian potteries, with the erotic ones being the most famous). We wanted to go to the National Museum and even took the taxi there, but it was closed for earthquake inspection that day. Bummer. We'd have preferred that over the Larco Herrera museum.
The best church was the one with a network of catacombs in the basement --you see bones and skulls in piles and different configurations.
Visited a bunches of churches and the Inquisition Museum (nothing much there; can skip) and the Larco Herrera museum (lots of pre-Colombian potteries, with the erotic ones being the most famous). We wanted to go to the National Museum and even took the taxi there, but it was closed for earthquake inspection that day. Bummer. We'd have preferred that over the Larco Herrera museum.
The best church was the one with a network of catacombs in the basement --you see bones and skulls in piles and different configurations.
Jun 16th, 2008, 02:40 PM
#33
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We should thank you, Karen, for the great trip report. Our itinerary was pretty much based on yours!
Here's a louder plug. Everyone, definitely check out Karen's extremely useful Peru trip report! Click on her username in the previous post.
Here's a louder plug.
Everyone, definitely check out Karen's extremely useful Peru trip report! Click on her username in the previous post.
Jun 17th, 2008, 12:50 PM
#34
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JC98, thanks for the report. Can you comment on the Wiracocha Inn in Aguas Caliente? I have read that the hotels there are generally not great except for a couple of very expensive ones. Would you recommend the Wiracocha?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Jun 17th, 2008, 04:10 PM
#35
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jaxtraveler, response below. Hope the format below is easy to read.
HOTEL REVIEW: WIRACOCHA INN
Where: Aguas Calientes
How to reserve: Email. I also called to make sure they had our reservation.
Cost: $45 USD for a double room, private bath, breakfast included (usual breakfast in Peru--flat bread, juice, tea, coffee, banana, and egg on request).
Location: Right next to the Urubamba River, up the hill from the train station, but a short walk to the bus that takes you to Machu Picchu.
Room: Clean overall, bathroom is clean. Good, hot shower. Bed is good, but I thought the bed cover small musty but my husband said he couldn't smell anything. I threw off the cover.
We had a room on the 2nd floor with a huge glass window opening out to the rushing Urubamba river below and across the bridge is where the locals live. We like this view, but we couldn't sleep at night because of the fiesta going on all night long across the river. The rushing Urubamba river couldn't drown out the loud band.
Except for the noise from the fiesta, we liked the location being next to the river. We also walked across the bridge and wandered around on the local side. Dropped into a big tent where the festivity was, and old women welcomed us in to drink a beer and chicha. We just smiled and declined. It was safe to walk around out there, and we dropped into a small grocery store and bought outselves a bottle of beer instead.
* We also asked them to pack sandwiches for us to take to Machu Picchu and they did, and charged us 3 soles each ($1.30). They're tiny flat bread with jam, and another with scrambled eggs.
Advice: Make sure you print out a copy of the reservation including the price they quoted you. (Good practice for any hotel in Peru.) When we checked out they were asking $55 USD (instead of $45 USD quoted in the email). I corrected them, and they immediately accepted it w/o checking my reservation. Not sure what the deal there was--maybe they were hoping we forgot how much it was supposed to be?
Overall, it's a decent place to stay given AC doesn't have that many options. The best part for us is the river location.
HOTEL REVIEW: WIRACOCHA INN
Where: Aguas Calientes
How to reserve: Email. I also called to make sure they had our reservation.
Cost: $45 USD for a double room, private bath, breakfast included (usual breakfast in Peru--flat bread, juice, tea, coffee, banana, and egg on request).
Location: Right next to the Urubamba River, up the hill from the train station, but a short walk to the bus that takes you to Machu Picchu.
Room: Clean overall, bathroom is clean. Good, hot shower. Bed is good, but I thought the bed cover small musty but my husband said he couldn't smell anything. I threw off the cover.
We had a room on the 2nd floor with a huge glass window opening out to the rushing Urubamba river below and across the bridge is where the locals live. We like this view, but we couldn't sleep at night because of the fiesta going on all night long across the river. The rushing Urubamba river couldn't drown out the loud band.
