Thinking about going to check out Machu Picchu and the Amazon, probably in October or November.

Anyone been? Any guidance on planning such an expedition?

8/20/2010 1:22:09 AM

I havn't but I have always wanted to go to Patagonia.

8/20/2010 1:28:55 AM

Take a camera and don't drink the water.

8/20/2010 2:10:47 AM

i'm planning on going there next summer for about 6 weeks. let me know how it goes.

8/20/2010 7:42:59 AM

I have a friend from Peru. Anything specific you want to know?

8/20/2010 8:11:01 AM

I went to Peru two years ago. Good time. We flew from Quito into Lima, where we stayed a couple of nights, then we moved on to Ica for a night or two and Cuzco for probably four or five nights.

Lima was pretty cool. We stayed in Miraflores while we there. We went to a casino one night, which was not much fun since there were no table games, only machines. We stayed in a hostel while we were there. You could walk around the City at any time of the night and feel safe.

I would definitely recommend Ica, specifically Huacachina. It's basically an oasis in the middle of the desert. You take a dune buggy up the sand dunes and sandboard down. Good times.

I really enjoyed Cuzco too. The City had alot to offer I thought. Good food, lots of interesting places to see. This is where you stay before you go to Machu Picchu. We signed up for some kind of package (well my wife signed up for it in Ecuador, so we didn't really know what we were getting into) and it turned out to be great. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights and every morning our guide would come pick us up on a bus and take us to tours around the area. For Machu Picchu, we took the train (rather than hiking the trail). It's probably one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. It's way up a mountain (you take a bus) through the clouds.

That's all I got. Feel free to PM if you have any questions, I may have some answers.

8/20/2010 9:07:36 AM

You could pull a Van Der SLoot on some unsuspecting female traveller

8/20/2010 10:55:21 AM

I saw an episode of Locked Up Abroad about it.

Don't buy drugs there.

8/20/2010 12:16:59 PM

I've been to Machu Picchu and the amazon. It was a great time.

Planning...eh. Whatever you do, dont take the bus to Machu Picchu/amazon. Youll be riding in a dirty grey hound type bus that will be going up into mountains covered with clouds part of the time. The roads are dirt, they switchback, and youll see crosses all over the side of the road where cars have fallen off the mountain. It is cool however for the scenery. I'd take a train.

I would start off in Cuzco. I believe you'll have to fly into lima first, so if you want to check it out, go for it, although it is nothing special. Cuzco is built on top of inca ruins, has great markets and squares to hang out in. There is bound to be some sort of festival going on during the time you will be there.

Machu Picchu is awesome. Below is where you will most likely stay, in a town called Aguas Caliente.
There are hot springs to go in and I remember the town being quaint.

I've only been to the edge of the Amazon, in a town called quillabamba. It was still pretty wild to see the jungle.

I'd personally go to the Patagonia though

[Edited on August 20, 2010 at 1:43 PM. Reason : i]

8/20/2010 1:42:24 PM

I wrote 6 travel blog entries on my trip to peru:

http://mikeallover.travellerspoint.com/co/163/

Started in Arequipa and hiked through the Colca Canyon. Then I went to Cuzco/Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes.

8/20/2010 1:49:28 PM

Sweet, didn't know if anyone else on here would've been down there.

I'll have to read up on those places.

8/21/2010 12:08:41 AM

Quote :

"There is bound to be some sort of festival going on during the time you will be there."

LOL ... my sister was lucky enough to be there during the guinea pig festival!

Don't get too comfy, little pigs.

8/21/2010 10:02:10 AM

Enjoy pisco while you're there, it's the national liquor of Peru (and Chile). It's actually a brandy, made from white grapes, and has a rather unique flavor. Straight up it's not that good, but in all kinds of mixed drinks it goes great. Pisco sours (pisco, sour, lime, egg whites, sugar) are the best!

Since several people have mentioned Patagonia I'll throw it out there that I spent 3 weeks traveling around southern Chile and Argentina, including Tierra del Fuego (Ushuaia), El Chaltén, Perito Moreno glacier, Torres del Paine, the Navimag ferry, and Pucón. If anyone has any questions about southern Patagonia I'd be happy to answer them. For the record, I think Torres del Paine national park (seen in the first picture of the thread and the pic below) is the most beautiful place on Earth.



