Debbie_S

Just back from a wonderful trip to Peru. We spent 4 nights in Ollantaytambo, 2 nights in MP, 4 in Cusco and 3 nights in Miraflores/Lima.

I want to thank all the posts I read before the trip and especially Karen's.

We used a guide the first week (Percy Salas Alfaro - [email protected]) that Karen and others recommended and he was great. He went the extra mile to make sure all our arrangements and activities went as planned. He reserved the hotel rooms at Ollantaytambo and Agua Calientes, took us on some sacred valley tours, arranged our rafting trip, our vistadome tickets, guide at MP, picked us up from cusco airport when we arrived and drove us back to Cusco when our train came in to Ollantaytambo from MP. (Oh, Karen, Percy said to tell you hi). Great guy and we learned alot about the past and present Peru from him.

MP was awesome! Sacred Valley was interesting, raft trip fun, Miraflores/Lima was interesting. We took the Palomino Island tour offered by limatours.com.pe which was great! The ocean was rough but we saw alot of jellyfish, prison, island of humbolt penquins, and the sea lion island. At the sea lion island, Eduardo (captain) stopped the boat, we put on wet suits and went swimming with the sea lions. Alot of fun. This tour was interesting also for the history of the island and harbor at Calleo.

Anyway, thanks to all for the great info!

Luna1

Where did you go rafting?

detraveler

I wonder how close our trips were. We loved having Percy as a guide as well.

Debbie_S

Urumbama River - they picked us up at hotel, provided gear, and then took us back to hotel. It was my first rafting experience. Took about 3 to 4 hours all together. Class 3 1/2 rapids.

Debbie_S

We booked Percy from 5/9 thru that Monday, then again on the following Friday, with Monday Cusco city tour on 5/18

willtraveldude

I am working on an itinerary for a day trip with Percy while visiting Cusco after MP. The plan is Awana Cancha, Pisac, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, and Chincero on the way back. Is this doable in a day? Also, what are the days the Pisac market is open. I've different answers about Mondays.

althom1122

Debbie, glad you had a great time and enjoyed Percy! That's cool that he remembered us. We had such a good time and felt so well taken care of by him. I'd love to see some pictures. Are you going to post any?

willtraveldude - I think your proposed itinerary is a lot for one day. You can do the drive in a long day, but you won't have much time at each place. I'd suggest focusing on Pisac and Ollantaytambo. Urubamba is a drive-through. It's larger than some of the other towns, but is not picturesque or quaint. Pass it by. I didn't visit Awana Kancha ("k" I think), so can't comment on it. Pisac is worth a good part of the day. There's the market, which we saw, and the ruins, which (regrettably) we didn't. Ollantaytambo is also worth 2-3 hours. The ruins are really cool, and the town is also interesting. We found the market by the ruins in Ollanta to be cheaper, although not as large, as the one at Pisac. Regarding the Pisac market, it is larger and most active on Sunday, but we were there on a different day and the tourist stalls were open, although there was no local produce market in action. Check this website for more:

http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/...redvalley.html

As for Chincero, if the market is in action, it's worth a quick stop (it's different--yet similar--to Ollanta and Pisac). We didn't spend much time there.

crellston

Willtraveldude - here is a link to our blog of a day in the Sacred Valley which, with the exception of
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...8980/tpod.html

with the exception of Awana Kancha covered the places you are looking to visit. We took a whole day, leaving at 8.0am and returning around 7.00pm. A long day yes, but we did cover a lot and didn't feel we rushed anything. Sunday is THE day for the produce market at Pisac which of course does make it v. busy with tourists. The prices in the tourist market are very high and you could certainly get the same stuff a lot cheaper elsewhere but the qulity seemed high. The produce market is an excellent photo opp. I would suggest visiting around lunchtime as there are some nice restarants around the market. I actually preferred the Pisac ruins to MP. Get your guide to drop you off at the top car park and pick you up 2 hours later at the lower carpark (NB not the place to go if you suffer from vertigo!!)

I would agree with althom's comments re Urumbamba. We stayed in a bungalow there for a month whilst working in Olly. Its a nice enough place but has little to offer the tourist unless there is a fiesta on, in which case make the time to go.

Chincero is worth a visit for the market on a Sunday (try getting there around sunset, it is very atmospheric) The inside of the church is also definitely worth a visit as it is quite spectacular.

Maras Salineros, the salt workings close to Urumbamb is also woth squeezing in if you have 30 mins to spare.

Olly, as althom says, is worth 2/3 hours wandering around the ruins and teh streets and alleyways of teh town around the square.

You should look into buying the tourist ticket which covers the entrance to these site (from memory there are two types of ticket 1 day and 3 day?? but best to check this out when you are there by visiting the tourist office in Cusco.

althom1122

Agree that the Maras Salineros is worth the time if you can manage it. Also, the terraces at Moray. If you want to see some pics of the Sacred Valley:

http://kbutler1122.zenfolio.com/f754704379

And of course, I can't resist another plug for my trip report (even though it's aging a little, most of it is probably still valid):

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...es-in-peru.cfm