Percy Salas or David Choque
 

Hi! I am trying to book a trip in June and it turns out both Percy and David are available. Can people who have used either tell me more about their experiences with them? My concern is that in the past I have used more well known agencies and what if (I know - I'm a worrier) we get there and they are not there? or they get sick? or something happens - they don't have back up, do they? Would love to hear anyone's experiences - thank you.

We used Percy - and thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. If you've read my trip report, you'll know we were very pleased. He met us at the airport in Cusco - our plane was late arriving and he had to wait awhile, but no problem, he was right there. He's easy to be with - pleasant personality, speaks good English. Was always right on time. He got our MP tickets for us at the train station - paid for them himself and we reimbursed him. He gave us a written itemized list of costs on our second day and we paid him (I think in US dollars) the next day. He arranged our hotels in Agua Caliente and Ollanta. His car is a Toyota (a Corolla?) in good condition. When we went to MP overnight, he let us leave some of our stuff in his trunk so we wouldn't have to carry it. He also arranged our bus tickets to Puno and picked us up our final morning in Cusco and drove us to the bus station. We really liked him a lot. He has a degree in tourism (all Peru tour guides have to go through a university program). And if you email him, keep in mind that his spoken English is better than his written English. If you want to see a picture of him, there are a couple of them in my Sacred Valley album:

http://kbutler1122.zenfolio.com/?customize=1

Let me know if you have other questions. Oh, and regarding a backup, that's one thing I can't address with any certainty - but my impression was that he's very reliable and trustworthy. I feel certain he'd make every effort to make arrangements if something went wrong. (If you haven't seen my trip report, type Karen and Julie in the search box.)
Good luck. From what I've read, I suspect you'll be happy with either Percy or David.
Karen

We used David and he was great. Speaks perfect English and is very knowledgeable about Peru, its history, the people and culture and the sights you will see. He is soft spoken, very gracious and easy to be with. He was flexible in planning our schedule in advance and accommodated any changes we wanted as the trip proceeded. I think he was very in tune with what we liked and didnt. He seemed to sense this and adapted accordingly. He got our train tixs to MP, entrance tixs to MP and the museum pass. We did not pay him for any of this until we met up wtih him.

While we booked all of our hotels prior to contacting him, he was very good about checking with them to ensure everything was fine. At one hotel he knew that some of the rooms were near a music school and he requested that we be in a room that would be quieter. We had never used a private guide before and I was a bit apprehensive about spending that much time with one, but it was fine. It seemed there wasn't anything that he didnt want to help us with. Our camera battery died and he took it one day and tried to find a place to get a replacement. He drove a new, comfortable van.
Prior to the trip, he called us to assess our interests, skill level, how much we would likely be able to do each day etc. We made all of the plans over email and he gave prices as we modified the trip.

I dont know about the back up situation. You could ask. Someone else did drive us from Ollantaytambo to Cusco and David met us in Cusco. My sense was that David is reliable and trustworthy and I can't imagine if something happened that he would not provide you with back-up. I had emailed David a few days b4 we left for Peru which was about a week b4 we were meeting up with David. I didn't hear back at first and I started to get a bit worried. Then his son answered my email that his Dad was out touring but not to worry that he would meet us at the designated time and day at the Cusco airport which he did.

As u can see I can't speak highly enough about David. I was very glad to have used him and felt he greatly enriched our experience in Peru.

From what I've read on this board, I agree that you would likely be happy with either of them as your guide.

As yestravel said I think you'll be happy with either based on the reports here.

We loved David - he really brought a great deal to our trip. Re backup - his son is working with him (although his English isn't as good he is a driver backup) - and one day David wasn't able to guide us (we knew this in advance) and the fellow he sent in his place was terrific too.

Thank you all. I am corresponding with both of them right now, but would still be grateful for anyone else's comments or feedback.

How did you guys find them (percy or david)?

Found David thru this board

I'm also getting a proposal from David for a portion of our trip in May. I am primarily intending to think about his services in the Sacred Valley area. Can those of you who used him please tell me exactly what trips you did with him?

Here is one day he is proposing to us. Did anyone do anything like this?

2nd. Day Tour of Ollantaytambo and Huilloc( native weaving community) its elementary school is very interesting, it is a school way up among the mountains, the little students don’t wear uniforms but colorful ponchos and small hats, we can take some school material like: notebooks, pens, pencils, etc.

or this

Tour of the Southern Route: we visit some little villages: OROPESA(a fully bakery village which provides the city of Cusco with about 50% of bread we’ll see closely the process of baking by hand, Piñipampa(a tile making village where we have about 50 kilns and they provide tiles for making the roofs of the houses in the city of Cusco, we can participate in the process of making tiles, this area has beautiful landscape.

