Machu Picchu

Hi Chris,

Guess you are well back at home. Been there twice, but no blog on it! I went there in July and in December...don't remember but for weather, both were nice. Did the backpacker train and the Hiram Bingham...so guess I did both ends of the spectrum. It's not cheap, but both had advantages and...disadvantages...

Let me know when you plan to go there...been to Peru maybe 15 times, last time this summer...and have my bestfriend living there. Can give you some good contacts. You do not need a travel agent there, it's so easy to get around.

No more plane from me till Friday...wow...

hi to both of you....was nice to meet in Shanghai. Reply to this

Peru was one of our best trips. We only had a little over two weeks -- we hope to go back in the future.
Peru has so much to offer in addition to Machu Picchu-- which is an amazing place on earth. You must go.

We went in October 2006.

We flew into Lima and explored for a few days, we flew over the Nasca lines, we went to the Colca Canyon to see the unbelievable Condors fly and took a boat cruise on Lake Titicaca to see the reed islands and the amazing people who live in that area.

We loved everything about Peru; the food, the people, the culture.

October was a great time to go. It was light sweater weather and sunny, sunny, sunny.

No words can describe what we felt and experienced while we were at Machu Picchu. Serenity, beauty, a spirituality-- and many questions about how they were able to build this amazing place.

Happy travels. Reply to this

Hi Chris,

Really fun to do Nasca, Dave and Merry Jo are right.

To be honest, with the Lonely Planet you have all the infos to do all of it by your self.

Great idea to the Inca trail, it's 4 days...never did it...maybe one day. I'll send you a PM with my friend in Lima.

With limited time, what you want to do is fly to Cusco, tickets on lan.com, it's the safest airline. There is a full range of hotels in Cusco. Do the inca trail and come back by train. Leave two full days for Cusco, it's a amazing place.

For Nasca, you can combine this with the dunes of Huacachina, and Ica for some great piscos. Got all the adresses to do it properly, this takes 3 days...Nasca, Huacachina, Ica and Paracas. Busses are safe, cheap and nice to do this part.

You may want to add some Amazonia...I'm not a big fan of this, but that's everybody's call. Also worth it is Puno, easy to reach either by bus or plane.

Why don't you try to make a trip combining Peru and Bolivia...I was stuned by Bolivia this summer.

For the diving...ok...forget most of caribean it's hurricane season in October/November...I would not risk it. You need to be below the hurricane belt. You could try Los Roques in Venezuela, went there in July, it's amazing. Also there is Cartagena or San Andres in Colombia (never been), or try some diving in Brazil...but than it is becoming more pricy.

We are off to Vietnam this week-end, and monday I'm in Hong Kong and than Africa.

Reply to this

......I think I may have persuaded Nikki to go to Nasca too :-) Reply to this

Dear Chris, happy to know you will be travelling to Peru on September/October 2011, good time of the year, warm in daytime in Cuzco, Arequipa, Colca, Puno (the Andes or "Sierra"), cold in the evenings. In the coast (Lima, Ica, Nazca, Paracas, and the north coast Chiclayo, Trujillo) it is spring, the perfect weather, very colourful, and it is also good time to go to the jungle, as you are an adventurer, I suggest Iquitos and specially the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, you won't regret it ! if you are interested in Iquitos. Regarding inca trail to Machu Picchu, I suggest you book through a travel agent because of local regulations only 500 persons per day are allowed into the inca trail and spaces run out real fast. Regarding overflight of Nazca, you can fly from Lima which is the more expensive option, like a full day tour, or you can do a more attractive 3 day/2 night trip by land, traveling first to Ica (3 hours from Lima) and visiting Huacachina, where you can do some sand surfing, boogies, etc, and then continue to Paracas (one and a half hour) and visit Ballestas islands and the Paracas natural reserve, and overnight there to enjoy the beach, and then continue to Nazca for the overflight, before returning to Lima (7 hours by land). Hope my advise is useful to you. By the way, I am Peruvian. Reply to this

They are well know and they're good. And if you are a nature lover and follow my advice regarding the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, I suggest Paseos Amazonicos, their web page is www.paseosamazonicos.com and they have a photo gallery which will give you some idea of the reserve. You sleep in tents at the reserve. I heard they also operate other destinations under another name. Reply to this