viajewel

My partner and I will be in Peru for 3.5 weeks in April and estimate just over a week and a half visiting Sacred Valley, Cusco, Macchu Picchu, and Titicaca. Tentitavely, this will be the first part of our trip. We arrive in Lima April 2 at 10:30pm and would fly to Cusco the next morning, Thursday April 3. As far as certain days, we would like to hit both the Pisac and Chinceros markets on a Sunday (could possibly be the 6th and 13th or both in one day), but that is basically the only perceived constraint, and not the end of the world if we can't. Neither transportation nor lodging have been purchased so we have a blank slate right now.

Here are my desires:
1) have a few days in Cusco to relax, eat, explore, and see the nearby ruins like Sacsaywaman, Tambomachay, etc.
2) see both the Pisac and Chincero markets on a Sunday, and also have time to hike down the ruins at Pisac, and visit the animal sanctuary on the way.
3) MP - would like to take the less expensive trains which seem to leave either early in AM or late PM. Hike MP mountain. I guess if we were to leave early AM and return late PM we would not need to stay in AC for the night, which I suppose would be fine.
4) Have at least a day in Ollantaytambo to explore the ruins and enjoy
5) salt mines, moray/maras
6) possibly some time in Urubamba
7) bus from Cusco to Puno and back, staying one full day in Puno for a tour with Edgar Adventures, a little pricey at $69 P.P. but his tour avoids the very touristy stuff. We would like to take a tourist bus or private taxi or combi (idea on cost and logistics?) one way in order to have some stops at towns along the way, and the other way, a faster bus.

Concern:

Would not like to spend much extra money and time to start low to acclimate, plus the idea of going in too many circles kind of bothers me, but I have not ruled this idea out. Since we are flying into Cusco I am tempted to just lay low in Cusco the first day and chew a lot of coca leaves, not eat that day, drink lots of water, and stay in Cusco until market day on Sunday. I am 23, and my partner is 44. We eat very healthfully and are sprite, but I hear that does not matter so much when it comes to acclimation. We will also have gingko or other herbs which may help.

Basically, we have more time than most tourists, but I don't want to delegate too much time to everything, since most of these places are pretty close together, but also don't want to wipe ourselves out. I would love some advice on what would be the best itinerary.

(For the rest of the trip we will spend a week in Iquitos, a day or two in Lima for museums and food and a short trip to Marcahuasi)

I would really appreciate any advice.

viajewel

Well, I think I've worked it out. Sometimes it helps to write things out for public consumption and then think about it.

Arrive in Cusco April 3, Thursday morning.

Arrange a taxi to take us to the salt mines, maras, morey, and allow us time to explore, and then take us on to Ollantaytambo.

Overnight Thursday in Ollantaytambo, take train early Friday morning to Macchu Picchu. Hike Macchu Picchu mountain, tour ruins. Late night train back to Ollantaytambo.

Overnight Friday in Ollantaytambo.

Saturday explore ruins at Ollantaytambo, then head on to Urubamba.

Overnight Saturday in Urubamba.

Sunday morning head to Chinchero for quick visit to the market. Drive to Pisac to visit market and hike ruins. (At this point we may add a trip to Lares hot springs which would add a day and night) On the way back to Cusco, visit the animal sanctuary.

Overnight in Cusco Sunday night (6th) and stay in Cusco for three more nights, visiting ruins, exploring, leaving for Puno Thursday the 10th. Tour Titicaca Friday. Return to Cusco Saturday. Overnight in Cusco.

Fly to Lima Sunday morning, visit Lima for a day, overnight in Lima. Fly to Iquitos Monday morning (14th) Return following Monday (21st). Visit Marcahuasi, camping overnight, return to Lima and possibly have a last day or two there, with our flight home leaving the evening of Monday the 28th.

Any suggestions or advice on this itinerary?

dcd

You might find my trip report helpful. Click on my "name" and you can find it. Have fun, it's a beautiful country.

mlgb

I would advise against Moray, Salineras and Chinchero on your arrival day. They are actually the highest altitude you are likely to reach in the area.

Instead I would head straight to Ollantaytambo. Don't schedule a tour. If you feel quite well, see the ruins in the afternoon. If not, you can just walk around the old town sector and save the ruins for the next day.

At Machu Picchu, although the town is lower than Ollantaytambo, there is a bit of climbing up and down to get the best views. So it's a bit risky to do it on Friday, on the slight chance that one of you (more likely the younger one!) is still off. Maybe Friday could be set aside for Ollantaytambo ruins, Moray and Salineras. You might go Friday afternoon while it's still light to Aguas Calientes if you don't want to get up extra early on Saturday.

Saturday you could do MP. Saturday night you could return either to Ollantaytambo or continue on to Urubamba.