How much time did you actually spend with the man? Did you do the entire trip with him or just a few days out of your trip? Thanks.

Do I remember someone here who had gotten quotes from both say they thought David was more expensive?

Julies - I was excited to see the ideas David wrote for you and hope to incorporate some of those into mine when I hear back from him. I look fwd to the answers to your questions too. Are you coordinating the rest of your trip? Where are you going/staying? We're also planning last minute for June!

I was the one who had observed that David seemed a bit more expensive than Percy. My daughter and I both were charmed by Percy's email. The English wasn't as good as David's (although in person, his English was just fine - very fluent and easy to understand), but his style in his emails seemed very sincere and straightforward - he sounded sweet. We found it appealing. David's response was more professional, more business-like. And crazy though it may sound, that was one of the reasons we chose Percy. I have a feeling you can't wrong with either - and I really do like those ideas David provided regarding the school and the bakery village. I'd love to have done something like that.

We spent less than a week with David which comprised a small portion of our trip to Peru.

We did the bakery town with David and 2 separate ruins that same morning, Tipon and one I can't recall the name of -- it was pre Inca. It was fascinating to compare the stonework with the Incas. Love Tipon also. We spent maybe an hour tops at Oropesa. Talked to the kids who were doing the baking and learned about how they do it. We were the only ones there and it was interesting, but not really a highlight--although the bread was delicious! I think the school would be a great place to visit. I learned about it after our trip to Peru and unfortunately David didn't suggest it to us.

Our time with David went like this:
Day 1 - he picked us up at the Cusco airport and drove us to Pisac. We could have taken a cab and it would have been less expensive. David gave us a brief overview of the Inca cutlure, talked about sights that we passed. It was a nice intorduction to David and the Incan culture. Got us settled into our hotel in Pisac and left us for the remainder of the day.
Day 2 He came back the next day and we went to Pisac ruins which should not be missed and then drove onto Ollantaytambo stopping in Uruamba for lunch and some sightseeing there. We were on our own in Ollantaytambo for a couple days. I thought the ruins there were just okay, but loved the village itself.
Day 3 - David had arranged for a guide to meet us at AC who went with us to MP for 1/2 the day and the rest we were on our own.
Day 4 - The next day someone other than David picked us up from Ollantaytambo and drove us to Cusco to meet David. We toured Cusco with David and I think the ruins right outisde town, Sacsayhuaman and Quenko. They are pretty much right next to each other. Of all the ruins we saw, we were probably least impressed with these, but they are 5 mintues outside Cusco and worth checking out. Also we saw them after MP which is just unreal, its so spectaculatr so perhaps any ruins would have paled in comparison.
Day 5 - Bakery town and other ruins outside Cusco.
After that we were on our own in Cusco until our last day when Dsvid picked us up and took us to the airport.

As with everything David added much to understanding the ruins and their history. We specifically left time on our own because as I said, this was my first time with a guide and I wasnt sure if I would like it or not. It was fine the way we set it up..a nice mix of being with a guide and being on our own.

David is very professional and working to build his business. At the same time he is very personal and friendly and has some great stories about his life and life in Peru in general. Learning about his family helped us to understand Peru today.

I did read on this board that Percy was a bit less expensive for one trip someone planned out.

Do any of you who used Percy or David know whether they have any interest in arranging hotel bookings if you're not hiring them as guide/driver? I see they've made such arrangements for folks they were driving, but don't know if it's something they do otherwise. I'm not finding any place available on line in Ollantaytambo for mid-July. But have no inroad to smaller more local B&B places that might not have presence or reviews on line.

We just returned from Peru, using Percy exclusively for the major portion of our 12 day trip. We used Julie's trip as a blue print for ours as well as her recommnedation on Percy. We thoroughly enjoyed him, his guiding, professionalism and thoroughness were all above reproach. Anything we asked of him - was done in a timely and professional manner. I wholeheartedly recommend him. We feel our wonderful experience could not have been duplicated if we had done the trip on our own.

Only drawback is to get a handle on the dropping US Dollar in Peru - he would rather be paid in Soles than dollars - just be prepared for that. We brought dollars and this created a problem in the exchange. His initial estimate was based on a 3/USD rate - upon arrival it was 2.64!

That's interesting about Percy asking for soles. When we went in October, I asked him if he'd prefer dollars or soles and he said dollars. Guess that's changed with the dollar dropping like crazy. (I think you meant my blueprint - I'm Karen. Julie's my daughter - and she was just along for the ride - I never can get her to help much with the planning!) :-)

Glad you enjoyed Percy, by the way!

