Our Peru trip-guide recommendation and trip comments
 

I used the Fodor site to obtain valuable information while planning our trip to Peru, and wanted to return the helpful advice by providing some of my own....

My husband, 12 old son and I travelled to Peru in November for two weeks. It was a wonderful experience. We are independent travelers and I enjoy researching and planning our adventures months ahead of time. It was on this site that I discovered a guide recommendation, which I pursued and can now highly recommend myself.

So, my first recommendation is the great guide we used in Peru. David Choque of Cusco Top Travel & Treks was invaluable in helping plan the trip and assisting us during our time in Peru. His services allowed us to experience the country fully and it was comforting to have him at our side. It was easy to make arrangements with David months in advance of our November travel date via email, to communicate changes, adjustments, and to use his hotel suggestions as well as to arrange some on our own. I highly recommend him! You can reach David by email at [email protected]. His travel company web site is www.cuscotoptravelperu.com.

Following is a brief summary of our trip and suggestions, highlights:

We arrived in Lima and flew to Cusco. David met us at the airport and after taking us to his home for some coca tea, he drove us to the Sacred Valley where we stayed 3 nights at the Sol y Luna Hotel. This was a lovely spot and a great place to relax our first day. David picked us up the following two mornings and we visited many interesting sites in the Sacred Valley; Moray, Maras, Ollyantatambo, Chinchero and Pisac markets, a wonderful weaving cooperative, etc. Although we initially felt the altitude, I believe that the days spent in the Sacred Valley allowed us to acclimate without the use of Diamox or other drugs. Drink lots of water!!

We then took the train to Machu Picchu, David had purchased our tickets, and we splurged on the Sanctuary Lodge. Expensive, but for us it was worth it due to the location. Machu Picchu was fantastic!! We visited on our own and arranged for a two hour guide for extra information.

We took the train from Machu P. to Ollyantatambo where David picked us up and took us to Cusco. We stayed at the Casa San Blas, a wonderful B&B which I had booked. Two nights here with a day tour of the city, sacsayhuamna, Q'enqo with David and a visit to the pre-Columbian museum on our own.

Day 7 David picked us up and we drove to Lake Titicaca, stopping along the way to view ruins and to enjoy a wonderful Peruvian lunch. We stayed at the Casa Andina-private collection which was right on the lake and booked at a great rate by David.

The next morning David picked us up with a private boat & driver to visit the floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca. This was interesting. We then travled on to Armantani Island where we spent the night with a local family. This was a fun experience. If you do this, bring small gifts for the family; it was a wonderful exchange. The tourists are dressed up in local clothes in the evening and taken to the town hall for music and dance. Definately a highlight.

David then drove us to Chivay in the Colca Canyon. We visited the hot springs, and the Cruz del Condor. Colca Canyon is very picturesque.

We then drove to Arequipa. Here David left us as we planned on visiting on our own. We stayed at Casa Arequipa, a wonderful B&B which was in a residential neighborhood but walking distance to the plaza. We relaxed for several days in this colonial city, visiting Juanita the ice maiden museum, the alpaca factory for gifts, the monastary and exploring the city on foot.

Then the flight to Lima and home.

Tips:
1. Drink a lot of water
2. Take small packets of tissue paper-
needed for restrooms throughout
3. Carry small change to give locals when
you buy items or take pictures
4. If you are so inclined, bring items for
the locals. We brought school supplies
which David took to a school in
Chinchero.
5. Carry pencils, stickers or something
small to give children you may meet
along the way. This was very rewarding.
6. Have fun and enjoy the lovely people
and places of Peru.

Karen

Karen, sounds like a great trip! What was the weather like in November?

It was fine. We had rain one night and morning at Lake Titicaca, but otherwise sunny and temperate. I was worried we'd have more rain, but we lucked out.

Thanks for the trip report. We are thinking of looking into using David for part of our trip to Peru this Spring. How did u find out about him? There seems to be some controversy as to whether posts on Fodors about him are real. Did u consider other guides? Could you pls give me some idea as to his costs? thanks

I found David from several people who had used him via the Fodors forum, and also on igougo.com (If you google his name this will come up). The controversy posts a few months ago were a big mistake. If you read fully through, you will see this. In fact, they made me nervous as it was prior to our travel; I'm glad I didn't cancel our plans because of them. Please don't let this tarnish your ideas of using him. It is unfortunate that these thoughtless posts are still there, as they were made in error.

If you email David with some ideas of your travel plans, he will reply and give you costs. There were three of us and I'm sure costs will depend on how many in your party and where you're going. Here's an example of a day; 3 people full day tour of ruin sites in sacred valley in private van was $144. It was very reasonable.

I didn't look at other guides as we wanted to travel independently and not part of a larger group. This proved to be an advantage as we saw larger groups bussing around together.

I highly recommend David's services. He is professional and a wonerful individual who really made our trip run smoothly. We were happy to have stumbled upon him. His email is [email protected] and his web site is www.ciscotoptravelperu.com

Good luck with your trip; Peru is wonderful.

