Hi all,
If anyone could share any must do activities or sites in Peru or any tips etc. that'll be great :) I will be staying for about 4-5 weeks.
So far I'm planning to see Machu Picchu, rainbow mountain and to do an ayahuasca retreat.
Thanks!
Heading to Peru in August - any tips?
Heracles26 on 13/02/2017 - 20:42
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Thanks and yes please send me the link!
I am planning on doing the Salkantay trek not the inca trail
Will add titticaca thanks! :)
Awesome! Salkantay Trek can be booked pretty last minute :) Just keep in mind that that trek bypasses the Sun Gate which means you kinda go a roundabout way to get to Macchu Pichu, but have heard it is also a beautiful trek
Have PM'D you
The longer the trek the better! :P thanks!
Could you send me the link too
Don't stay too long in Lima.
I never did the inca, instead I walked and followed the trainline through the hills, approx 30km from when a bus dropped me off, it took almost 10 hours because the terrain was rough. It is an amazing memory though - I didn't see another tourist all day. MP was an amazing reward the following morning.
What didn't you like about Lima?
I don't know. I just found it very American and quite grubby. I never really felt safe. Food was decent though.
Thanks for the heads up!
Went round southern Peru in 2014, can agree with the above poster not to stay in Lima too long, I found it to be a big dust bowl with not a whole lot to do, should only need 2 days max. Cusco is a nice city with plenty of sights around in to go have a look at, could quite happily spend a week there checking out all the sights. Machu Picchu doesn't need much explaining, I did the Inca trail and then stayed the night in Aguas Caliente and hiked up Huayna Pichu (the tall mountain behind MP) the following morning. Was quite magical/surreal being the first person at the top and behind able to sit there in silence for 5/10 minutes by myself just taking it all in.
If you're going to see Lake Titicaca I'd recommend going to Copacabana just over the Bolivian border, it's a much nicer city than Puno in Peru. I personally thought Puno was one of the worst cities I've ever been to, but that's just me.
The Colca Canyon is nice as well, I did a 2 day/1 night tour from Arequipa which was a little rushed but I was still happy with it and saw everything. The only difference with the 3 day tour is you can slow it down and not walk as far on the first day and have have some more time to relax and enjoy where you are. The oasis is a strange place (lush green grass and pools in the middle of a desert), but it's simply incredible, make sure you bring a towel for a swim after your day of hiking.
Huacachina is also pretty cool, gigantic sand dunes to play on and the dune buggy tours are pretty cool. Nice to stay for a few days to relax and have a swim in a pool, but anything more than 4 days and you'll get bored.
Lastly, I travelled around on Cruz del Sur buses everywhere (including the 22 hour ride from Lima to Cusco, it's nowhere near as bad as it sounds and the scenery blew my mind away). Would recommend paying the little bit extra for the first class reclining seats, when considering the cost of the whole trip a little bit more for a comfy seat on the bus isn't much and the comfort is worthwhile.
Oh, and make sure you eat a guinea pig while you're there.
Thanks!
How early did you have to start the hike to Huayna Pichu to be the first one there?
Caught the bus up the mountain to MP at 5am and then was 3/4 in line at the gate at the base of HP when they let you in at 7am. I'm naturally a fairly fast walker so I just overtook the first few people in 5 minutes and then quickly made my way to the top, be careful though as it is steep and tricky in some spots.
Cool thanks!
For Machu Picchu, I did the Inca trail and went with https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/ They're Peruvian owned and talked a bit about how foreign tour operators take all the profits out of the country and underpay their porters. I'm sure some of it is marketing spin, but they did seem like good guys. So did Llamapath who are also Peruvian. Their porters and the Alpaca porters were friendly / competitive. One night they played soccer against each other on a piece of grass at a campsite near Puypatamaraca. One of my favourite memories of the trip - we got into the campsite way early, and sat around, cheered the soccer game, took a side trip down to some ruins without our bags, watched the sunset. It was nice to interact with the porters outside of when they walk past carrying your stuff. I am used to hiking without porters, so it felt complicated that all the operators used them. I recognise it is one of the largest sources of employment for men in the area, but it also felt a bit exploitative walking along with a daypack whilst they run past with huge packs, so I spent a long time choosing the tour operator. I think both Alpaca and Llamapath do Salkantay treks and would be worth looking into.
Really allow time to acclimatise before you hike, and if travelling by plane make sure you get in a few days early in case your plane is delayed. My plane was on the final descent from Lima to Cusco, went down close enough to see the town, then aborted due to winds, all the way back to Lima, and delayed for 12 hours. Not uncommon apparently.
I did not stay long in Lima either. I stayed in Miraflores which was quite a ways from the downtown but very nice. It is apparently much safer than downtown and I was travelling alone and conscious of that. Though so many people told me ahead of time I should not spend long in Lima, and I liked it better than I thought I would. There is a pyramid under excavation worth seeing in Miraflores, and a nice coastal walk, I liked the area. There is an express bus to downtown. The downtown was very colourful, a nice offset to the permanent winter fog. I went on a walking tour which was a good way of figuring it out the public transport http://www.fwtperu.com/fwt-lima.html
The Smarttraveller website has a strong warning against airport taxis, and again I was travelling alone, I found this a cost-effective way to get from the airport www.ebusperu.com though at the moment their website seems to be dead, which is a pity.
I took a Citibank debit to get cash out cheaply. I had read the Scotiabank do not charge atm operator fees, but did not find it to be true, all their atms I encountered had an operator fee. I tried lots - at the airport, at several bank branches in Miraflores, downtown and in Cusco. Every bank I tried seemed to have an operator fee. They all warned before the transaction went ahead. The cheapest I found at the time was Banco de Credito Peru (July 2016 - from memory their fee was 11 soles and Scotia was 14). Not sure if it was an error on my end or they just updated their policies to charge a fee.
Thanks! :)
I recommend the guinea pigs, tasty little things :)
I did Macchu Pichu earlier this year. My biggest tip is to book ASAP! Inca Trail tours sell out about 6 months in advance for the peak periods.
I wrote a guide on planning your Inca Trail journey so PM if you want the link :)
Also make sure you add Lake Titticaca to the list