Peru
Destination
Peru- Lima, Sacred Valley, Cusco, and Machu Picchu
Why Here
Bucket List Destination, postponed twice due to covid. Still traveled during Covid with precautions and headaches
Getting there
ORD to Lima with American Airlines
Lima to Cusco with Latam Airlines
Money Exchange
Hotel in Lima and Local Currency Exchanges throughout the trip. Make sure your USD Bills are in good condition. They denied several of my mildly torn $20s
Visa
Not needed for US Citizens
Getting from the airport
I had a late arrival (10:20pm) so I pre-ordered a private van transport with Viator to ensure a smooth, safe transfer to the hotel at night
Getting around the city: Uber
Lima
Hotel: AC Hotel Lima Miraflores. Used Bonvoy points
What to do there
Our first day was full of action. We started with a shantytown tour in Villa El Salvador that I found on Viator. These “pueblos jovenes”, as they are known locally, are essentially small to large settlements of squatters. All construction and city infrastructure is built up by the people of the settlement. They operate nearly independent from government involvement.
The tour was given by a local resident of the town. We met with one of the local leaders and she showed us around her district.
Thankfully all the money given for this tour goes toward their local not for profit organization, #reciprocityngo
After our tour we asked our guides to drop us off in Barranca, a hip bohemian district of Lima. Known for is art, in particular, street art. This district is coastly located, so we grabbed lunch at, Javier Restaurant, a reasonably priced peruvian restaurant, perched on a cliff with amazing views of the ocean.
We also visited the city center and took an impromtu tour of Museo Convento San Francisco and the attached catacombs.
That evening we had dinner at Central Restaurant (at the time of my visit, ranked #4 on the World’s Best 50 Restaurants). Located in a very nondescript corner building surrounded by gates, however the minimalist Scandinavian exterior and interior decors are very sleek and as one would expect from this type of prix fixe fancy restaurant.
Cuzco
On day two, we left Lima and flew to Cusco. Our guide meet us on arrival and we started our pre-arranged guided tour with Inca Trail Reservations
We arrived at our hotel, Palacio del Inka. A beautifully tucked away boutique hotel (Bonvoy) in downtown Cusco. This hotel was once a 15th century mansion and the remnants of that prior designation are still well preserved. Definitely take advantage of the free tours of the site or the free pisco sour making class.
Explore the city, do some local shopping for souvenirs.
Sacred Valley
Day three started with a group tour to the Sacred Valley. This was a full day tour of the sites around this region. We ended our day at a local hotel in the Sacred Valley, Tambo del Inka (Bonvoy and often listed on the top 100 hotels list). This was a lovely and serene hotel. Unfortunately we only got to experience it for a evening, but would have loved to stay a bit longer as there is plenty on site to explore.
Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu
Day four began early in the morning with a quick trip to the nearby train station at Ollantaytambo. Here we boarded our train for a scenic hour long ride to km 104. Upon descending at our destination, our Inca Trail guide, Manny, met us. We made last minute rearrangements to our backpacks, applied sunscreen and mosquito repellent and then headed off on epic our day journey.
The classic Inca Trail hike is a 4 day hike with overnight camping. The short Inca Trail hike that we did, starts on the ending portion of that original trail. It travels over a fairly arduous course of around 6 miles. The paths are very narrow and the first half of the hike is a slow climb up nearly 1000 ft. The descends on the back end our not as easy as were initially expected as they really put a strain on your knees and ligaments. However after 8 hours of hiking, we reached the ultimate pinnacle, the Lost City. We didn’t actually enter the City that day, but hiked right up to the entrance. We ended our day by taking a bus from Machu Picchu down (scary narrow switchbacks) to the lower city, Aguas Calientes. Our hotel for the night, Hotel Sumaq.
The Lost City
Day five, we boarded that same bus back up that scary narrow road to Machu Picchu. We entered the City of Machu Picchu with our guide, Manny as he gave us a guided tour of this modern wonder.
After a half day of exploring, we headed back to Aguas Calientes, boarded our train and headed back to Ollantaytambo. From there we caught a bus that got us back to our original hotel (Palacio del Inka) late that evening.
Day six, we checked out and headed back to the Lima airport and from there, back to Chicago.
Also consider
Other Inca Treks
As I only had a week, I chose to visit Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley and incorporate a short Inca Trail hike. However if you have more time, or your preference is to focus only on a longer hike, then you have several options. You can do the classic 4 day Inca Trail hike. Consider the Salkantey Trek if you’re seeking a challenging hike. Over the course of 5 days, you will traverse a total of nearly 46 miles and climb to over 15000 ft in elevation.
Nazca Lines
If you have time, try to book a tour to the Nazca Lines. These lines, of debatable origin, date back to between 500 BC- 500A AD. They are best viewed from an aerial vantage point.
Rainbow Mountains
A nice day trip. Beware, the elevation goes up to 17000ft.
If I knew then what I know now
Remember, this is high elevation. Cusco is over 11000 ft. Machu Picchu is just under 8000ft. If you are planning to hike any distance, you definitely want to give yourself at least a day in Cusco to acclimate to the elevation before hiking. Stay hydrated and avoid too much alcohol to help ward off altitude sickness. Most hotels will likely have oxygen tanks available if necessary. My first night in Cusco I woke in the middle of the night with chest pain and felt dizzy. I checked my oxygen saturation with my watch, 84%!! I took a few minutes lying outside on the balcony inhaling fresh air for me to get back to normal.
English is not well spoken outside of hotels