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Published: October 9th 2012
I feel that every trip I've taken so far has been a blessing. I've definitely grown as a traveler and as a person, and I feel so lucky to have been where I've been. For our trip to Peru, we went for a week and concentrated our time in Cusco, Machu Picchu, and spent a little time in Lima. I had a lot of fun planning this trip, I just couldn't fathom being dropped off in Cusco with no idea of what I was doing or looking at... so I researched for about 5 months. Everything from the Incas to how to avoid altitude sickness in Cusco (11,200 ft. above sea level). So lets start with that... these are my 4 recommended tips for anyone worried about altitude sickness in Cusco: (1) Drink lots of GATORADE!! This is a tip I got from someone else's blog and it worked! Every time I started feeling the least bit icky I drank a bottle of Gatorade/Powerade and felt instant relief. It helps athletes recover, so hey why not? Hydration is key. (2) Ibuprofen when you get headaches, or Advil... its your choice. (3) Go to lower altitudes if you can. Like when we
Unbelievable
This looks like a painting, but in fact it was taken by us as we passed the Sacred Valley... so beautiful!went to Machu Picchu, which is lower in altitude, we felt none of the weird affects we'd get in Cusco. (4) Last but not least, a positive attitude. I know that’s sort of corny, but If it wasn't for that, my husband and I probably wouldn't have had as much fun. And just a quick note for those of you going directly to Cusco by plane: you will have to wait in Lima until your morning flight, so take things to entertain yourself because getting a good rest at the airport overnight is not gonna happen! We sat at Starbucks all night and used their free WiFi to watch movies... you'll see a lot of people doing the same thing.
CUSCO In Cusco there's so much to do and see! One of the experiences I looked forward to was eating
"Cuy" which is guinea pig. Not because they look delicious, but because it's part of the "touristy" experience of traveling here. The seasonings make it taste pretty good, like a cross between chicken and pork. Peruvian food is amazing, we also tried the lomo saltado. One other item we were debating on trying and then actually ended up
Cusco Landscape
Up where the Cristo Blanco is you can get this gorgeous view of the city of Cusco... and get a picture with this awesome local too! drinking was the coca tea made out of coca leafs (you know, the same leafs used to make cocaine!) It was a really nice tea, and was given to us by the staff at our hotel to ease any symptoms of altitude sickness. We basically free styled around Cusco and did everything on our own. We visited the cool and artsy San Blas neighborhood, visit the famous
12 sided rock, horse back riding, scenic walk all the way up to
Cristo Blanco to get the most gorgeous view of Cusco,
Sacsayhuaman Incan ruins, white water rafting, and visiting the sites around
Plaza de Armas and the Cathedrals. Best of all, we spent our time in Cusco without feeling an ounce of danger. Even walking up to Cristo Blanco by ourselves was safe. "Taxi hijacking" was the only thing I was worried about but by walking the whole time there were no problems. Also I found it easy to navigate Cusco by foot, as long as I knew where to find the Plaza de Armas I knew which general direction to walk in, it acted as our main point of reference.
When buying souvenirs I must recommend going to the
White Water Rafting with Mayuc
That's us paddling in the front. Im wearing the only red helmet in our group. Cusco Artisan Market, a short 15 minute walk from Plaza de Armas. The stores in San Blas and around Plaza de Armas are really nice, but the difference is that the same items will cost you 4 times less at the Artisan Market so you will definitely have a better chance at bringing your loved ones little gifts while not breaking your wallet.
If you want to have an unforgettable experience go
white water rafting in the sacred valley, a day trip from Cusco. Breath taking views and fun adrenaline rush! We independantly chose the company
Mayuc ahead of time for being recommended in several books and websites. They had the best price for what they offered and did an awesome job at teaching us while making our safety top priority. We had so much fun I didn't want it to end! We went in mid-September when it was still the "dry season" so the rapids only go up to grade III, not bad for us first timers. They have a free zip line option, and they also provide a free yummy lunch! Cd with pictures of you rafting is an optional purchase. We reserved with them on their
website ahead of time and paid the rest at their office in Cusco which is located conveniently in the Plaza de Armas.
Quick Safety Note: be cautious with tap water and be cautious with what you eat. Any food containing tap water like washed salads and fruits is a big no-no! Even juice and smoothies are questionable. I've had my own tummy trouble in South America before and it was not fun, and then after reading about other people's stomache misfortunes in Peru I wasn't about to let my guard down! I asked for no ice in drinks, and used bottle water for drinking and brushing my teeth. Try not to go overboard with bottles though, since there aren't many recycling facilities around in Peru. Luckily we were careful enough and didn't end up getting sick.
In Cusco we stayed at
Hotel Tupac Yupanqui, which is an aaaaamazing place, I definitely recommend it! Only 5 minute walk to Plaza de Armas, it is loaded with history, clean rooms, and great staff. And by history I mean it used to be the palace of an ancient royal Inca! So it's really cool! In Aguas Calientes we stayed at
Inti Inn which also exceeded our expectations. Only thing you MUST take with you are
ear plugs. It'll get noisy outside and you will drive yourself crazy trying to fall asleep. This happens to me every time I visit family in Colombia, so loud night noise is probably a South American thing. Just have to deal with it, but take EAR PLUGS! It saved me from many long sleepless nights.