[Edited on August 21, 2010 at 12:43 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2010 12:40:58 PM

I just got back from Argentina and Brazil a few weeks ago

Iguazu falls is the shit

8/21/2010 12:42:15 PM

I've been to Lima, Nazca, Ica, Cuzco and Machu Picchu

If you've never been to Machu Picchu, I would suggest that over Patagonia, although I do really want to go there someday too.

Stay in Miraflores while in Lima, its the safest, less sketch area and the most cosmopolitan. Cuzco was my favorite city, I definitely recommend it. Its ridiculously fun, very indigenous, the people are nice, and there are endless amounts of trouble you can get into and you can walk everywhere. Try Jack's for food if you are missing American cuisine.

Nazca was cool because its in the desert, and I got to go sandboarding and flew in a tiny airplane over the Nazca lines.

Machu Picchu will take your breath away. Take a train into Aguas Calientes. If you can, wake up early ... like 5am to hop on a bus and climb Wayna Picchu first. Then spend the day in Machu Picchu and then hike down the mountain back to aguas calientes.

Also make sure you BARTER with people in spanish. Otherwise they will take you for a gringo on the spot and rob you blind. Expecially those taxis in Lima, they are shameless. All you need to do to be a taxi driver in Lima is put up a taxi sign in your car window haha. And they usually don't know where they are going, so you have to give them directions.

8/21/2010 2:43:44 PM

Well, we've decided for sure that Peru will be the destination...the itinerary that I suggested is:

Fly into Lima, spend a day or two there (the Sheraton lists at about $50/day...I don't know what that area is like, though), probably hitting the beach a time or two. Take a bus or fly to Cusco, do the 4-day guided hike up to Machu Picchu, then ride back to Cusco. From there, fly to Puerto Maldonado and go to the Sandoval Lake Lodge (in the Tambopata Reserve of the rainforest) for a 3-day tour. Fly from Puerto Maldonado back to Lima, then back to the States.

That's just my initial input, though...we'll see what she says, although so far, we've been almost reading each others' minds in terms of where to go and what to do.

We've both talked about renting a motorcycle and spending a day or two riding around (most of the places only rent small dual-sports, though. Only one place I've found so far rents bikes suitable for 2-up riding...they have BMW F650GS, F800GS, and R1200GS bikes, for pretty reasonable rates. That will be mostly dependent on whether we can swing another couple days without both having to go back to our jobs (as the trip will probably be 10-12 days even without doing the motorcycle thing).

[Edited on August 22, 2010 at 12:35 AM. Reason : and I don't know how crazy the traffic is in Lima...might not want to be on a motorcycle anyway!]

Quote :

"Youll be riding in a dirty grey hound type bus that will be going up into mountains covered with clouds part of the time."

From what I saw online, there are some pretty decent bus services.

http://www.machupicchu-inca.com%2Flima-to-cusco.html&h=307ebXhRrOKmzaXeCp79S-3XYhg
Of course, for an extra $100ish each way, you can just fly...I don't know, might do that.


[Edited on August 22, 2010 at 12:48 AM. Reason : though on the bus, you'd get to see stuff, too]

[Edited on August 22, 2010 at 12:49 AM. Reason : ]

8/22/2010 12:32:37 AM

You don't want to be anywhere in Latin America driving a motorcycle as a foreigner, seriously dude. There's just nothing good going to come of that. Really with all the unenforced drunk driving in the country and carjackings in the cities you don't even want to drive ANY vehicle at night period. Peru is a poor fucking country.

8/22/2010 12:39:35 AM

I spent a couple of months down there in '05.

First of all I second Rattler's point about driving. Don't do any of it while you're down there. I get that you're a badass pilot and all, but if you're anything short of being a goddamn Jedi Master you will die. That's especially true of Lima, where the only law on the road is "la ley de la selva" (law of the jungle).

Where possible I would suggest exchanging trains for buses, which are often slow and rightly notorious for getting involved in unpleasant accidents.

For the most part Lima is a dump -- ugly and without too much to do. Miraflores is the nicest part of town, but still not a whole hell of a lot to do. Larcomar is an open-air mall set on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, which is neat but still it's basically just a mall.

Also, the beach at Lima is not a good place to hang out. The water is kept cold by the current, and during the summer there's no sun, just solid cloud cover. Winter (their summer) is only a marginal improvement. Also most of the beaches are made of rocks, so even if you wanted to brave the cold to take advantage of the waves you'd probably just get smashed.

