cindyjo

Hello, plans continue for our retirement trip to S.A.

Leaving September 20 and heading back 3-4 months later.

We fly into Lima and wonder if we should stay in Lima for our week of Spanish lessons or take off next day for Ollantaytambo for a week of Spanish there as well as exploring the Sacred Valley before a week in Cusco. We then plan on heading to Arequipa, on to Nw Argentina, BA, and Patagonia.

Pros and cons for Spanish in Lima or Ollantaytambo?

As always thank you...

crellston

The first time in Peru we took Spanish lessons in Cisco at http://www.fairplay-peru.org/en/Volu...anish_Courses/ and really enjoyed them. It is also a good cause to support as they employ single mothers as teachers. The course comprised "formal" lessons in the morning and "practical" trips in the afternoon to practice Spanish in markets etc.

When we moved on to Ollantaytambo we took lessons from an Argentine lady who was very good but I doubt she is still around and I don't recall seeing any language schools in Ollantaytambo last time we were there.

Here is a link to the SA explorers club with listing of the language schools in the various regions

http://www.saexplorers.org/member/discount/peru

It may be worth joining as the discounts are genuine and would probably cover the membership fee if booking language lessons.

cindyjo

Crellston, was it the Awamaki Language School in Ollantaytambo?

Thanks

mlgb

The Awamaki Language school is something relatively new. If you've looked at their website you will see that they also do homestays as well as 3-week service stays. (They are a US nonprofit so a part of your cost is tax-dedutible).

I went on their community visit and have followed them for a few years.

Otoh I love Lima! It would be hard for me to chose.

crellston

no it wasn't Awamaki. this was juts private individual who was teaching at the primary school there. our lessons were in the school just off the plaza. Quite bizarre sitting at a desk designed for an 8 year old Peruvian kid!! as i recall we got the intro form the owner of hearts Cafe where we were doing some voluntary work.

mlgb turned me on to Lima and I too now love the city. it does have the added attraction of loads of restaurants, places to visit but possibly too many distractions when studying? Ollantaytambo is perhaps more conducive to studying??

cindyjo

Well, you may have something there, Crellston. Our first week in a new part of the world, we may have trouble settling in for Spanish classes in the energy of a city....
The Awamaki school sounds as if it may be flexible for us. My husband speaks fair Spanish but me, not so much. I would like "travellers Spanish" and he needs more.
We are thinking of a week in Ollantaytambo, taking morning classes and doing day trips including hikes in the area.
Do we need guides for day hikes? We are also thinking of doing the Lares Trek after the Ollantaytambo stay which includes MP and then heading to Cusco for 5 nights or so.
Mlgb, since we fly out of Lima, we would spend a few days there at the end of our trip. I am hoping our Spanish will improve and we will have had some time in B.A. so perhaps Lima won't seem so intimidating.
Thus far we leave Sept. 20 and fly back Jan.6. As the miles flights open up, I keep pushing the return date forward. Would like to get a full 4 months.
Still planning the rest of the trip but wanted to settle on the MP dates soon as I know there are deadlines.
Thanks for both your responses. I have your trip reports printed out and refer constantly for this planning phase. So helpful....

crellston

I don't think you need guides for day hikes from Ollantaytmbo but if you get a good one then it will probably add a lot to your experience. As for the Lares Trek, I recently found out that there are about three different routes. Here is our blog of the one we did on our first trip to Peru.

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...4700/tpod.html

Sadly, our guide on that trip, Miguel, died in a rockfall a couple of years ago. When we stayed at SAExplorers last year we met up with a couple of guides there who do that trip and others and they seemed to be very good and could be a better bet than just sourcing a trek from one of the agents in Cusco. Also, if you have not already found it, www.andeantravelweb.com is a great resource for treks etc.
The Russian couple at SAE were very, very knowledgeable and helpful to us during our time there so well worth making contact.

cindyjo

I have made inquiries of the Awamaki organization for Spanish lessons in Ollantaytambo in September.

Now we have to decide on a place to stay for that week. I have found many recommendations but am really wanting something that allows us to spread out a bit since we will be there for a week. Any thoughts?

