Hi All,
I am visiting Peru between Jan 1 to Jan 10th with a friend. I know this is too short for such a wonderful country, but i need to make the best out of the 10 days i have. I just have the return tickets from Lima for now.
Here is my Plan
Day 1-Lima
Day 2- Flight to Cusco
Day 3-7 Cusco and MP (with 2 day trek)
Day 7 night-Train to Puno
Day 7-10 Puno and titica area
Day 10 - return to Lima
Please let me know if this itenary looks decent? I want an adventure filled trip, but this looks wayy too lame :P i am excited to view the amazonas but i guess i don't have the time for that... i would drop puno/titicaca if everyone advised me to visit amazon instead.
i need help on the following
1) Trek operators from Cusco-MP (i have contacted Llamapath and ApusPeru and they both have quoted ~$400 for a 2 day trek?!!! is this normal for a 2day trek?
2) Best way to book train tickets/flight tickets in Peru-i have found Tam airlines has decent prices and connectivity, is there any cheaper airline? And how do i book the train tickets online without going thru a 3rd party tourist agent?
3) I am going to book hostels for my stay. Let me know if there is anything else i need to plan in advance?
Phew! long post! Hope i get some help here! oh btw ive visited the brasil amazonas already...
Reply to this Hi Niranjan,
Welcome to TravelBlog.
If the $400 quote for 2 days is $US, it sounds overpriced. I did the 4 day Inca Trail with
Peru Treks (very good) - their current price is $450 for the 4 days.
I'm guessing you're arriving late into Lima, with an early flight next day to Cusco - what most do. It's quite safe to sleep at the airport.
Some of the hostels should be able to help with booking trains etc, to avoid the agents.
Reply to this thanks for the reply Jo, i would love to do the 4 day trek the only thing stopping me is i am short on time... and wish to see a few more places in peru...$450 for a 4day trek seems reasonable.
Reply to this You can just get the train yourself from Cusco, stay a night in Aguas Caliente, and give yourself 2 days wandering around MP. Probably what I would do with only 2 days.
I'm pretty sure you can hire guides at the gate for a tour of the site itself.
Reply to this sounds good! also, do you think it is worth spending 2-3 days in Puno/Titicaca.....i was reading some blogs and looking at some pics.... Puno/Titicaca doesn't give me that WOW factor....
If i had to choose amazonas/Titicaca....what would you recommend?
Reply to this I did a homestay in Luquina on Lake Titicaca and it was an amazing experience!! I definitely reccommend visiting & seeing the floating islands too!
Reply to this I and my wife used llamapath and we were really happy with everything that was provided to us. We took the 5 day Private trek to MP and couldn't have asked for a better service.
Reply to this The city of Puno itself doesn't offer anything to visitiors, however Lake Titicaca and the Uros Islands are beautiful and nice to see. Tours can be purchased at the marina in order to visit the Uros Islands as well as the other islands in the lake. Amazonas is also outstanding. I flew into Puerto Maldonado from Cuzco and the Sandoval Lake Lodge crew picked my group up at the airport, transported us to their office, took us down river on a motorized canoe, led us through the jungle, and then paddled us across an amazing lake to our beautiful jungle lodge. Saw a number of species of monkeys, birds, spiders, as well as some cayman. So, both Lake Titicaca and Amazonas are great. If you are into culture and scenery do Lake Titicaca, if you're more into a safari type adventure check out the Jungle.
Reply to this I have been looking from flights from Lima to Cusco also and I found that "Star Peru" seems to have the best rates. If you search "peru domestic flights" in google and then choose the 1st link, "go 2 peru .com" it gives you 3 airlines to compare.
Good luck
Reply to this Thanks for the replies guys!
i finally booked thru taca.com . it's REALLY cheap :-) i found lima to cusco return for abt $130 with no additional costs for booking from USA.