Cuzco, on the other hand, is awesome. Scenery is good, there's all kinds of shit to see in the vicinity, food is good, and in general there's a more "Peruvian" vibe.

Macchu Picchu is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Make sure you've got time to explore all of it, as it's quite large. Don't assume you'll be able to do so as soon as you get in from the hike, since you'll probably only have half a day at best and be tired besides.

If you're going to Tambopata you'll need anti-malarials.

Things to try:

-Bimbos, a Peruvian burger chain with a funny name and some interesting variations on the hamburger.
-Ceviche, the national dish of Peru that is incredibly expensive around here but costs about as much as a pack of gum in Lima.
-Cusquena, one of their beers
-Guinea pig, which is much better than llama
-Hike up Wainu Picchu, which is right next to Macchu Picchu but is much taller. The view of the ruins and everything else is spectacular.

[Edited on August 22, 2010 at 3:13 PM. Reason : ]

8/22/2010 3:11:44 PM

I've driven in Sicily (somewhat crazy) and a bunch of times in Doha (near-suicide mission). I don't mind too much in a car...if it's that bad, though, I don't know that I want to do it on a motorcycle, though (especially 2-up).

I would also prefer trains, but from what I've read, there is no train between Lima and Cusco. I can't imagine that there's a train to Tambopata, either. As far as going to Cusco, I can go either way (bus or plane)...whichever the girl I'm going with wants to do.

Points about Lima/beaches noted.

Oh, and I'm on anti-malarials right now! I'll just make it a point not to throw away my bag of them when I get back to the States (I've also read that yellow fever vaccination is a good idea if you go to the jungle. I probably have it, but I'll check.)

8/22/2010 11:48:39 PM

It's pretty bad. However, I recommend the taxis for cheapness and convenience -- when I was in Lima, virtually every vehicle on the road was for hire. Plus, the drivers are invaluable sources of information. They'll get you to the black markets and tell you which bars are filled with transvestites.

Addition to the list of things I recommend down there: Chinese food. Lots of Chinese people there, and the Peruvian version of the cuisine is very good, much better than the standard fare here.

8/23/2010 12:28:00 AM

I'm a little irritated that it's such a pain in the dick to fly from Cusco to Iquitos. As best as I can tell, LAN is the only carrier making the flight, and they charge exorbitant ticket prices for non-Peruvians. I accept that a certain amount of gringo tax is probably unavoidable, but it looks like it'll actually be significantly cheaper to just fly Star Peru or Peruvian Airlines from Lima->Cusco->Lima, then from Lima->Iquitos->Lima, then back to the States.

8/29/2010 4:48:37 AM

LOL - Duke they gave me a yellow fever vaccine to go work in Charleston. you probably have one.

8/29/2010 8:10:45 AM

haha, yeah, i would guess that i do. i'm pretty sure i'm vaccinated against just about everything at this point (except for smallpox...i've managed to dodge that one so far). if not, won't be any trouble to get.

8/29/2010 9:21:11 AM

^^^Lan is a member of oneworld, probably the most expensive airline alliance. All their flights throughout South America are expensive. But you know what, there's not enough people that fly internationally to South America to give them any competition, so they charge what they want. The good thing is the more tourism the region sees, the more prices will eventually go down.

8/29/2010 11:58:25 PM

airline tickets to Lima and 4-day hike to Machu Picchu both booked.

I think we're going to pretty much wing everything else once we get down there (hopefully get the better, Peruvian rates on airplane tickets or find charter flights on smaller aircraft)

Planning on 2 weeks total, and doing the rainforest thing in Iquitos instead of Tambopata.

9/9/2010 5:21:05 PM

^you won't get a better rate if you fly LAN. i had to pay US prices to fly from Iguazu falls to Buenos Aires because I was an American. I'm not sure if the same thing applies in Peru, but it's worth looking into.

9/9/2010 11:53:37 PM

yeah, they're the worst offenders. I will not fly them to Iquitos if they try to charge me the American rate...I'd rather fly back to Lima and then fly from there to Iquitos.