And the rest as you have it!

colduphere

I remember not drinking alcohol upon arrival in Cusco, but we certainly did eat moderately. No food nor alcohol would have produced a revolt in our group.

michele_d

cold,
What elevation does your group live at? Did any of you have altitude sickness or need to use the cocoa plants that the hotels provide the guests for altitude sickness? Just wondering if the plants relieve the sickness without a loopy/high feeling. Did you use the oxygen? We live at 5000' feet so don't know if we will have as bad a reaction when we visit Cusco and MP. Thanks

colduphere

Hi Michele - we live at 280 feet asl. So you have a heard start on us. We all used diamox beginning the day before arrival in Cusco. I think we would all use it again with the exception of one woman who thought it caused a rapid heartbeat. We all found Cusco more or less fine for four days before we hiked the Inca Trail with the exception of the very steep climb to our hostel. We were climbing those stairs in slow motion.

The first person to show any signs of a problem was one of our male friends who is in very good shape. At 10,800 feet on our first night on the trail he had trouble breathing during the night. And this couple were the only members of the group to have followed the advice upon arrival to head straight to Ollantaytambo (9,160 ft) rather than staying in Cusco (11,100).

We always drank quite a bit of tea and felt fine. It is hard to say if it helped much. We also sucked on the leaves now and then but again - hard to know if it helped. Where we all noticed the elevation was in Puno (12,400). I would wake up short of breath, and by then we have been at altitude for 9 days. So still having a problem was a bit of a surprise.No one had any problem at Machu Picchu itself.

None of our group of nine ever used oxygen. Another friend of mine went to Cusco last year and tried calling the airline in the middle of the night to get out of there as he and his wife were having so much difficulty breathing. The hotel could not give them oxygen the first night for some technical reason. It worked the second night.

So no altitude sickness, just some heavy breathing for most of us. And if it makes you feel better there are a million tourists walking around looking absolutely spry. Chances are pretty good you will be fine.

michele_d

Thanks cold. You do live at a low elevation. Gives me hope we will be okay also. We've backpacked near 11,000 ft with no problems, besides the heavy breathing and very slow one step at a time when walking up hill, but that was a few yrs ago. Don't know if the body changes over time to things like elevation gain. Thanks again for the info...can't wait to go.

JBDancer

My husband and I spent two weeks in Cusco in 2011. We live in Dallas (not much altitude) and are in our mid-thirties, moderate physical condition. Neither of us had any issues with the elevation. We did the Lares Trek (although diverted due to heavy snow), and our biggest issue was the cold. We're used to 100+ temps, and those guys were walking around in sandals in icy water! What they thought was an appropriate sleeping bag for the conditions, well, it wasn't for us. We froze our butts off the whole time. Still, it was worth it.

We ran into a better guide for another tour, so if you want his contact info, let me know. His name is Puma, and he was a true professional. So knowledgeable and proud to share his culture. We remain in contact.

Enjoy your trip!

colduphere

Good point about the guide. We rarely use guides but when we find one who is really proud of their country we almost feel like citizens ourselves.

viajewel

Wow! people answered! Thanks y'all.

Yes, just discovered that moray and the salt mines are super high altitude. Whoops.

And, consistently opposing advice on whether to worry about altitude sickness. I think I would rather play it safe than risk ruining our trip. Neither of us have spent any time in high elevation. We drove through the peaks of Colorado but we were driving straight through. We live 300 feet above sea level.

So, I think upon arriving in Cusco, we will have a few hours before the altitude kicks in, and we will have some coca tea, buy our boleto touristico (which can only be purchased in Cusco, right, and are good for 10 days?)

Then catch a local bus (we prefer saving money) to Urubamba and take a gander (anything of particular interest there?) Then head on to Ollantaytambo, check in at the hostel and mosey around town. Mlgb's reccomendations seem right on.

Now, a question about MP tickets. I read (from some random person online such as myself) that they can be used anytime in 3 days so you can go any one of those 3 days? (I know one ticket buys you one day) Is this wrong and we will have to pinpoint the exact day?

I'd like to perhaps take a horseback ride somewhere cool, or a hike, bike ride, or just go to the river? Loki tours from Cusco look excellent and very affordable, and I found a place called Chaska Pisac that has reasonably priced horse rides. Pisac seems like a place we may want to spend a night. We will be backpacking with all gear needed to camp and be completely self sufficient, so it might be fun to do a one-nighter at some point.

I've also discovered that about an hour and a half walk from Calca are some thermal baths, called Machacanca, but there is practically no information on the web about it, nor pictures. Hot springs are a goal of mine and the ones at Aguas Calientes, frankly look pretty awful. That is, as awful as natural hot springs can get, I suppose.

And we may have to spend a little more time in Chinchero since I realized there are ruins there too we'll want to see. (Any other ruins I'm overlooking?)