MACHU PICCHU ...One of the World Wonders Getting to Machu Picchu was a little tricky in my opinion. There were so many buses, trains, tickets, and time schedules to keep track of, which is why we are so happy to have gone with a tour company. We don't normally do this, but we chose
Detour/Amazonas Explorer, and they took care of scheduling everything for us in Machu Pichu... all we had to do was be on time. Everything worked out perfectly, which is what we needed, especially being there such a short amount of time. Those who can stay in Peru for a long time can manage to free style their way there. By organizing with a travel company you can still have as much fun and adventure, with
the added peace of mind!
We chose to do a two day Machu Picchu visit to fully enjoy the experience and learn as much as we could. From Cusco, we had to be up before sunrise to catch an early train with our tour guide. We got off the train around KM 104 of the Inca trail to do a 6 hour hike. A lot of people choose to do a 4-5 day trek there, but being short on time we figured the 6 hour hike would provide us with some adventure and knowledge of the original Inca trail. Our tour guide was awesome! If you ever get the chance to have Cristobal as your guide you are in good hands. He knew all the flora and fauna, he knew all the theories and history on the Incas, and he's been doing this for over 12 years in Peru! The things we saw on the trail are amazing, and the anticipation of reaching Machu Picchu was more than we could take! We passed a couple Inca ruins that were just gorgeous!
Choque Suy Suy was one of them, and another was
Chachambamba. The Incas knew what they were doing...
our guide pointed out the many advancements they came up with to make their homes last longer and be stronger, like building the walls at an angle going inwards to stop them from being blown down by the elements.
When we got to Machu Picchu we were really lucky. We got there at 1pm which is when most tourists are leaving to catch the train back to Cusco. So there weren't many people there! I was speechless at the beauty of the mountains and the valleys and the ruins. Definitely a "pinch me" moment. It was also so serene and quiet that we often felt like we were all alone there. And you might get a sense of that looking at our pictures. We sat by the terraces near the "Machu Picchu Post Card View" and listened to our guide tell us the whole Inca story. Then we went down to the ruins and visited every section while having the guide explain what each section was used for. We stayed wandering around the ruins until they kicked us out at 5pm. We were able to catch a glimpse of the sunset before the bus took us down the scary,
Reaching the top
Victor was so happy to have reached the top of Machu Picchu Mountain after the long hike up narrow winding road down to Aguas Calientes.
We stayed overnight in the town of
Aguas Calientes (town below Machu Picchu) so that we could spend one more day in Machu Picchu, that’s when we were going to climb Machu Picchu mountain! We didn't wake up super early like most people do to catch the sunrise, we actually knew there wasn't going to be one because the morning was going to be cloudy. We also didn't climb the "post card" mountain most people climb, Hyuana Picchu... we climbed the actual
Machu Picchu mountain on the other side which is another fun option. It's a longer climb, but definitely just as breath taking once you reach the top. There also weren't as many people climbing that one, so less chances of being rushed or slowed down. It was crazy hard though! The view was so worth the climb in the end, but I know our legs and calves disagreed. Even with excellent hiking shoes on our feet, our legs were wobbly and sore at the end. Once we came back down we spent some time with the llamas at the Machu Picchu ruins, and then grabbed some lunch before boarding Peru
Rail back to Cusco. Peru Rail stalled for 4 hours near a gorgeous river in the sacred valley, our guide got antsy because he knew it was an engine failure. We didn't have any deadlines so we just enjoyed the views and patiently waited... just know that Peru Rail is known to have these little issues from time to time.
Last day in Cusco and Lima On our last day in Cusco we caught a
procession/march happening in the Plaza de Armas and we were so happy we got to experience it. I often read about these in books and on blogs. What happens is Cusco's local people get dressed up and get into organized groups and march down the Plaza de Armas. There seemed to be a lot of important military and government officials there that day too. One group was a group of school children playing instruments like in a drum line. You can tell they practice these marches a lot, because they marched in perfect formation. Even a couple of Catholic nuns marched! What I love about these processions is that it's very cultural, and part of the way Peruvian's show their love for their
country.
On our last day in Peru we had a couple hours in
Lima before our flight took us back home. We saw
the Water Light Show which was really cool, and is recommended as one of the top things to do in Lima. We took some really nice pictures of the fountains and light show at night. I didn't see many foreigners there at all! It was mostly locals on dates or with their families. Since we are Hispanic I think we did a good job at blending in with them, which is good safety-wise. Speaking of safety, Taxi Green was the only reputable taxi company I could find at the airport safe enough to take us downtown, and they did a good job at seeing us safely there. But They failed to pick us up again at the time they said they would. I suggest you get as much information from your driver as possible like his name, company car number, etc. so that you have someone to hold responsible for that. Luckily we had a Lima police officer direct us to another safe taxi option to take us back to the airport, and it was much
cheaper too.
Final tip: If you are wondering what kind of clothes you should wear here, be on the safe side and take layers. We were rolling our sleeves up in the hott afternoon and rolling them back down in the cold evenings. Both Cusco and Machu Picchu were like this. You'll deffinitely need sunblock in Machu Picchu. We used a Sunblock/Mosquito repellent combo lotion by Repel so that we were covered for both things.
That’s it for Peru! Had a wonderful experience and came back with a brain full of new knowledge about the world... which is the whole point of our travels! There was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be a special trip because Machu Picchu is truly a special place. Anyone who has been here, or is going here is really lucky. I Love Peru, loved the food, loved the culture and it's people. Now I have to find a nice Peruvian restaurant in the States to finish trying out the dishes I didn't have time to eat!
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Alexey
Birukov Alexey
WAW !!!! the very good , the best photo !!!
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