It seems as if we will spend that week in Ollantaytambo, take the Lares Hike which I think includes a day in M.P., move to Cusco for a week and then leave the area. Very much interested in the Cajamarca area so we would then head north after Cusco before going south to Arequipa, Bolivia, Uyuni.. Would this be a better weather choice? At this point our return date is January 7 but am still considering putting it out further.

Thanks again for your expertise. You are all helping us map out this trip...

mlgb

Have you asked Awamaki about a home stay? Perhaps they have some lodgings that are larger or could offer you two rooms.

What I might do (since September is not that busy) is to just book the first night or two and then ask around when you arrive. I have stayed at KB Tambo and Albergue but not in any of their larger rooms, although I know they have them as does Apu Lodge.

Cajamarca is somewhere I've never been, there have been mining protests that made it difficult. To get there you will need to go back to Lima. There may be flights (try LC Peru) or you can bus or fly to Trujillo, then bus from there. Many of these long bus rides can only be done at night, so you'll have that to consider. Probably I would not do it, it will chew up a lot of travel time and the other spots on your list are also best done earlier rather than later. Arequipa does not have terrible weather (although the chance of seeing condors declines from November on as they are on the nest much of the time).

Another trip in the central Andes might be the train between Huancayo and Lima. Not sure if that works in to your itinerary but I enjoyed it. The last trains of the season are from Lima to Huancayo on Oct 31 and returning on November 3. That is a good indication of when the Andes rainy season is anticipated to start in earnest!

http://www.ferrocarrilcentral.com.pe/cronograma.html

I have found Wikitravel a useful source for travel to some off the beaten path spots, as well as Footprint (the full country guides).

dwdvagamundo

cindyjo--I think waiting til you were back at or near sea level would also help your learning capabilities--altitude sickness plus lack of oxygen makes it difficult to concentrate in and around Cusco.

Cajamarca is very interesting, but so is the north coast--Trujillo and Chiclayo. You'll have to go to one or the other anyway to get to Cajamarca, so spend some time--Trujillo probably has the most to do, but the Lord of Sipan Museum and archaeological site--the south American "King Tut's tomb"--is near Chiclayo

cindyjo

Thanks for your replies. Still chewing on this one

dwdvagamundo, your thought on altitude sickness and studying makes some sense to me as I have never experienced high altitudes before so don't know how I will react.

mlgb, the train sounds like a good trip for us. We have 9 days in September and all of October in Peru (more if we want as we have a total of 4 months in S.A.) so I am thinking we can visit both the northern Andes and Sacred Valley with a reasonable chance of good weather.

Since we do want to spend some time in the north I am wondering if we should head there right after arrival in Lima and find Spanish language classes in Chiclayo or Trujillo. After 2 weeks or so in this area would head to the Sacred Valley and most likely continue classes in Ollantaytmbo.
(I did get a positive response from Awamaki re Spanish language classes). This would probably make more sense to head north and work our way south.

So any advice for this plan and preferences for studying in Lima or coastal north?

mlgb

The cities of Trujillo and Chiclayo have a reputation (even among local residents) of not being particularly safe. When I needed a hat, one of the hotel employees in Chiclayo took it upon herself to walk me to the market, not very far away from the hotel. She said she never walks anywhere alone.

So probably not towns I would spend more than a day or two while sightseeing.

I think if you head for Ollantaytambo, take a few days to rest before starting classes, your brain will be working fine! Ollantaytambo is at 9,000 feet and most people do not have big problems there after a day or two.

mlgb

Another reason I would save the north coast for later is that it is basically good weather all year, in terms of usually not much rain (it is the Sechura desert).

cindyjo

Thanks all for your replies.

Was glad to be forewarned about safety of Trujillo and Chiclayo. Is this true for Huaraz and Cajamarca as well? Hard to tell in the reading I have done.

Would still like to see these areas so pondering the replies.

Thank you.

crellston

I stayed in Trujillo for several days and I can't say I get at all unsafe at anytime. We wandered the streets at night in search of restaurants etc, and experienced no problem. I can't comment on Chiclayo as we only passed through on the bus. Although it was at 3.00am and at that time the streets in the centre of town was heaving with drunk em partygoers! Not sure if this was the norm or a special occasion.