We like to go off the beaten track, so I want to make sure I'm not overlooking too many gems while on the regular tourist track! Seems like it could be easy in a place like this to focus too much on the known destinations and overlook a totally awesome side excursion - though I'm sure you can't go wrong here.

mlgb

You can buy the boleto turistico at the first ruin that you visit, no need to make another stop in Cusco.

Urubamba holds little interest for me. There is a local veg market on Wds I think.

If you are traveling light, you can take a bus from Cusco to Urubamba, then transfer to the van/combi at the bus station for Olly.

I do not get altitude sickness badly, even in Puno, but still when I fly from sea level to Cusco I feel off for half a day. Maybe since you live @ 5k you will be less affected. I might even try before leaving to sleep a few nights at higher elevation if not too far from home.

I haven't yet taken Diamox since I like to plan my trips with gradually ascending and have enough time to do it that way.

crellston

Urumbamba is a pleasant enough town has a nice Plaza de Armas and has regular parades there. the market is worth a look but i wouldn't make a special trip.the maker is held every day but is much busier on a Wdnesday. Bike or horse rides can be arranged in Ollantaytambo. probably best to ask your accommodation for recommendations. you could always combine with a trip to the moray salt pans from Olantaytambo.

in an earlier post you mentioned "At this point we may add a trip to Lares hot springs which would add a day and night" i fear you may be disappointed. we did the trek from Lares to Ollantaytambo staring at the springs - it is ok if you ae doing the trek but certainly not worth the effort of a special trip.

i agree with your comment re the springs at AC. Not clean. someone once described them as backpacker soup!

As regards acclimatisation to altitude. it is important to bear in mind that the vast majority of people will experience only minor effects. Age, sex or fitness have no bearing on the likelihood of experiencing symptoms. the effects are usually felt more at night ( something to do with being horizontal and lowered blood pressure compounding the effects) so your couple of hours in Cusco should not be too much of a problem.

I don't think i would bother with staying in Pisac. I really like the ruins there, in fact i prefer Pisac to MP. one option could be to get the morning bus to Pisac, explore the ruins and then get the bus back to Cusco and ask the driver to drop you off at Tambo Machay. you could then explore TM before following the old Inca paths back down to Sacsayhuaman via Puka Pukara and Q'enko

fantastic views along the way and it is all downhill. from Sacsayhuaman it is a short walk down through San Blas into the Plaza. takes 2-3 hours.

Kristina

I will also be in Peru in April.
You asked about MP tickets being good for 3 days. I don't think this is true. I recently bought my tickets on the MP government site online and from what I can tell they are only good on the date you buy them. If you can verify otherwise, I'd love to know!
I also bought my tickets for the train on the PeruRail web site.

We'll be staying in Urubamba and my plan is to visit Chinchero on our first full day there to see the Sunday market. We'll be taking Diamox so I hope the altitude does not bother us too much!

yestravel

We spent a night in Pisac and quite enjoyed it. Nice small town and fun to hang out and mingle with the locals. also loved the ruins there.

viajewel

Yes, I realized we will have to pinpoint the day at MP anyway because we'll want to make sure to get our train tickets. Originally we had planned to go the back way to MP, through Santa Teresa (where there ARE beautiful hot springs!) Which would have saved us $220 in train fare, but heard that the road to ST is very dangerous in rainy season so we are not going to chance it. It will also free up two days of travel. (I don't know if the 3 day MP thing is true - sounds plausible though, just in case someone gets sick or some hinderence where you can't go the day you got the ticket, you could still go the next day? Just speculating.)

I think we might stay a night in Pisac. It sounds like our kinda place, plus it would be nice to keep our bags in a hostel while exploring the ruins.

I picked up the Moon handbook to MP and Cusco, (2013) and it has been very helpful, I highly recommend it. It looks like we may want to take one or a few of the many hikes around Ollanta. The book firmly recommends going to the sacred valley first and returning to Cusco as opposed to using cusco as a base to tour around. Also recommends seeing MP last-ish, after most other ruins which will pale in comparison.

I'm also tempted to hike from Moray to the salt mines (on the beautiful trail, without going through Maras) but I can't find information on how to find/follow this trail. The hike from the salt mines down to the urubamba valley also is supposed to be gorgeous. Dont know how long all this would take though.

Huchuy qosqo sounds like a nice hike too, 3 hours from the town of Lamay.

Still trying to find out if the baths in Calca are accessible and where they are...

So many things to do in the Sacred Valley.

cindyjo

Maybe this will help your hiking decisions...

http://www.holidaynomad.com/2013/06/...-in-maras.html

Cheers!

mlgb

I don't know if you have already seen the website for KB Tambo, but he (KB) has lots of info on things to do around Ollantaytambo.

Look under "More Info" for details on area sights. He also runs treks and bike rides, and I don't think he is very expensive.

http://kbperu.com/more-info/area-sights/salt-mines/