Hi everyone,
I still don't know how to contact Percy and David! Could someone provide their email contact with their respective guides. They both sound great and I'd love to book one of them for our trip next May. Could you also provide an estimate of what they charge? Thanks alot!

Here's David Choque's email contact

[email protected]

We were very happy - thrilled in fact - with his guiding and tour arrangements.

Hi Elizabeth,
Could you give me an idea of what he charged? Thanks!

barefootbeach - email me at

eseibertca AT yahoo DOT ca

Our trip was a couple of years ago and I don't know about current pricing so don't want to post something here that might be wrong and stay here forever

I am in contact right now with David. Standard rate for a day of standard touring activities seems to be $50 a person (there are two of us). Transfers are $32 a person.

And if David doesn't work out, here's Percy's contact info:

[email protected]

Thanks so much for the contact info and rates...they both sound like great guides.

Trying to come up with budget for our trip - plan to use guide/driver for private tours ... our photography interests don't work well with group tours.

Can you all share approximate day rate for David and/or Percy and what that rate included (i.e. transportation, guiding only, etc.). If you feel more comfortable sharing this info offline, please email me at [email protected] (just put "Peru Guide-Fodor" in the subject line so I can fish it out of spam if necessary.

Thank you for all the information you guys have already shared.

Hi--

You might also want to contact Apus Travel in Cusco. http://www.apus-peru.com/index.htm

We felt we got really good service from Ariana who runs the place. She has some very unusual off the beaten path type day tours/hikes etc. We did variations on the Descending to the Sacred Valley and the Weaving and Farming tours. She changed them around, added things we were interested in, and changed the timing to meet our needs. We paid her standard per person rate per day and then an additional $25 per day for a driver with the typical, what most taxis are in the area, 8 year-old Toyota Corolla station wagon.

When we were done with the 2 days of tours we'd arranged with her agency, we hired the drive on our own for the remainder of our trip in the Sacred Valley. It worked out well; with his bit of English and my bit of Spanish we were fine with our communication.

Thanks, julies. I see some interesting options there to consider.

I gave a complete breakdown of Percy's costs in my trip report. Type Karen and Julie in the search box.

Do you know if these guides usually have a minimum group size requirements? I normally do my trips independently, but I think that maybe having a guide for 1-2 days that he can get me to local scenes and sites that I won't get to see on the usual tourist circuits. Thanks.

With David it was just my husband and myself, so no 4 David. We found touring with David to be great -- he really customizes what we wanted to do both in advance as he designed where we would go and as we proceeded.

Ditto for Percy. It was just me/my daughter. I don't think you could go wrong with either of them. People have been almost unanimously pleased regardless of which of those two they chose.

We used Percy in May, 2009 and he was great. Our original flight from Quito to Cusco, via Lima was at first delayed, then cancelled due to the heavy fog Lima experiences in the am. in May. We kept texting him with flight delays...and then the cancellation...and then the next am. more delays...so we ended up missing our first night in Pisac and not making it into Cusco until 3pm the next day. He kept texting back that he'd get us at the airport...but he missed a day of business because of the flights...and then he had to to drive us all the way to Ollantaytambo and then come back the next day for our scheduled day of touring the Sacred Valley. I will detail this is a trip report, but so far, I've just done the beginning part of our trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos. He really helped us out above & beyond the call of duty. More to come later.

Just wanted to chime in & say we loved Percy when we toured with him last October. It was just my husband & myself. Percy couldn't have been nicer, more professional, more interesting - I could go on & on.

Have a great trip whoever you choose.

My wife and I have traveled extensively overseas without tour groups or services, but the one thing we are willing to spend money for are private guides. While I make a real effort to research potential tour guides, we seem to have run the gambit between good, bad and average. I’ve never felt compelled to promote any of these individuals but I’m making an exception for our guide in Peru. I had read several great reviews from other travelers in Tripadvisor and Frommer and felt he was worth giving a try and he lived up to his reputation.
While spending seven days in Cusco and Machu Picchu, we enlisted the aid of David Choque to guide us within the city as well as the Sacred Valley including the market at Pisaq, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo. It was easy to contact him through his website, (http://www.cuscotoptravelperu.com/) and although we had to make numerous date changes, David was more than happy to accommodate us.
While his English was excellent, it was his patience in answering my endless questions and accommodating our request to visit, “off the beaten trail” locations that really made the difference in our trip. David also helped us with train tickets to and from Aguas Calientes and an excellent guide for Manchu Picchu before we even left the states.
Finally, David is very knowledgeable about the Incas and Peru history and a great driver with a very comfortable van. If you have any questions about him please feel free to email me at [email protected]. (Fairfax Station, VA)