Karen

Karen, thanks for the feedback on David. I had seen the posts about him on Fodors and was not sure of the resolution based on the comments. I will get in touch with David. We're also staying at Casa San Blas and Casa Arequipa so was glad to hear that you liked them.

Please note the following after my recent experience with an agency in Arequipa.

If you go to Arequipa, do not use Eduardo Rivas the owner/gerente general of EDU Travel, formerly known as Hilton Tours at Calle Santa Catalina 217. Furthermore, choose your travel agent carefully for treks or car/tour bus rental. We recently had a problem with Eduardo personally selling us an expensive tour with a chauffeur and guide. But, the guide had not finished her degree and was thoroughly unfamiliar with the area we visited with this tour; she was frank about her age, lack of experience, that this was her first tour to lead by herself, and we learned that Eduardo was not even paying her! It was quite unfortunate for us as it impacted the quality of our trip. Upon returning to Arequipa, we went to speak to Eduardo about the problem and demand a refund. He had set this poor girl up for failure but had the nerve to insist that yes, she had her degree, knew lots about the area, and that WE had some kind of misunderstanding. He blatantly lied to us. This was both ridiculous and frustrating. We spent 4 days with her and she was honest with us. We asked for a refund and he offered all 3 of us a total of less than 5% refund, which we turned down on principle. What an aggravating experience. Absolutely, DO NOT consider using Eduardo Rivas’ services and consider paying ½ your fee up-front and ½ upon return to insure your services are quality.

Just wanted to add another wonderful recommendation for David Choque. We returned from our trip in September and I can't say enough about his kindness and knowledge. The trip would not have been the same without him. We found him through this site and couldn't have been happier.

Before I found this site I read so many good reports about David that I have been arranging for him to be our guide in September. Eventually he quoted me a price and we gagged. For 3 of us, $338 per person for a 3-day Lake Titicaca tour plus one day drive to Cuzco. He said the cost for the drive is about the same as the train. For 1.5 days touring Cuzco & Sacred Valley, 1 day tour of MP, plus a 3-day side trip into the Andes to visit family, involving transportation and 2 nights stay in a hospedaje, he quoted $691 per person. These prices do not include lodging in Cuzco and Puno, which I am arranging myself.
I'm so glad I found this site.

KBC or anyone, I am interested in staying at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary but my husband and I will be traveling with our 2 college-age children. I saw that KBC had her 12 year old son with her. Did the lodge provide a cot for him? Would there be room for 2 cots? Renting 2 rooms at $700 a piece is just prohibitively expensive to our sensibilities.

You can definitely get a cot, don't know about two, but there is definitely room if they'll let you.

Get the oxygenated room. It helps a lot.

We are planning on going to peru for a month in July 2007. We have 2 children, 10 & 12. We've been getting mixed messages about how safe it is to take kids to Peru. Any advice?
Also, I've contacted David & he's put together a preliminary itinerary which is quite elaborate and takes care of everything, transport, hotels (mostly 3 star), tours.It works out to about $110 per person per day. Does this sound reasonable or should we negotiate with him.

Also, can anyone advise whether it's best to let him make all the arrangements or try and book some of the hotels ourselves.

I'd appreciate any & all input that you can provide. Thanks.

Bonnie

I think it's perfectly safe to take kids to Peru as long as you aren't touring Lima by yourselves in a rental car.

Hard to comment on the itinerary without seeing it, but that sounds pretty reasonable.

I think it is safe to bring your children. I live in Lima and have 4 kids. Don´t let them drink tab water just in case so their stomachs don´t get upset and be on the safe side.
A good local travel agent is cecilia toso from viajes peruanos. Her email is [email protected]

Regarding booking with David - he booked all of our hotels in Cusco, SV, and Lake Titicaca - I asked him to break out all the costs and I double checked the hotels on line - his rates were the same or better than the online rates so we went ahead and had him book them.

The nice thing when he books all the hotels is he deals with them at check in (he's very solicitous of your comfort) and check out.

mehrbehr

Feel free to email me directly if you wish

eseibertca AT yahoo DOT ca

Hi,

I am considering a move to Ollantaytambo and was wondering if you had any opinions on the town itself or what it looked like to live there. Thanks for any info.

By the time we contacted David we had booked all but one of our hotels. The one hotel not already booked, he followed up with and made the resrvation for us. Agree he is definitely very solicitious of your comfort. He always talked to the front desk when we checked in even though he had not made the reservation. In one instance he had called ahead to ensure that our room was not located near a school yard. I imagine the hotels that he deals with all know him well and this can only help. If you use David you will find that your trip runs incredibly smooth. He is a superb guide and nice guy.

Hi, I am planning a trip to Peru with David as our guide. Did all of you wire the deposit to his bank, and if not how was the deposit paid? I appreciate your response. Sabbin

sabbin, are you asking about a deposit for David's guide services or the hotels? David did not ask for any desposit from us when we booked with him earlier this year. On the 2nd day with him in Peru, we paid David in full the amount for all his time. For the hotels we booked, we provided Credit Card #s as deposits.