Re dwdvagamundo's comment re concentration at altitude, I really don't think it works like that. At extremely high altitudes brain function may be affected but not at the relatively moderate levels in Cusco and Ollantaytambo. A few days acclimatisation and you will be fine.

I am not a beach person bit I think Trujillo is definitely worth a look for the archaeological sites alone ( Chan Chan etc..)

dwdvagamundo

cindyjo--when I was there--admittedly long ago, both Huaraz and Cajamarca felt safer than the coastal cities. Cajamarca had very few Europeans and was very laid back. Huaraz felt sort of like "Wild West" with all the trekkers. However, I had no problem in either of Chiclayo or Trujillo.

As to where to study--Ollantay would be better than Cusco for altitude. I hear Crellston about a few days of recovery, but if all you've got is a few days. . .I will say that I felt uncomfortable in Cusco--headache, strange stomach feelings, and lack of energy for most of the time I was there the first time.

Glucosamine might help--toward the end of my stay in Cusco I went to a pharmacy complaining about my headache and they gave me glucosamine tablets which helped. Second time in Peru I was taking glucosamine for joint pain and didn't have a problem with anything but lack of energy.

BTW--best advice I got on altitude sickness is to eat nothing and do as little as possible during the day of your arrival. Take the coca tea available at your hotel and have a small bowl of soup or something like that at nite. A friend of mine disregarded this--went out, walked around, ate a big meal, and was sick for her week in Cusco.

mlgb

Just for perspective I have been all over Peru traveling independently by myself for the last 5 or 6 years, and do speak enough Spanish to communicate on a basic level. I am not a particular paranoid traveler, but as a single female I tend to be more cautious about walking around alone and always ask at the reception for advice.

Huaraz still has a bit of a wild west attitude. There are lots of backpackers and a big bar scene. Because there is mining in the vicinity there are also the young miners who have cash to burn. So I didn't care for the "vibe". I was advised by my hotel desk about walking routes and at what time a taxi was advisable. Most of the tourists who I ran into while visiting Huaraz seemed to be either trekkers or other Peruvians.

I am not saying don't visit these places in the north of Peru, in fact I made a second trip to Chiclayo recently, on the way to Chachapoyas. For Chiclayo, most of the tourist sights are in outlying communities such as Lambayeque.

In my first visit to Chiclayo which was less than 5 years ago, I walked freely between the bus station area and the Mercado Modelo. For my second visit, I managed to find the driver I had used previously, and he told me that the safety situation had deteriorated in just the few years between visits. There is a lot of poverty in northern Peru, periodically there are sweeps and the criminal gangs are subdued for a while, and of course the Peruvians always blame the Ecuadoreans for their crime issues. (Just like the Ecuadoreans seem to blame the Colombians).

One thing to note is that the museums and sites such as Sipan, Tucume and Sican are not in Chiclayo but in outlying communities, it isn't like you can walk to them.

I didn't revisit Trujillo, as I felt I had pretty much seen the two major sites and the city center.

Re the altitude sickness, the advice to "eat nothing" is a bit extreme, but most will suggest not to have a heavy dinner and to avoid alcohol. The Sacred Valley which is several thousand feet lower in elevation than Cusco and I did not have a headache in Ollantaytambo, but did have one in Cusco. Advil works fine for headache and there were some recent reports that it was just as effective as other altitude meds.

http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/2...tude-sickness/

dwdvagamundo

I was going to suggest Lambayeque if your interest is archaeological. A couple of really good museums there as well as nearby Tucume. The Lord of Sipan site itself is better reached from Chiclayo, however, unless you can get a tour (or instructions on how to get there)from Lambayeque and has a really good museum as well as the tombs.

As to whether my advice is too extreme or not, suit yourself. The person who advised me was born in Huaraz. I took her advice and had no problems. Her daughter, who did not, turned green and vomited while we were walking around Cusco the second day we were there. You're not going to feel much like drinking alcohol anyway when you first arrive at altitude.