9/10/2010 3:21:03 AM

bump

6/26/2012 1:05:06 PM

I went to Iquitos, Peru for 2 weeks and Campo Grande, Brazil for 6 weeks. I swam with pink dolphins in the Amazon river, explored the rainforest for a few days and then went into the canopy walkway.

canopy walkway


we also got to hang out with some shamens and get inked with some henna like temporary stuff and then they performed a 'healing' thing on us (sorry this was like 3 yrs ago, I don't remember what they called it). It was very relaxing and hypnotic.



fishing, if you catch something they will cook it for you(we caught nothing)


we got to shoot big ass blow guns



I also went to Monkey island. I highly recommend it if you want to interact with some monkeys . It is a monkey rescue where they take in orphans, rejects, and abused monkeys.



and we volunteered to paint a school, afterwards they surprised us with a party





things that I learned when in that part of the world

1.the more rural you go, the less people there are that know english

2. DRY FIT CLOTHES WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, for real pack as little as you can and make sure it is the sporty stuff that keeps moisture away from your body. Any cotton clothes you bring will smell and by the end probably have mold by the time you get back to the US.

3. 100% DEET find it. But also bring a natural repellent like picadirin or lemon because the canopy walkway will not permit the use of DEET since it degrades the nylon ropes. The locals don't get bit because they are hairier but also because they do not feel the bites. DO NOT ITCH, it will be so much worse if you do.

4. non greasy sunblock.

5. Have a bag that is easy to move. I do NOT recommend rolling luggage, if you can I would get a hiking pack. Also bring a "day bag" that can carry a small amount of stuff for the day.

6/26/2012 1:29:24 PM

^ awesome!!! what a great trip!

6/26/2012 2:05:50 PM

i've done chile, not peru...but i want to go!

6/26/2012 2:42:39 PM

I meant to bump this to get the feedback from Duke's trip but thats awesome Klaty. My wife (Peruvian citizen) and I have booked a trip the last two weeks of July and wanted to get some more feedback on everything and anything to do down there. It seems she has family and friends everywhere so its almost overwhelming about what we want to do this trip. Other than at least 3 or 4 days around Lima with her main family we obviously would like to hit the high spots like a few days at Cuzco/Machu Picchu, the dune buggies/sandsurfing near Ica, and possibly some dayhiking/hostels in or around Colca canyon. Other than that i figure we have a few extra days to check out either the northern beaches or Amazon.

I was pissed when she told me the flight cost from Lima to Cuzco compared to her cost ( like 350 compared to 120 roundtrip), but she said we may be able to get my de facto citizenship or peruvian ID before we leave to negate that. Anoter thing we found out is even if you dont have any connections you can either get a fake ID very easily there or if you still have a valid student ID its about half the normal cost of any tourist prices.

6/26/2012 4:08:38 PM

Since my old picture isn't in here any more, to compare to the picture in the second post. Yes Patagonia really is that pretty

6/26/2012 4:17:16 PM

Quote :

"I meant to bump this to get the feedback from Duke's trip"

It was awesome. Flew into Lima, spent a day or two there, flew to Cuzco, spent a day or two there, did the 5-day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu, came back to Cuzco for another day or so, then flew down to Puerto Maldonado for the better part of a week and spent that time in a jungle lodge...then flew back to Lima, went out to a nice dinner for Thanksgiving and shot a bunch of tequila, then back to the States.

Will post pictures in a little while.

6/26/2012 9:54:27 PM

hahaha, as should be obvious, were totally faced. neither she nor I smoke, but we did that night.



























[Edited on June 26, 2012 at 10:37 PM. Reason : more pics to come]

6/26/2012 10:36:48 PM

(these are parrots on a clay lick)

6/26/2012 10:44:58 PM

(they were all impressed at the gringo who could actually build a fire with sticks...putting that SERE school training to good use, haha)



Bird Of Paradise plant...these grow wild all over the place in the Amazon down there



(they were also impressed at my archery skillz. I put more arrows through papayas than the rest of the group combined)



Chickens and macaws just run around the farmyard together





Thanksgiving dinner and tequila shots in Lima





...and I leave you with this:

6/26/2012 10:51:27 PM

Nice pics, here's my favorite foreign bathroom sign, from a ferry to Robben Island

6/26/2012 11:07:42 PM

haha...although I think the top spot on the podium goes to this one that I saw in Iraq:

6/26/2012 11:12:15 PM

(that ascent was a cast-iron bitch. I packed way too much stuff--read: weight. I was used to doing things the hard way in the Marines; I didn't realize the tour porters handled all the hard work and I didn't need to bring much gear)

6/26/2012 11:41:23 PM

that looks awesome duke!

6/27/2012 9:14:39 AM