Arl, thanks a ton for your response. Do you have any pictures of Puerto Maldonado? I am planning to visit it for 3 days. Do you think 3 days is too less for that? It would be great if you have any pictures to share.
Thanks again!
Reply to this I actually forgot my camera and all my SD cards at my parents place so I have no pictures with me. Its driving me crazy.
We were there for three days and it was okay. More time would have been great, but three days was just enough. The town of Puerto Maldonado itself doesn't really seem to have much going for it, so make sure you book a company to take you to a jungle lodge. Again, we stayed at the Sandoval Lake Lodge and they took care of everything. Great adventure, great food, very comfortable rooms, and amazing wildlife viewing. http://www.inkanatura.com/sandovallakelodge.asp.
I'll try to post some pics soon.
Reply to this Hi,
Thats a good plan you have there , for planning your acommodation i would recomend you www.amaruhostal.com it was really nice, close to the square of Cusco and good service they treated me very kind,
Good luck
Reply to this Hi,
Thats definitely a good plan. I utilized www.galapagos-inc.com for my travels here, and they were very hospitable and helpful. They have been dealing exclusively with Galapagos, Machu Picchu, and mainland Ecuador for more than 30 years, so they know all of the ins and outs. I hope this helps!
Marcos
Reply to this My wife and I are spending 2 weeks or so in Peru late this summer, doing the Inca Trail, short Amazon tour, and the Lake Titicaca overnight tour. Your itinerary looks pretty good, but I wouldn't take the train to Puno. Inka Express (and Go2Peru) offer a tourist bus trip from Cusco to Puno (and/or back) for less money, less time, and you get to see some sights along the way! btw are you sure that round-trip airfare is right? Sounds more like the rate offered to Peruvian citizens. Sometimes the web sites fail to mention that requirement. Have fun and let me know if I can be of help.
Reply to this Niranjan,
How was Peru in January. I'm thinking about going then but worried about the rain.
Thoughts?
Reply to this hey Hayler!
I had an amazing time in Peru. My trek was awesome, we did have occasional rains but it was minimal(couple of hrs of rain on 2 days) I went on the trek from Jan 5th to 9th. A week later i saw on tv that machu picchu was shut down due to heavy floods, the train links were cutoff and the entire city at the base of machu picchu was cut off , lots of tourists were trapped for days.
So it is just a matter of luck i believe. Either way, if you don't have a quick return flight to your home country and you have enough time in Peru after the trek, then it should not matter. Rain or No rain it is a wonderful experience.
And for the trek, please carry a really light backpack with super light rain poncho... it really comes handy 😊 Ask me if you have any other specific questions! I can't wait to go back to peru... it was an amazing trip!
Reply to this Thanks Niranjan. I'm planning to go from January 18 to about February 5th. Any other recommendations for Peru?
Reply to this i didn't find anything exciting about Puno and titica unless you want to do homestay with a local family. You should spend more time in and around Cusco. You can visit nearby places like Ollantaytambo , Tambomachay ,Pukapukara ... they are really like if you like to know more about the Inca era....
If you want to visit the forests, iquitos is the best place to start and go on a 3-5 days cruise in the amazon. I have heard great things about this, but it wont be a comfortable cruise(limited electricity, mosquitoes and insects since it is the amazon). Although i did not have time to go to iquitos.
Puerto Maldonado jungle is a easier alternative from cusco if you want to visit the jungle.. it was okay, i had visited the Pantanals of Brasil, so i was not very impressed.
If you plan to spend time in Lima do stay in Miraflores (Larcomar for relaxing)and visit Huaca Pucllana. You can also plan to visit the Nazca lines, i did not have time for this though.
Oh BTW i forgot to mention that we had numerous flooding, land slides on the way during the 4 day trek, it just turned out to be more adventurous than i expected, so it was FUN 😊
Do research and take a really powerful mosquitoes repellent, the one i took didn't help much, my legs were swollen crazy for almost a month after i returned back to USA from mosquito bites.
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