Except for the noise from the fiesta, we liked the location being next to the river. We also walked across the bridge and wandered around on the local side. Dropped into a big tent where the festivity was, and old women welcomed us in to drink a beer and chicha. We just smiled and declined. It was safe to walk around out there, and we dropped into a small grocery store and bought outselves a bottle of beer instead.
* We also asked them to pack sandwiches for us to take to Machu Picchu and they did, and charged us 3 soles each ($1.30). They're tiny flat bread with jam, and another with scrambled eggs.
Advice: Make sure you print out a copy of the reservation including the price they quoted you. (Good practice for any hotel in Peru.) When we checked out they were asking $55 USD (instead of $45 USD quoted in the email). I corrected them, and they immediately accepted it w/o checking my reservation. Not sure what the deal there was--maybe they were hoping we forgot how much it was supposed to be?
Overall, it's a decent place to stay given AC doesn't have that many options. The best part for us is the river location.
Aug 8th, 2008, 07:13 PM
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Hi JC98,
We're off to Peru mid October. We're planning on doing your same itinerary. We'd like to do Amantani Island and overnight in Kantuna Lodge. Can you please tell me more about this? We are not sure how to arrange getting to the island without a tour but the tours seem to only offer a home stay. We prefer the Kantuna lodge. thanks,
We're off to Peru mid October. We're planning on doing your same itinerary. We'd like to do Amantani Island and overnight in Kantuna Lodge. Can you please tell me more about this? We are not sure how to arrange getting to the island without a tour but the tours seem to only offer a home stay. We prefer the Kantuna lodge. thanks,
Aug 9th, 2008, 10:25 PM
#37
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Tuni01, best to go with a tour like All Ways Travel to Amantani. You can just do the transportation w/ them and stay in the lodge on your own. Email them and ask for that option.
They were responsive when I tried to contact them, but unfortunately we couldn't go w/ them because we didn't allocate enough days in the area. You need 3 full nights.
We ended up asking the owner of Kantuna Lodge to get us private boat and there were glitches and they were not too reliable. A bit stressful. I don't recommend going with them.
They were responsive when I tried to contact them, but unfortunately we couldn't go w/ them because we didn't allocate enough days in the area. You need 3 full nights.
We ended up asking the owner of Kantuna Lodge to get us private boat and there were glitches and they were not too reliable. A bit stressful. I don't recommend going with them.
Aug 11th, 2008, 07:19 PM
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thanks JC98. The area looks beautiful. We'll see what All Ways can offer for private tranfer back from the island. We'd be ok with taking the tour over but would prefer to boat directly back to Puno vs. going to Taquille. this is only because my husband doesn't want to spend hours in the boat.
Aug 14th, 2008, 11:29 AM
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There's a public boat that goes from Amantani back to Puno -- takes 4 hours.
When we got there, the Kantuna Lodge owner claimed it wasn't running on Sun when we had to return to Puno to catch a flight out that afternoon. We had emailed him before and he confirmed everything was fine, and we even asked Puno tourism office and our Puno hotel owners and they said thewould be a boat. Somehow, Kantuna claimed there wasn't one on Sun, so we ended up paying for a private boat to go a peninsula, and take the local combis (all colorful people)running on dirt roads w/ a transfer at a local market in the middle of nowhere -- it took another 4 hours by combis to get back to Puno. It was quite an adventure (since no tourists were in sight out in the middle of nowhere, and not possible to take a taxi). In the end, I guess we had to thank Kantuna lodge for giving us that experience.
When we got there, the Kantuna Lodge owner claimed it wasn't running on Sun when we had to return to Puno to catch a flight out that afternoon. We had emailed him before and he confirmed everything was fine, and we even asked Puno tourism office and our Puno hotel owners and they said thewould be a boat. Somehow, Kantuna claimed there wasn't one on Sun, so we ended up paying for a private boat to go a peninsula, and take the local combis (all colorful people)running on dirt roads w/ a transfer at a local market in the middle of nowhere -- it took another 4 hours by combis to get back to Puno. It was quite an adventure (since no tourists were in sight out in the middle of nowhere, and not possible to take a taxi). In the end, I guess we had to thank Kantuna lodge for giving us that experience.
