Thanks for the detailed low-down on your trip. It sounds like you did/saw some really great stuff! Was it your first trip to South America? You mentioned that it was exhausting…would you see less places if you were to do it again, or was it mainly Machu Picchu that was tiring? I’m gathering info for my eventual trip so it’s always cool to read about others experiences. Thanks again and welcome back! ~Amy

Who did you do your Inca Trail trip with? When I went, I thought the food was fantastic as well, but I don’t recall getting any bug bites.

Lake Titicaca was one of the highlights for me. did you do an overnight homestay? I really liked it.

Please tell me that the food is better in Guat than Peru; I didn’t want to see another potato for avery long time after that trip!

I think the food I ate on the Inca Trail was the best of my life.

I was lucky to miss out on the bug bites. I guess that was the trade-off for the snow.

I went with Peru Treks, and would recommend them. I think the bug bites were a side effect of hiking in warm-ish weather, as I met people from other groups with the same affliction.

Sailor, the food in Guatemala is definitely better (but avoid the street taco stands!). Peru has delicious trout and some good cream soups, but most of the other meals were relatively uninspired. There is a Peruvian restaurant down the street from where I work that serves better potatoes than any I tasted whilst in Peru itself.

Amy, I think it was a combination of too much hiking at altitude and a too-heavy pack that wore me out. Don’t let that detour you from visiting South America. It just takes more patience and harder work to travel in SA.

Thanks for the detailed report, man! Did you do the Flotantas de Uros tour or the three-island tour? Did you buy another day in Machu Piccu or did your original ticket (through Peru Treks) allow you entrance for another day? Glad you had fun in Lima – I’m still a bit jaded with the place. I guess I got off to a bad start with my taxi driver ripping me off and all…

Share pics!

I actually didn’t mind downtown Lima. We originally went to the place in Miraflores because we got such dire warnings about the city center, but we just couldn’t afford the price tag there. We found a place downtown recommended by our guidebook and it was great. It was technically a youth hostel, but in this old mansion where we had beautiful high-ceilinged rooms with lots of nice little touches. The faded elegance of the area really sucked me in. It is dangerous at night, but the staff at our hostel were really knowledgeable and which streets were OK and which were not. They employed a little pool of legitimate taxi drivers and would dispatch one to any location in downtown Lima if we needed it.

quote:
Thanks for the detailed report, man! Did you do the Flotantas de Uros tour or the three-island tour? Did you buy another day in Machu Piccu or did your original ticket (through Peru Treks) allow you entrance for another day? Glad you had fun in Lima – I’m still a bit jaded with the place. I guess I got off to a bad start with my taxi driver ripping me off and all…

Share pics!

Good questions, Kahunna. From Puno, I did just the three-hour Flotantes de Uros tour (we were actually back in less than 2.5). Add me to the list of tourists who found the whole thing a bit too commercialized…but then again, that’s quite a lifestyle that the island’s people live. It was so un-be-freakin-leavably cold that no one wanted to sail on one of the reed boats. I would’ve been up for it despite the weather, but the guide motioned us on the next island….I brought candy for the little kids, only to read after the fact that you’re not supposed to do this. Oops! Another chink in the "ugly American" armor. I did not do a homestay mostly b/c it would’ve meant another day-and-a-half on the lake, and I was on a 5:00 flight out of Juliaca (although the plane was delayed two hours).

As for Machu Picchu, the "four-day pass" that you are issued is misleading, because Day One corresponds with Day One of the Inca Trail hike, even though you’re 43 km from the actual ruins at that point. In other words, I had to pay another 72 soles to re-enter Machu Picchu on the second (fifth) day…it equates to about $22 USD and to me was worth paying.

I’m still working on the pics, but I’ll try and post them soon, putting to end those nagging "what does HomeSkillet look like" questions.

Fother Mucker…

quote:
It was technically a youth hostel, but in this old mansion where we had beautiful high-ceilinged rooms with lots of nice little touches. The faded elegance of the area really sucked me in. It is dangerous at night, but the staff at our hostel were really knowledgeable and which streets were OK and which were not. They employed a little pool of legitimate taxi drivers and would dispatch one to any location in downtown Lima if we needed it.

Hmmmm…. that sounds like[url=‘http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/hotels/lima/antigua_miraflores.html’]Hotel Antigua Miraflores[/url]…

Yeah – when I go back to Lima, I’ll make sure to book at a hoste/hotel that has free pick up/drop off at the airport.

Wish I could remember the name of the place I stayed—I believe it was in Miraflores as well. I was so happy to be picked up at the airport and they had a serious European-style breakfast.

"Lowlights: The worst pizza ever in Puno."

-Hahaha, I had one of the BEST pizzas in my life in Puno!! hahaha. (And I’m a pizza snob, too!)Wasn’t a pizza place though, a restaurant. With a brick oven. mmmmmm….

Every get around to the hot mulled wine?? Only thing that got me through my nights in Puno!

"The near-freezing temps on Lake Titicaca"
– Haha, no kidding! I actually slept a night in a reed hut on one of the Uros Islands. Woke up in the morning to layers of frost in front of my "door" on the reed outside!!

Having spent WAY more time in Cusco than ever intended, I kind of got to see all 9 lives of Cusco. And believe me, it has em! All different cities, really. Anyone end up in San Blas much?? That’s the artist head quarters. Very international scene. They make fun of the touristy center areas. Avoid it like the plague.

When I was on the Puno side of Lake T, I ended up doing everything sans group or guide. Just hit the boats independently. Cost about the same in the end, as the tour, but had a wonderful experience, and liked that my money went to the people on the islands and not the big tour companies. I ended up staying the night on one of the floating islands. (most tour groups let the tourists stay there 10-15 minutes, time to shop, then wisk em off to the another island). I’d highly recommend going independently and staying the night on the Uros if anytone is looking at going. there were NO tourists on any of the islands after noon, and we got shuttled around in private reed boats with families, visited the school, had familes cooking for us…it was amazing. amazing people there. the islands come alive once the tour boats leave.
And it cost us 5 soles each for the night. (3 soles = 1 US dollar).
And then 5 more for a large, full dinner.